Glorious Glorietta

Last weekend I was in New Mexico to do spiritual chefery for a Lench workshop held at the home of my dear friends Lauren & Mark. Their adobe home situated on top of a mountain in glorious Glorietta that overlooks vistas of heaven is an incredible place to visit and gather together to facilitate health and well being. The day was full with blessings, love, and dreams coming true. Full with inspiration and upliftment. Full with people gathered to love each other, support each other, and nourish each other.

Along those lines, there was a story told by Lench that I want to share with you. It was towards the end of the day, and we were doing a gift exchange. Everyone had brought a wrapped gift, something that they were ready to give away and share with another. We each had chosen our gifts, and we were giving, one by one, the story behind the gift we had given to the person who had chosen our gift. One person gave a carved water buffalo that he had bought when he was doing a tour in Vietnam during the war. He spoke of the inspiration and comfort the water buffalo and pictures he associated with it, had given him over the decades. This giving triggered Lench to share a story of when he served as a tunnel rat in Vietnam during the war. People explained tunnel rats had very short life expectancies, so that Lench surviving to share stories is a great gift and miracle. Lench began his story by telling us how he had meet a family in Vietnam, and he began talking to them and asked them about their version of heaven and hell. One of the boys in the family, said "o, that's easy, in hell there is a big bowl of rice in the center, and there's lots of people, but they all have 4 foot chop sticks. Heaven the boy said is very much set up like hell, there is a big bowl of rice in the center, lots of people, 4 foot chop sticks, but in Heaven everyone feeds each other." I loved that story. How perfect! Let's feed each, nourish each other, support each other, and create heaven.

Another story from that day that I really liked was shared to me by a friend I hadn't seen in a long time, Kathy. Kathy told this story from a tape she listens to often. It goes like this, there's this man being chased by a tiger, the man finds he's running straight towards the edge of a cliff, as he gets to the edge of the cliff, the tiger is close behind him, he spots a vine, he lowers himself down on the vine. As he lowers himself down , he sees there is tiger below waiting for him. There's a tiger above, and below, and he's hanging on a vine between them, when he notices an ant chewing the vine he's hanging from. In that moment he looks in front of him and sees a very big, red strawberry. He reaches out and takes a bite of that strawberry. End of story. My bet is if this story had continued when it was told to me, would be that the man would begin to see and enjoy more strawberries, and by doing so more opportunities would manifest, perhaps a cave could manifest, in the cave could be treasures that this man had been dreaming of, and on and on. I like the story most because there is always a strawberry in our lives no matter what craziness is presenting itself. This story reminds me moment to moment to enjoy the strawberry right in front of my nose.