I'm in Tokyo at Ogawa-san's apartment near Takadanobaba Station.  Fumiko and I have been doing private sessions in the studio below.  Two nights ago it rained torrents and so we called for a pizza delivery!  $30, but worth not having to go out.

I've been here 3 days and so far we've had 2 dinner parties in our 2 favorite restaurants--with lots of friends, old and new, little plates of delicious food--sea food salad, chicken and beef barbequed on sticksy, agi-dashi tofu (lightly breaded tofu sauteed and swimming in a beautifully seasoned broth--noodle dishes) beer and sake. 

A common  story I hear in Japan has to do with the state of marriage in Japan--as lived out by real men and women.  Should I divorce my husband? is the question for many women.  Given the pandemic nature of lack of rapport between the sexes, (and the official concern about the very low birth rate of 0.99%--not enough new souls coming in to even replace the outgoing ones) it seems the government would be well rewarded to instigate some kind of official policy to support couples therapy.  Of course now the concept of one's going to therapy still carries overwhelming stigma.  But long hours at work where peopple come home exhausted only to wake up a few hours later and repeat the schedule is counter-productive to balanced family life.  It seems an issue that society must address--that it's too big almost to hope that individuals and couples can change their life styles on their own.

Today, lunch with Ogawa-san and the fast train to Nagano for the weekend conference.

Nice day.  Went for a walk in the morning with Robert, and then home to pack.  Gunther and I took Anders to see the movie, Over the Hedge--it's very good.  It's about how a family of little forager animals adapt to the suburban blight--the movie highlights our fast-food culture of FOOD FOOD FOOD.

I set up the playhouse in the back yard.

Talking about food, Sigrid emailed me about a dinner party she was going to last night with an Iron Chef theme (from the TV show about chefs competing with a secret ingredient.)  I asked her what her ingredient was, and she  wrote, "Secret ingredient is balsamic vinegar-- after much deliberation (i'm the 4th course, so I need to do meat) I have settled on bacon wrapped chicken breasts glazed ina pomegranate balsamic glaze with rosemary couscous bed. Possible edible flowers as a flourish... love, Sig."

Tomorrow is her birthday, but I'll be on the plane to Japan....

Back May 31st, but perhaps I can blog from Japan.... 

I've just added the new weekly forecast, but the format is not right and Robert is at a conference today, so I can't call him to tell me what to do to fix it!  Also the chart order page is not working right today, so I am having to be patient with everything.

I was a patient over the weekend.  I unexpectedly came down with a rather virulent infection while co-teaching the mothers and daughters class with my daughter, Sigrid, at Esalen on Saturday.  After the morning break, Sigrid had to drive me to Monterey Community Hospital--over an hour away from Esalen.  Transferring to Kaiser, I stayed in the hospital until Monday afternoon, and Sigird finished up the class.   The class was a big success and I'm, needless to say, very proud of Sigrid's carrying on without me and completing the class so well.

Oddly, at the Kaiser Hospital, one of the night nurses recognized my name, and came in to say hi.  He had taken one of my classes at the Learning Annex, and made sure I had a quiet room.  I am very grateful.  Then, when Robert came to pick me up (we borrowed Fumiko's car) we had trouble with the battery twice!  However, in both cases, we got immediate help, and were on our way within minutes.  One of the students had taken my belongings to her house in Oakland, so I was able to pick up all my things on the way home.  For a stressful situation, where everything seemed to be going the wrong way, each time a kind of synchronistic hand from the Universe kept offering assistance. 

 I'm very happy to be home, and very grateful to the miracle of antibiotics!  It was looking serious for awhile, but I feel great now.  I'm catching up on the blog, and the forecast, but will be happy when Robert gets back so he can fix the PROBLEMS! 

Just got back from yoga.  Eliza and I walked there and back tonight.

I took an evening stroll last night at 8 pm.  Very unusual for me to walk at this time, but the balmy  twilight was irresistible.  The rewards delectable:  stillness, fragrance, and colors that glow best in dusk.  At 220 Carmel (my favorite number 22 as always), just a block behind my house, an amazing succulent garden gushes forth.  It's old, because the plants are, as Eliza would say, gi-normous.  The round fat succulents (are those called hens and chicks?) were blooming with tall, Christmas-tree shaped yellow cones of blossoms.  Unbelievable.  At dusk, they glow like acid-trip Christmas aliens.  It was well worth it!  What an adventure, and so close to home.

