Another blast from the past. A time jump from my last post about my childhood. I will go back, but for now, here I am with my sister Crystie soon after we arrived in New York City. By this point, I had lived on three continents, seven cities, and attended eight different schools. I actually loved school and had some fabulous teachers including my most influential teacher, Mr. Jim Mohan who took us to the San Francisco Zen Center where I first learned about zazen. He encouraged me to write plays, make movies, listen to music, and read, read, read. I loved walking the streets of NY. I had a lot of adventures in the big apple. The first time I entered Central Park, a man wearing a raincoat approached me, smiled, and then opened up his coat to reveal his naked body. He was what they called “a flasher”. This was the first time I saw an adult man completely naked. He was very pale and had a lot of body hair. I ran out of the park, all the way back to our little apartment with blue walls on 89th and Lexington. That was the summer before I started attending Dalton School where I advanced my academic studies as well as my interest in dance, theater, and fine arts. One day, my dance teacher brought in a special guest. She taught us meditation and gave us each a mantra. Since then, Meditation has helped keeps me grounded and brought space into my life helping me navigate even the most challenging times.
