It’s been a long time since I wrote anything here. I left off with being vigilant only for God and His Kingdom, which meant handing my mind over to Jesus. I let go of a lot of things, but I retained a few practices that have been serving me well for some time. I have Scoliosis and have been doing http://www.somaticmovementcenter.com exercises for about three years, and I kept that up, as well as self-massage with Ayurvedic oils, which has solved my dry skin problem. And, in the last month, since moving to http://www.panorama.org, I’ve been lap-swimming every other day. So, I’m now doing the massage and scoliosis exercises on the days I don’t swim. I was encouraged to swim by 1) my own guidance, and 2) the book Deep Fitness by Philip Shepherd and Andrei Yakovenko. The research has proven that physical strength is the greatest determinant of overall well being for elders.
In May, my wife saw that interest rates were about to rise and decided to put our 1903 Portland house on the market a month earlier than we’d planned. Because we’ readied it for sale the previous fall and had lived in the basement BnB since then, there was little work to do before putting it on the market, and it sold in two days. So, we were able to move into our new home June 1st, opening day. We’ve worked hard all our lives, so living at Panorama is an incredible experience. Everything but housekeeping is done for us and the amenities are amazing. It’s a very laid back community of elders! We have a 250-seat auditorium/theatre that is just a 1/2 block from our home, and an aquatic/fitness center just another 1/4 block farther. We’re near the center of pretty much all the community events.
With help from my son and a friend, we packed a 16 x 8 x 8 ft Pod and shipped that off in mid-May, and then rented a 15 ft U-Haul for the rest, filling the middle with Karen’s potted plants. We drove up June 1st and unloaded the truck that afternoon so we could turn it in the next morning. The Pod arrived a week later and we had a week to unload that. So, we did everything ourselves, which is pretty unusual for folks here, but it felt great, just like it had to do so much of the rehab on our Portland house as we got it ready for sale. And, now we can just relax, and we’re letting that sink in.
I’m taking forgiveness to the next level: I’m eliminating contention from my life. Before I moved, I’d cut my ties to partisan groups and was only engaged with neutral/bipartisan not-for-profit organizations. But, since moving here, I’ve cut my ties to everything political and most organizations that are involved in conflict of any kind. The only ones I’m still involved with are doing remarkable, radical projects that are cooperative and non-conflictual, and I’m mostly supporting individuals whose work I admire and am learning from. I guess you could say, I’ve eliminated a lot of the shoulds that still had a bit of guilt at their foundations. And, I’ve become quite vigilant for critical thoughts directed at anyone, including myself. This is giving me a deeper feeling of relaxation in social situations than I’ve ever known before. I’m at peace with the way things are, and I know that matters more than anything else in this world.
I never understood this before. I thought non-partisan people were afraid to take a stand. You know, like they were tacitly supporting the status quo, despite its obvious faults, because they didn’t want to make waves or engage in unnecessary conflict. This is an especially big issue right now, as the world is deeply divided. But, I finally know and feel deeply how important it is to hold to the truth within and not take sides; to support each and every individual, in their spirit, without feeling compelled to support their chosen courses. I am here for the love, which is at the heart of everyone and everything.
Michael Valentinus Wilson 