No Yawns with Yalo

Somewhere at the intersection of getting older, and wisdom is a sharp right to - you’ve arrived. Eyes wide open. Usually before sunlight, and as often as a few times a week. One of the perks to aging, not needing an alarm clock. And, waking up at 4:00am from something to worry about. By nature I’m a bit of a worrier and if I’m not worrying, that worries me. Yet a big bonus for Anya my awesome hair stylist who covers my greys, going on every three weeks. On the flip side to worry Wanda thoughts, are the perks to getting older. Seeing treasures when least expected, while playing in the land of perspective.

 Luna, my dog-ter can sleep harder than most humans (certainly me). Her bladder is part dog, part camel, preferring the pillow to drool on, than any tree to get up and pee on. And as I lay next to her with the sound and stench of her stinky stale breath, I’m doubly comforted by the sound of the coffee brewing. My forever life partner, till death do we part. Oh, of course Luna, yes! But I’m talking coffee. And as my sister once awkwardly described during a posh meeting with Executives in London: “There’s nothing quite like having something warm inside you first thing in the morning.” Whoops. Seems that “rewind mouth” condition runs throughout my family. But well described, when it comes to our love of coffee.

Mornings have always been my favorite time of day. I live near a park that is surrounded by trees, mountains, and is beautifully serene. Much like the setting of a Folger’s commercial except mine dripped from my loyal Walgreens Mr Coffee maker. With mug in tow, I began the hike down the trail. Walking is usually where I come up with most of my material. I love to unplug and let the thoughts roam. Just have to remind myself to look up. Last time I got lost while posting pics.

It was one of those mornings that no one was on the trail. And just at the bend where the soil met gravel, and title to one of my all time favorite books Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shell Silverstein, I saw something faintly in the distance. I squinted with every muscle in my face to try and see what it was (with my glasses on no less)..and walked a bit closer. And there he was. A gentle wizard carving wood by hand sitting perched on a rock, with a pile of sticks beside him.

“Good morning.” I said smiling while Luna walked ahead sniffing his stack. He nodded, and smiled back exhaling visible breaths into the chilled dewey air. I glanced behind him where a collection of the most beautiful statues stood on the roof of his Toyota Corolla. 

“These are incredible, did you make these?” I asked in amazement. 

The craftsmanship and detail was like nothing I’d ever seen.  

“Yes, I make them from sticks of the forrest. I come early in the morning to start my day.”  

From that day forward, I looked forward to mornings with Yalo.  Despite how early or how tired. I looked forward to visiting my friend, a 76 year old Iranian American veteran musician, and 30 year sculptor with the jolliest laugh. My new friend who shared the love of mornings, coffee and the park. Often we’d share a laugh at that time of day, just early enough that traffic hadn’t awoken by engine or by foot, where peace was met by pieces of wood, and mornings were beautifully carved by eyes wide open.

Holy Sh*t

I used to live across the street from a church. Growing up with parents as German, Chilean Jews from NJ, that was not exactly a pre-requisite. But, having lived in LA for 20 years, I needed a change. So I moved just 10 miles outside of LA to Pasadena where I was the youngest within a six block radius, was surrounded by elastic waist pants, beautiful trees vs syringes on sidewalks, and dated store fronts, vs mannequins in g-strings. Clean, simple, and safe. Basic gist? - I’m now skipping to Vince Guaraldi’s Charlie Brown Xmas in my head, and living inside a Talbott’s catalogue. And while there isn’t much edge in my hood, there are a few places to go out. The Ice House comedy venue was around the corner, and it’s a perfect neighborhood for a nice walk with my pup, Luna..Turns out, that church across the way also became a great place for a laugh. The day Luna took a dump on the church lawn. She didn’t care, I mean how would she know it wasn’t the place to go? She saw the green, aimed, crouched, and went. She didn’t stand in the way of herself unlike what many of us do. Now I’m not encouraging you to go outside and go crap somewhere, but you too can learn that your surroundings and perceptions are the incubator for humor. Hence, that smelly turd? Turned into a holy sh*t. How life’s commonalities can be a great ground for finding the funny. Look around you.. it begins with perception.. what do you see?

Gibberish

I used to always dream of speaking several languages. Bust out in French at a cafe, German when getting a traffic ticket, Spanish while ordering a Cosmo, and Russian to just freak people out. As a kid, I’d fake arguments in my German “Gibberish” with my friend Karin from Littlebrook School aka: Katia from Viddle-Schnick-Stroodenvicht. The coolest thing I learned by doing this, is that folks always wondered where we were from, and wanted to understand. Yet when we’d change our “arguing gibberish” into reminiscent hysteria, on lookers would also bust out laughing. Even though they had no idea who we were, and what, or why, we all ended up laughing.