Three consultations today.  It seems everyone is struck by the idea of cleaning out their storage bins.  I'm the right person to talk about with that idea.

A student from my class at Discover U in Seattle, wrote with this feedback about her numerology chart and a name question:

"I received the charts and enjoyed reading them very much.  It was amazing how much I resonated with so much of the information.  3 and 9 have always been significant in my life.  The charts help to clarify their importance even more.

I had expected my married name chart to be very different from my birth chart and was surprised to see that it really was in harmony with my birth chart.  Both were very insightful.

I have one question. 
What is the significance, if any, of those women who chose to change from their married name back to their birth name or a completely different name?   Ramona

To Ramona, I wrote:

 
I am one of those women you are curious about.  I felt the need to change my name after my first divorce because I was no longer Mrs. So and So.  Even though my kids had their father's name, I didn't feel it necessary for my name to be the same as theirs.  On the other hand, I had no desire to return to my maiden name.  That felt, energetically, like going backwards (I didn't want to return to that "young, insecure" self that I felt myself to be under my maiden name.)

I chose Adrienne because I always like the sound of it.  It is also my daughter's middle name.  I was going to spell it Adrian because it looked more like a middle name, but then I changed to Adrienne because the numerological impact was that it matched my Birthpath number (11/2).
Carol

I just came back from a short evening walk.  It's so beautiful out tonight--shadows painted with low-hanging leaves catching the last rays.  Curiously quiet, with occasional far-away cheers and clapping from a softball game in the park.  All the gardens are spilling flowers after the rain, Santa Barbara daisies are my favorite--little pink and white flowers always exuberant and joyfully plain.  Satin, riotous California Golden poppies are everywhere--in traffic cirlces,  front yards, vacant lots--the only beautiful thing-- and in the cracks of median strips-- bursting out like silky little banners announcing that summer is on the way.

I'm glad to be home.

Seattle was great--very fun classes with great people.  Great visit with Gary McAvoy and dinner with his friends John and Sadie,  talking until too late at night.

Anders earned his yellow belt and came over to tell me Sunday morning.  Augie said his first sentence, Mo  oh  pease.   More orange please.

Two one-minute calls with Sigrid--we both are too busy to talk!  Mother and daugther!  We have to be telepathic now.  

Longer talk with  Fumiko in Japan, hearing the latest plans for later in the year.  Very exciting. Things unfold at their own rate. 

Here's a new acronym    TBTB.  Too busy to blog.

It's 9 pm and I am finishing up packing to go to Seattle tomorrow.  Since the last time I blogged I have been barely keeping up with the incoming activity.

It's all good.  Karla Nagel is here again from Mexico, and Fumiko and I had dinner with her.  We have an exciting new idea.  Will tell more next week.

So many synchronicities have been popping up, I haven't had time to write everything down.  I really feel that I am living by the intuitive navigating system.  I had lunch with author and entrepreneur, Jim Horan (he wrote The One-Page Business Plan.)  I wasn't sure why I was having lunch, but my intuition said to go for it.  I was busy and could have used the time in another way.  But our conversation yielded several great ideas, that I have already implemented. I've given his name to Ellen F--maybe she can invite him to speak at her trade show in Las Vegas.  He got me to thinking about how to reach more people with numerology--how others could make money with numerology.  I was thinking, Oh, I should call Felix in Amsterdam and give him a tip on the new seminar flyer, but I thought he had it already done.

When I got home I had a call from Ingebord in Amsterdam with some seminar problems.  We made a list, and I was able to give her my new ideas.  She had been feeling bad that the flyer was behind schedule, but I said, No, Ingeborg, this is PERFECT!  She wanted to work more synchronistically, and that's exactly what happened.  She was following her intution to call me with questions, and I already had the solutions.  It was magical.

