Wednesday Work Table

Ironically, when I have SO much to say, it is harder to write.  Where do I begin?  How do I say what I want to? How do I do it well?  Sometimes my fear stops me from starting.  To require perfection is to invite paralysis....(Bayle and Orland, again!)But I am learning to have courage and to be vulnerable.  So here goes...My time in Nepal was, as always, pretty amazing.  My month with Kopila and the ladies sped by and we got lots done.  (More on this later and also on the Samunnat blog.) And the list for what we'll do next March is extensive!  Then, after the month in Birtamod, Bishnu and I co-led our latest cultural tour.  On both of our Colourful Journeys, we've travelled with very special women.    Paraphrasing Wyoming Wendy, we are better people for having met each other and being immersed for a time in Nepali culture...and hopefully better stewards of this earth.   I will try and write more about this wonderful time and will no doubt do so in upcoming posts. ( I didn't take many group shots but in this photo some of the 'girls' are being mobbed again by crazy, reasonably handsome, young funsters and look, that was a novel experience in the recent memories of some of us!!!   OK, two of those funsters are our guides but we don't have to tell everyone that.)  A profoundly important part of our experience was spending time with very special Nepali friends who are making a difference in the lives of people around them. We made new friends, and some of us farewelled old friends.  Two of the ladies said good-bye on their Colourful Journey to a friend who had died recently and while we were travelling, my beautiful friend Mike died.  At his funeral back in Adelaide, his family played Shiny, Happy People by REM and Mike truly was one of those radiant, gorgeous human beings who shone and made life brighter for the people around him.  I said farewell to Mike at Boudhanath stupa-a special place for me and for Mike and Jane who also love Nepal. What does any of this have to do with Wednesday's Work Table? Well, sometimes creating grows from grieving.   Cathy-a dear friend and one of the wondrous women on the tour, gave me a beautiful amulet for my birthday.  And Angie, her mum gave me magnificent fabric decorated with the Tibetan clouds that I love so much.  So today, on my work-table, are these two gifts from friends, old and new, to celebrate friends, old and new, here and not here.  To remind me every second of every day, that each day is precious;  that all things will end and that I need to live my life remembering that.