What became clear, then and now, is that despite our ethnic backgrounds or native tongues, we are all laugh-lingual. Laughter is a universal language. An expressive way of communicating that everyone understands, is drawn to, has no expiration date, and effectively connects. Words deliver thoughts, and humor is translated through our points of view, and the emotions we feel. 

20 Signs of Aging:

“Plastic Surgeon started following me. So I turned around and yelled SLOW DOWN, and CUT IT OUT!” - Susanna Spies

 “With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.”― William Shakespeare

“Middle age is when your age starts to show around your middle”- Bob Hope 

20 Signs of Aging:

1. Passing out before midnight. On new years eve. Sober.

2. Wearing elastic waist maternity pants, and you’re not a mom.

3. Hairs growing randomly; neck, collar bone, cheek. As thick as piano wires.

4. Waking up without an alarm , from something to worry about.

5. Hearing a song you like, and snapping to the beat.

6. Placing the word “the” in front of anything technical: “The email, the instagram, the pinterest”

7. Going shopping in your sweats from1981, flip-flops, and Linda Ronstadt t-shirt, and not giving a damn.

8. Knowing that The Blue Lagoon is also a movie, and Tattoo is also a person.

9. Not being sore from working out... b/c you’re not working out.

10. Trying to read the freeway sign, as you drive underneath it.

11. Conversations about Netflix, Costco, or Gluten free cheese dips at Trader joe’s.

12. Waiving goodbye to a friend, and your arm still wobbles 30 minutes later.

13. From bikini’s, stiletto’s and club med auditions, to spanx, lime freezer, and all you can eat at Coco’s.

14. Receiving flyers about nail fungus, AARP, and burial plots addressed to you directly.                                                         

15. Looking at where you park after shopping, repeating the garage level 50 times in your head, and forgetting once you get to the elevator.

16. Placing the garage ticket in your purse, loosing the ticket, and blaming your purse.

17. Using the word purse.

18. Getting tech help from a 23yr old at the genius bar, and feeling like a retired vet in the idiot lounge.

19. Using the words dear, trousers, and hosting game night. 

20. Forgetting this last reason.

I’ve fallen … but I CAN get up.

The country sits in a shattered state.

A broken state. A righteous state. A tampered state.

Finding ways to get through it all can be the biggest challenge.

From social media platforms yelling off the screen to the electricity of venom and expression being poured onto the screens. The need and desperation to reach, be heard, and seek validation and connection is vital. As I type on these keys, imperative, and as I reflect, and listen, loudly. Silence can be deafening, and so here goes, won’t you join me?

I invite you to think about a few things as we embark on the political turmoils we are faced with.

You can post in the comments below!

1)    What one thing did you think about this morning, that got you out of bed?

2)    How can you make a difference to action vs thought?

3)    When can you find time to shift and change a pattern that isn’t serving you or others you care for?

4)    What can you do, to release and become proactive towards construction vs destruction?

5)    What made you feel hopeful today?

6)    Why did you laugh today and how can you pay it forward?

When I was a kid, I’d go to camp and make god’s eyes. Although I was a jewish kid, and not really religious, it was the go to activity, aside from making taffy out of marshmallows, and dollhouses out of popsicle sticks. And there was always something about these activities that felt soothing. Maybe because I knew there was a snack after, or was a way to let the thoughts focus into a creation, but needless to say it welcomed quiet. A way to engage towards building and creating something colorful and new.  Something with a focal point, weaving together different textures and colors into an eventual pattern.

As an adult, my mic is the way to build that god’s eye. The yarn as ideas, chord weaving them together, and a mic being seen and heard. The world today needs a type of “god’s eye”- a way to build something in our own lives, and individuation to shape a design that demonstrates cohesiveness and alignment. Designs from our own perspectives, and yarns of color from the worlds we live in. At the end of the day, we have ourselves, despite our families, or backgrounds, or destinations, or origins. The room to grow is to reach within ourselves to step outside of ourselves, and find the How with the Will and the Yes to the No.

This arm wrestle is the ying and yang of life. Opposition is the sea saw to finding resolve and finding balance. Resolve starts by shifting perspective.

Try on your shoe on the opposite fott. Walk a block.. it will feel really uncomfortable and look bizarre, but in the end, after you take your shoes off, your feet will always be the same, but you will remember each step differently. Hey, you never know, something uncomfortable can be the best way to learn a whole new perspective, and make a road more comfortably travelled.