Hitting my one week anniversary at Karme Choling. I love my time in the garden, learning how to work with plants, soil, water, micro-organisms, sun, temperature, and compost. I have a great group of co-workers including a very incredible supervisor, Jan, who is an excellent and passionate teacher about mindfulness and gardening.
Speaking of mindfulness, I am enjoying my cushion time -- got over my "hump" of resistance after a day of silence and sitting. I haven't yet found a comfort zone with some of the Buddhist rituals and traditions/teachings but am trying to remain open enough to allow it all to wash over me and let some things stick and other things go.
I didn't make it through a day in the women's staff dorm where I was initially assigned a top bunk -- me and the bunk did not mesh so I've been sleeping in a tent with my winter bag. This allows for a cold but restful night with me and the spiders vying for heat from the feathers which are rated to -20 degrees. All of this is preferable to low grade anxiety over 5 feet up in the air with another woman tossing and turning in the bunk below. I will stay in the tent until the weather forces me inside.
All in all, it's a good life. I apologize for not writing more about my experience. I think some of it is still percolating inside. Indeed, there is a significant amount of stuff shifting inside but it's tough to capture through words. Essentially, I know that I'm where I need to be for right now and I don't know for how long I will be here. It's not all comfortable but that too is a good thing and an opportunity for some of the rough places in me to smoothed.
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