Gifts of Gratitude: The Joyful Adventures of a Life Well Lived by Elizabeth Gaylynn Baker

Author:Elizabeth Gaylynn Baker [GAYLYNN BAKER, ELIZABETH]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781469086903
Publisher: Gildan Media Corporation
Published: 2013-04-01T00:00:00+00:00

MY BIG FAT GIRLFRIEND

The advantage of our imaginations is that they can lead us anywhere. And somewhere along the way, during the Tensegrity intensives, even though I was living in L.A. and the ocean was frightfully cold there, I determined that it was time to visit my big fat girlfriend.

A woman I knew was involved in the Santeria religion. For those of you who don’t know it, Santeria is an old world religion, rich in symbolism. It is based on the religion of the Yoruba people of West Africa. It is mostly practiced in the Caribbean but there is a pocket of devotees in Los Angeles. In Santeria there is one God and many sub-deities. The sub-deities are called Orishas and are said to have descended from heaven to help and console their followers. Orishas are not chosen by people; instead, each person is chosen by an Orisha. Their personal Orisha watches over them. Upon hearing this mystical mix of a story, I knew my Orisha was the ocean which is called Olokun in this religion’s ancient language.

Somewhere in my head, I got an internal message about mixing Tensegrity with the honoring of Olokun. Perhaps Carlos would be interested.

Perhaps this internal message was coming from him? Funny, it never even occurred to me that perhaps it was coming from her.

There was one small problem. It was January, and the ocean in Santa Monica is much too cold to enter – much less enjoy – even in July. So I went to the beach to strike a deal with Olokun.

“I will bring you cookies and small bottles of bourbon and do my Tensegrity exercises in your waters at dawn, if you will warm up your waters to accommodate me.”

“It’s a deal,” my new best girlfriend seemed to say in the rays of a warm sunny smile and the music of lapping waves.

And thus it began.

There are rules if you are courting the goddess of the ocean. You must remove your shoes and leave them at the edge of the beach. Walk barefoot when approaching, back away when you are leaving.

You give her the same respect that you would give to royalty or perhaps a guru. I had no problem with any of that. So, trusting that I was being guided to begin my exercises at dawn, which gave me time to get to my little $8 an hour clerk job on time, I followed the still small voice within and approached the ocean. It was an amazing winter. From January till March I met the ocean on new terms. I would wake at dawn several days a week and hurry to greet my new friend. Even though I took gifts, I was still simply amazed each time I waded in and felt the bathtub warmth of the water hit me. Olokun was keeping her agreement.

I had to laugh later when I heard at one of the workshops that Carlos actually hated the ocean. This original idea of mixing the classes with a new experience of the ocean was indeed magical, and oddly enough, and to my delight, was mine.

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