Ohm, Shakti!

Dearest Shakti,

What an amazing weekend I had last. While I initially had plans to head out for a long hike on Saturday and perhaps catch Beginners over in Shirlington. Well, neither of those happened. As I was lying in bed Saturday morning trying to get my ass motivated and decide what I was going to do, I checked the weather bug quickly to see what the dear girl had to say. And what she informed me of was a chance of showers in the morning and definite showers by the afternoon. Looks like a hike is out of the question. I thought to myself.

I instead decided to stay in all day and work on some creative projects I’d been meaning to do the past several months but could never seem to find the time.

One of the things that I’d been struggling to get done is take a new gravatar photo for the blog, etc. So Saturday morning, I dug out the grease paint, set up the photo floods and took several shots of myself painted up in quasi-tribal make up. While I was working on those, I found myself in a groove and decided that I wanted to take a few shots of myself out of the gravatar drag.

So I jumped in the shower, got myself all cleaned up and took a few random shots to use when I’m trolling Craigslist for a little fun. The photo that I typically send is rather old. And while it’s closely representative of what I look like, I still feel as tho’ I need an updated photo to share with others.

As I was taking those, I got the idea to take a few nudes of myself—which I did. Talk about a moment to get one’s insecurities standing at attention (along with other things). I’m in a little better shape than usual, so I didn’t look half bad for an old geezer. I liked all the poses, however, very few of them turned out as they were “jump in” shots taken with the auto timer. I’ll need to get my friend R. to take a few of me in the same poses at a later date.

I suppose due to having gravatars on my mind, for some reason, I had a free association moment later in the evening and decided to watch James Cameron’s Avatar. I bought it several months ago after hearing a brief interview with him as part of an episode of a podcast I listen to semi-regularly.

Oh (dramatic pause) my (dramatic pause) gawd. All I can say is amazing! One of the subtexts of the story that I found to be the most amazing is the idea that the Na’vi are able to communicate with nearly every aspect of their natural world through a group of tendrils in a braid of their hair which are very much like fiber-optic cables that provide an uplink to other organisms. This is an idea that is similar to a concept that is part of the Huna belief system.

According to Huna we have a field of energy that is known as aka that surrounds our bodies. It’s very similar to the concept of an aura. However, what’s slightly different in the Huna viewpoint is that this energy can form threads. These threads can form cords which can be attached to each other. So as with the Na’vi we can form bonds with others via aka cords. There are times when we can form very profound connections with others and these bonds can last quite a long time.

And the very next day after watching Avatar, I had just such an experience that affirms that idea.

Last weekend I decided to burn incense and offers prayers to Lakshmi as I’m in a money and prosperity needing kind of way these days. So Saturday I set up the resin incense burner in the living room, lit a candle, ignited the incense and said the prayer to Lakshmi I found on the interwebs. As I said the prayer, I sent the energy forth more in the area of financial prosperity as opposed to relationships and love—then went about my business to take care of other things needing to be taken care of in the apartment.

Then Sunday, I decided to instead burn the incense on my prayer and mediation altar. I got everything ready, once again lit a candle, ignited the incense, and said the prayer to Lakshmi. Only this time, I put forth the intention of finding love and to attract (as much as I hate this phrase) a perfect partner.

I had literally just finished saying the prayer and igniting the incense when the Xoom chirped to let me know that I had a message. Curious, I thought. I picked up the Xoom and discovered that I had a message from whom of all people—FBB. “Are you free tonight?” his message inquired. I let out a good laugh and responded with a simple “Yep.”

After a bit of back and forth, we settled on 7 and he showed up at my door promptly at the appointed hour. We usually get together during the day and rarely have the time to slow down and enjoy ourselves when we get together. It was so nice to not have to worry about him having to run off to pick up the kids or have to get back to work.

However, one of the most interesting things was something he told me as we were laying in bed talking. He mentioned that he’d been on a date with a woman recently and that he really liked her (It’s funny how he always manages to drop these bombs after we have sex.). He said that she’s very attractive, quirky and really funny and that he hopes it goes somewhere.

I told him that I genuinely hope that it works out as well. The funny thing is that I didn’t just say it be nice or encouraging. I really meant it. This for me is absolutely amazing, as there was a time I would have kicked him out of the bed, buck naked, and told him to get the fuck out of my home and never come back.

Wow. Growth. Go figure.

Sending you much love!