st.chrony city

"Language is the means of dealing with the non-present world." -Robert Hall
"Where there is other, there is fear." The Upanishads

Another magical day in this neighborhood of planet earth.  I woke up on the soft futon bed, in Phoenix's apartement in Berkeley, welcomed by the bright light that came pouring through the deep, rectangle-shaped, skylight in the middle of her one-bedroom's ceiling.  It was lovely, to indulge, half-sleeping, bathed by some good beats from Pandora (you know Pandora, don't you?) while Phoenix got ready to go to work.
I too, was going to work.
I was meeting with Johnny at 9o'clock, at a Cafe outside of the Rockridge Bart station.  We were meeting...  "in clown".  It's just a little bit past rush hour in downtown Rockridge, and we're wearing red noses.  But that's not the most important thing happening... it's also extremely sunny and beautiful outside today!!  Let's see how people will react.  I think that my favorite part is those people who walk by and pretend not to have noticed that I'm wearing a big red nose on my face.  Maybe it has to do with reaction time in the human brain.  Maybe it's because we are socially trained...
Other people had smiles big as the sun brighten their faces.  Some kids got excited, some didn't know how to feel.  Johnny and I, we were just trying to be what we want to be.
So we tried to plan our "gig" at Salem where we're expected to perform forty-five minutes shows for three groups of elders, one of which composed of persons who suffer from alzheimer.  Swimming further in the pool of clown therapy.
It's about making a connection. With the heart.
I need some balloons.
What do they mean.. these balloons?  They are clouds made of the dreams and hope we see floating upward and away...  Metaphors, always.
Sipped an evil decaf coffee on the terrace of the Cafe, journaling about my experience of last night's Butoh class.  Greeted passers-by, made random comments.  I had license.  I wore the nose.
And to help the people trust you, show them your heart.
Reading Ken Wilber's Atman Project, revisiting concepts of the evolutions of consciousness... holding a lot. Breathing.
Took the train for SF around eleven o'clock.  As the train slithered loudly I thought, "I'm almost travelling... I feel free," and I watched the Berkeley Hills get smaller on the horizon...
Got to Claire's house a bit in advance, so I sat outside in the sunshine and read some more.  Wilber writes of "a transpersonal view of human development".  I'm a philosopher who works as a nanny... Claire is a little teacher.  I can't believe the chance I have had, to be in her life and grow alongside her and her family.  Wilber talks of oral and anal phases, and of the path to higher levels of Consciousness... I think of Claire's development.  Of her personality and her fate.  I think of the Mystery.
I let the Sun touch my face with its warm hand.

I don't know how it happened.  I told myself I would take time to exhale, and here I am, motivated to schedule all of these things... because they are all beautiful moments... rehearsal with a friend, dance class, theatrical event, free introduction to drama therapy, with a little bit of juggling here, and there... The irony is that "dropping out" of school coincides with all these opportunity to play with audiences: at Salem, and at Purusha yoga Studio's "Om Base", on Friday the 9th.
I wish I could do something at the Booksmith, but I'm starting to think it might be too much for me to chew, for the moment.
But I'm feeling good, inspired.  I'm going to learn how to play the ukulele.  I'll play some reggae and some Janis Joplin, some Beatles and some old classics from the 20s and the 30s.  I'm told that it can become a great way to connect and entertain these people with alzheimer.  I want to learn these songs, for them.
Malaika came over after dinner, and we started brain-storming about Om Base.  She works there.  She's putting this whole event together, or at least the 'show' part.  We have twenty minutes to make our offering... And I fear it won't be enough!  I mean... imagine the potential comedic material we can dram from the yoga world.
Turns out, Malaika and I could have very similar "aesthetics"... To be continued, as we plan on "rehearsing" in a couple of days.
I like my workdays.