Newsletter - 9/4/22

Intro ~

Since we last spoke I have traversed through New York City and Paris. and wow. I’m afraid I may have left a piece of my heart in Paris, though considering everything is functioning in tip-top shape I know I have all pieces of myself with me. The casual intention for my trip was to be completely present, to be a rainbow chameleon of life and let all colors and emotions wash over me and through me, to just receive the joy and love that is this adventure. Paris was the perfect place to spark this. Being there with Rose and Emma, friends who I love so much, walking in the city streets, eating croissants and whatever I wanted, speaking French with old men who asked if I needed help with directions, sitting by the Seine reveling in the beauty of life. All of these memories and moments I will hold close to my heart for a long time, and I cannot wait to go back. As I write, I am now on a meshek (farm) outside of Tel Aviv, visiting my sister and her boyfriend where they live. I’m sitting on the patio on the farm, looking out onto olive trees and donkeys, bright green yellow blue parrots are flying by, eating a mango that we picked from a tree yesterday. It took me a few days to settle in here, but after a swim and nap by the Mediterranean yesterday, I feel more at peace.

How do you enjoy life? ~

A few weeks ago I posed the question on Instagram, “let me know topics you’d like to see in the newsletter / podcast”. One question that I found to be so interesting was, “how do you enjoy life?” 

How do you enjoy life, as in me, Gaby? or how do you enjoy life as in You, a human on Earth? To me, they both have the same answer (although of course every human is magical and different and gifted and enjoy things in all different ways). My answer is, through loving awareness, gratitude, meditation, and being yourself. 

What do I mean when I say “loving awareness”? I mean awareness, through the lens of a loving eye. One note on the word love before I continue - many people have a lot of different associations with the word love. At the root of love, it is about oneness and connection, and if you are not there yet, that is okay. Try channeling and working with the energy of compassion instead. So - When I am walking down the street and I see a funny looking flower sprouting through the pavement, I pause for a moment and look at the flower with loving awareness. I see the beauty, the way it makes me giggle to myself, and maybe I take a photo to share the beauty I see with you all on Instagram or I whisper thank you and let it be. And then I move on with my life. Now the thing about me, is that this happens all the time everyday. I think I have conditioned my brain to see beauty in all things through the years of meditation and reading about the present moment and Buddhism. 

I let myself experience the full spectrum of emotions. I am someone who is meant to be impacted by life and to impact what is around me. I am someone who is meant to experience every emotion that being a human has to offer (the ugly and the profound). That is okay if that is not you :) My point is that the more that I have allowed myself to embrace all parts of me, instead of burying shame about being “too sensitive”, the more I enjoy life. I do believe that the amount you’re able to experience sadness/grief is directly proportionate to the amount that you’re able to experience joy/love, and I want that to be a large scale. When I let myself cry or scream about a frustration, I can’t help but notice that days later I am giggling up a storm with friends and have the most pure feelings butterflying up from my heart and spilling out of me with joy and sparkles. This is because I let myself feel the deep sadness that I am able to feel the magic of laughter. 

Although this is a short answer, that is how I enjoy life. By continually bringing my loving awareness to my breathe in the present moment, to the people and experiences I am with, and by letting myself be who I am in all versions of what that may be.

with heaps of love and gratitude!!

Gaby

Sparks from Paris ~

(objects, moments, nouns sparking desire / curiosity, what is lighting me up)

Eating pistachio ice cream

Walking and sitting along La Seine 

Long meals with friends

Walking in the city

Speaking French and having actual mini conversations with people 

The energy of the city <3

~ thank you thank you thank you ~ 

* see you next week, sending you beams of Reiki love through the ethers from my heart to yours *