Great Ending to A Great Week – Quantum Creativity and More

Well I’ve left Italy, but the adventure continues as I’m spending a couple of days near Salzburg before returning to Vienna. In case you don’t recognize the name, that’s the location for the movie The Sound of Music, which I must have seen 30 times in my life.  Interestingly, my hostess here has never heard of it.

Ananda Tidbits:

I’m very grateful for my week at Ananda near Assisi. I’ve got a few more pictures to share from my time there before I switch countries on you… plus a few interesting tidbits that never made it in the previous 4 posts I wrote about my week.

*   I liked the doorknobs at Ananda. The button isn’t to lock the door, but acts the same way as when we turn the knob in Canada. You have to push the button to open and close the door.  The knob doesn’t turn.

*   If you see a sink in Italy that has no taps, it doesn’t mean it’s an automatic motion detection faucet. Look on the floor for a pedal – still great against germs though…

*   At first, I was surprised by the very thin bath towels that look and feel more like cotton tablecloths than  towels.  They’re highly effective, though, and sure would make traveling lighter than regular towels. Something to remember..

*   Even if Ananda was full for the long weekend, I ended up having a room with 3 beds to myself until my last night. Perfect as I get up earlier than most and go to sleep earlier too!

*    On my last night, Dana brought me to Assisi, and after a pizza dinner, I went to half the musical called Chiara di Dio (about the life and death of Saint Clare). After I had already bought my ticket, our waiter told us about a special free concert at the Basilica. Dana had already seen my show twice, so she was glad to hear of another opportunity. She went to that spectacular concert and met me back at my theatre at the intermission. The sign at the door of my show had advertised it as a one-hour show, but it turned out to be a special 2-hour performance that would have ended much too late for both of us (having started at 9:30pm), so I only got to see half. Still, I’m glad. We both enjoyed our evenings, and were thrilled to get back home to bed. I quietly entered my room, where my new roommate was soundly sleeping. I left the next morning to blog and do yoga before she woke up.  Interesting sharing a room with a mystery person. Oh, almost forgot – it was so cool walking back to our parking through tunnels built around old Roman ruins that had to be integrated into the design by law.

Quantum Creativity:

Starting Friday, I participated in the Quantum Creativity workshop at the Academy of Art, Creativity and Consciousness. Dana basically made links between spirituality (concepts of oneness and consciousness / matter explained by monks of centuries past) and quantum physics (that I had been introduced to years ago in the wonderful movies called “What the Bleep Do We (K)now” and “Down the Rabbit Hole”). She then brought those together in the realm of creativity.

It was a great weekend. Part was theory, part was sound and movement, part was artistic exploration and expression, and part was sharing. We were only two, plus an Italian translator for my wonderful classmate, Maria Gracie. When no translator was around, however, we managed fine with Italian, French and sign language. She was a truly delightful classmate.

There were some magical moments in the workshop, culminating in the formation of an embodied mantra inspired by our collection of art. The bit of poetry below came out of that shared exercise.  I put some of my affirmations together. Each line was inspired by either one of my artistic pieces or one of Maria Grazia. After looking at one of my pieces, she contributed the line on sweet serenity that I used as my title.  This poem will give you an idea of what Dana succeeded in opening up in us through the gifts of her program.

Sweet Serenity

I am
Joyfully dancing through this journey of life,
Spinning around and around.
Letting go of all that doesn’t serve me on this delightful path.
I am
The dance of the angels –
Pure joy, pure expression, pure life.
I am fire, always regenerating.
Circles of light spiral within the ocean of my being.
I am
God unfolding within – all that came before and all that is.

As above so below
Flying high
Going with the flow

I am
Rainbows of gold – pure essence as was, is, and ever will be.
I am
A magical seed of love,
A drop from the heavens,
Surrounded and supported always,
I am
One with all that is Light.

In peace I live.
With equanimity I feel.
In Light I grow and expand.
Sweet serenity is embracing me.
I am.

Goodbye for now Ananda – Italy

After another beautiful service on Sunday, followed by a huge feast, Helmut easily fit my roll of canvas in his car, which has a special little hole for skis – perfect for my paintings  (see previous post for the full story on my painting project this past week as artist in residence). We had a beautiful 9-hour ride towards Salzburg, engaged in conversation about life and unconditional love the whole way (with the occasional expressions of awe as we drove through the Alps at sundown!)  I can’t believe it was nine hours – felt more like two. I may not be able to do small talk, but the deeper stuff, no trouble. Manifesting this ride for me and my painting was a true blessing. Although I didn’t see Venice  (which so many back home thought I was moving to and not Vienna), I know we were really really close. The water was mere centimeters away on the GPS.  We had to make good time, though, as Helmut had a business meeting the next day in Munich. I’m not complaining.   My adventure is far from over.

We arrived at Regine’s house in Ainring, Germany at midnight. It’s about 15 minutes from Salzburg, Austria. She had been at Ananda the week before and invited me to come and visit for a few days before I took the train back to Vienna. Great idea! I was asleep within 10 minutes and slept very well. I knew I would be spending at least a day with Regine, so I didn’t feel the need or desire to stay up any later to socialize.