 Then I got a message that Abhi Naha in London wants to organize an informal dinner the night before the Utrecht seminar.  How fun!  We'll meet some new people.  Anyone can sign up for it.  I should do this more often with foreign seminars.  We all need to meet each other.

 Meanwhile, I drove Fumiko to SFO last night to fly back to Tokyo.  I found an old project that may be interesting, so I gave it to her to present to the editor.  Who knows?

The energy is flowing so strongly, I almost can't take any more in.  

I finished the best memoir by Eudora Welty--One Writer's Beginnings.  Rainey lent it to me, and I devoured it.  I realize how little time we all spend reading really good literature, and how much we read stuff like this--which is okay, but not professional quality writing that is so juicy you want to put it in your mouth and eat it.

Speaking of which, I finished off two pork chops in the refrigerator, and made the best mustard, sherry, cream sauce!  Also sauteed the eggplant to go with it.  Delicious and so simple.  Must remember.  Gotta pack.

It's Saturday.  Cloudy, quiet, sleepy.  Last night I gave a short talk at the East Bay Church of Religious Science on the Control Dramas from The Celestine Prophecy.  They were showing the movie for the second time.  There must have been over a hundred people.  It was nice to see Rev. Andriette Earl again after a couple of years.  We taught a class together before on life purpose.  She has a huge energy field and emanates warmth, humor, and rock-bottom commitment to the path.

My new business cards arrived, and I realized they have the exact same color combination as the Kilim rug in my kitchen--in all my rooms, actually.  Red, black, orange, and a touch of white.  I love them!

 Friends are coming over for dinner.  I think I'll make a chicken and sausage gumbo and Fumiko is going to make a lemon cake with coconut on the outside--maybe raspberries on top.

Robert and I were going to go bowling but we changed our plans.  He's working in the kitchen right now to change my laptop so that it can download Skype--then I could talk to Japan through the computer for free!  Fumiko leaves next Tuesday for Japan.  I've got my ticket for leaving on May 22--Sigrid's birthday.  But I'll see her and Trevor, Chloe and Jim next week.  We'll celebrate then! 

The rain is STILL pounding down outside my window!

I still love the rain, though, when I'm inside and can hear its steady patter.

I had a very nice reminder of the importance of letting go this week.  Fumiko and I had been trying to set up a schedule for a seminar in Japan and nothing was working.  We felt stopped and unclear about what to do next.  After a few days, we decided to just let go of our original idea.  The moment we "surrendered," we felt relief.

Within two days of our decision, Fumiko received  an invitation to participate in a conference in Nagano in May.  This time everything just flowed.  With perfect timing, our schedules  were open for this unexpected opportunity.

Without any effort on our part, we now have an event scheduled and several other opportunities to do business and see friends.

It seems that sometimes you have to stop doing what is not working and let something else come into your life.  Once you stop or let go, you create a void.  Into that void new energy will flow. 

 It's dinner time now--salmon, salad, potatoes.  Later babysitting.  More rain.

I am leaving for Los Angeles at 3 pm today.  I have lots of library picture books for Trevor and Chloe and some new paints, construction paper, and a box of craft items to make fuzzy people with big googly eyes.

It's interesting how many things we are exposed to every day.  Today it feels like a rain of sorrow, hopes, and fears--a promise of new collaborations, and lots and lots of details, and emails.  Sorrow--a friend called yesterday to tell me that her girlfriend had been murdered by her lover.  Shocking.  A reader shares her son's suicide.  Tragic.  Another friend called today who is suddenly freaking out at the purchase of a high-priced piece of property. We recognize her liftetime pattern for risk-attraction, and decide it's okay to move forward.

This morning's newspaper's front page features tiny, starving children and families in Kenya--and I'm eating breakfast.

My world expands in and out as Icorrespond with the organizer of my seminar in Amsterdam, and the people in Santa Fe for next Fall's tour.  Undeliverable messages crowd my email after sending out my newsletter--more work to be attended to.

For now it's back to the fuzzy people with googly eyes for awhile.

Sunday, Fumiko, Robert, and Ellen Falcinelli are going to see a screening of The Celestine Prophecy movie in Walnut Creet at Unity Center.