As I sit on the lanai of my La Gomera San Jose studio apartment, I'm astounded at my life. Â
In the past few days I've had to resist a few fleeting pangs of guilt and fear about losing my medical knowledge, feeling overwhelmed already by how much there is in front of me to learn, not wanting to have one more thing on my plate that will distract me from Spanish. After enjoying the sunrise over the cliff this morning, I did my 10 minute meditation while waiting to see the sun rise over the mountain in front of me. Opening my eyes, I watched the sky create rainbows in the storm on the horizon, bringing a big smile to my face and my soul. The thing about practicing Spanish verb conjugation is that I can do it while staring off in the distance. Wow La Gomera, what a distance you've provided. Not only was I basking in this gift of nature, I was honing my Spanish brain, which was likely all the more stimulated to learn by these incredible surroundings. When I reached conjugation fatigue, I gave myself a break by picking up my current library book, "The Overstory" by Richard Powers, now becoming my favorite book of the year.Â
After hearing the discussions surrounding the interdependence of life in the forest, I luckily came across The Overstory by Richard Powers, a novel that had somehow made it onto my long list of books to read. When I started it I was confused and almost deleted it, not clear on what was happening in the first 50 pages. Fortunately, I then read a synopsis which explained that it is the story of lives intertwined with each other by trees. Now I'm reading the chapter in which the author describes the real life equivalent of "The Hidden Life of Trees" and the work of Suzanne Simard, who presented the TED talk of her research on the rhizozomal network in 2016. I've been talking about the newish science we have on tree communication where they signal each other from great distances, warning of predators and disease, stimulating the immune systems of neighboring trees. Sounds like science fiction, right? I love how we are turning old tales of woowoo into hard science now. Quantum physics, keep it coming! Here's her talk:
Savoring this work fiction, a new logic began to control in my mind. As decadent as life is right now, it's rich in a way that's investing into the health of my body and my brain. Stress has been found to be one of the greatest contributors to disease, the one which few have been able to reduce, much less eliminate. Now that I have, I can feel my mind activating. As I use more Spanish, learn about outbreaking science, and enjoy great pieces of literature, the pathways in my brain are growing. I'm staving off depression, dementia, and new neurons are generating. Couldn't this result in more success and productivity in my career as well, when and however I chose to return to it? How about embracing what is available to me in the here and now, and accepting the next phase when it arrives? Such a simple thought, but feels like unicorn magic under the rainbows of this morning's sunrise.
As I enter the last year of my 4th decade, I spend less and less time with guilt and regret, and a lot more actually present. About this time last year, anxiety was creeping in on my, telling me it had been too long since I'd worked. Now in hindsight, I see the sequence of 2018 couldn't have been more ideal, reassuring me that I have every reason to witness the same for 2019. Now I have anticipation rather than anxiety for what 39 will be like. After many bottles of cava in the past couple of months, I keep threatening to dry out, hearing the idea of "Dry January" and wanting to get on board. La Gomera sounded like the right place and time to do a few days off alcohol, despite my friend's warning of it being such a fun place to socialize around the many bars here. The first night here I enjoyed a day of no dinner-no drinking as I settled in, but the next night was invited out by my new German friends, here for the week on holiday. I considered not participating in the flowing wine, but it seemed ridiculous to abstain when I had this crowd to share an evening with. After an incredible meal, they treated me to a shot of delicious Canarian Aldea Rum from La Palma, and invited me to the bar, politely spending most of the night speaking English to include me on the conversations. I told some of my best stories, and by the end of the evening, I was hugging and kissing these amazing people. Inga and I had both lost our grandmothers last year, and our souls connected on what that loss had felt like, being grateful to have had our abuelas live well into their 90s. Miko was tall and charming, his English accent with an Australian flare from the extended time he'd spent down under. I suspected him a little too charming until he somewhat abruptly shared his big life's tale. He married his high school girlfriend, the person he'd lost his virginity to, who he was true to for 17 years. It wasn't perfect, but he is a monogamous kind of guys, and she cheated on him, ending the relationship. He then leaned over and kissed Inga, saying it left him lucky enough to find this amazing woman. Rarely do I come across good men, especially one who was willing to go beyond the talk of the days hikes and weather within a few hours of introduction.
The depths of these connections I'm experience out here in the Atlantic, just off the coast of Africa. More to come. . .
