Expiry Date

This Bruxmania bloomed inside my studio recently. I thought the plant had stopped blooming for this season but it seems to have liked the move inside and the dose of fertilizer. I feel the same way sometimes: a period of creativity ends and I feel burnt out. All it takes is a change of scene and new inspiration and there I go again. That is spirituality at work, like this pure white, light-filled flower, in itself a perfect mandala.

Do you buy things that have a "best before" date that has passed? The product was still good yesterday..... but today it is no longer up to standard. How many of us buy it anyway at a lower price and figure it is still good, that we got a deal? I used to. Now I ask myself if it's not a better deal to let it go. If I didn't have it on my shopping list, I don't need it. "Enough is a feast" is a way to be self-sufficient. After the expiry date has passed, there is no guarantee of quality, no more refunds and maybe there is a risk to our health. Whoever made it says it isn't good anymore.

I was wondering if the expiry date is there to check out how "poor" we feel and to check out our values. A long time ago, I lived in the Alps and had employees from Sri Lanka. They were asylum seekers with nothing but a small bag of belongings. It was amazing to see how these people coped with the trauma they left behind and their new environment (by sticking together, having a dream for a better future, making music). One day I ordered fish from the local supplier. The Sri Lankans had a look at it and said they would not eat it. They were used to fish that had just left the water it lived in hours before. It took time to get the fish to where we lived, so maybe the freshness was pushing the expiry date. It was not good enough for the ("poor") asylum seekers but it good enough for us.

What is good enough and what is past the expiry date? I would like to investigate it in keeping with my intent to have spirituality as the main theme of my blog. In moments of doubt, I look for inspiration from Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who said "It is difficult to be materialistic. All the important things in life cannot be bought". My other source of truth and wisdom is my very own Divine Bean (see my labels list).

Divine Bean says:
Dear Marlana, you can trust your instincts every time. Ask: is it good for me? Take only what is good for you. Don't worry about the last time or the next time. Right now tune in and trust the answer.

Thank you, thank you as always my Divine Bean!

Spirituality

A recent visit from my son John, a computer genius who was kind enough to format my new computer, helped me know more about blogs. He gave me a little booklet by Quamet that said a blog needs to have a "content with a purpose" that I can stick to. Othwerwise, it's just a facebook.

The title of this post is the purpose of my blog. I write about making art, my daily work, Nature and mysteries. These are all forms of spirituality to me. Something divine and timeless is expressing Itself in endlessly fascinating ways.

In today's post. I would like to introduce some people I work with. We all have similiar tasks in this factory that produces ready-made meals but, in some ways, the factory is like an ashram! We wear white and follow a strict daily program. We repeat and repeat. We all focus on one goal. We sacrifice. One difference is that Ashrams are usually in a secluded, inspiring, natural location...ours is noisy, stinky and ugly. Oh well. Still, in this uninspiring environment, I found beauty in the other people who work with me.

At the top meet Wil from Florida. He is a trained electrician who still needs to get his permit here. His goal is to save up some money and start a new life in Canada. He is fun to work with, waving to me and smiling across the huge production halls. I love his Florida accent!

Then, middle left, you see Andree. She took care of her elderly mother and younger dependent sister all her life; now her mother is going into a home and Andree is going out to work and moving out of her home into an apartment with her sister. She is showing me her fingertips all blistered from sorting deep-fried food all day. Somehow, she still smiles!

To the right is Xin (pronounced Sing) from China. She speaks only Chinese and the strangest sounding "French" I ever heard, but we communicate pretty well. Her parents borrowed money to send her to Canada so she could save up enough money to pay the debt and bring them over. She didn't like the first picture I took of her so she posed for this one and o.k.'d it. She looks serious but actually giggles a lot.

Then at the bottom meet Laurie, a local women who has done a lot of amazing things in her life and is now settled into collecting some revenue to retire on. I wouldn't be surprised if that handsome guy in her production line whisks her away to a new romantic adventure. She cheers me up every time we have a break together. Is it her smile or her gorgeous green eyes?

There are about 20 other people from work I could blog about...but I am definately the only one in there who takes pictures or wears a cotton bonnet with flames or chili peppers under her hair net or eats lunch on a porcelaine plate (instead of a plastic one). Xin wanted to take a picture of me.....yes, next time!