Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Sweet October
Hello again dear family and friends…
Since so many of you have been requesting updates on my pregnancy, coming baby, due dates, pictures and so on, so I felt compelled to respond with another letter, another blog for the website.
Firstly, I want to thank everyone for responding with such sincerity about my artwork. Getting a response to my work is crucial as an artist and writer. I find that the one vital aspect of life that is truly missing from my world here in Varkala is the lack of community in which people, artists and so on are responding to my work. Of course, that will shift and change as the season approaches, ushering in travelers of all kinds, old friends and newer connections.
The past two months have been quiet and laden with gorgeous sunsets, millions of colors rippling out across the sky, turning the sea crimson, purple and gold. The beach here is just beginning to come back, in that achingly slow manner of the tropics in which all moves gently and softly except of course the plants which grow so fast it leaves me astonished at times. When Leon takes a cutting of a banana tree and pops it in the ground, adds a bit of water, you will see brilliant yellow-green new growth a few inches high in just a few hours! You really can watch the grass grow here…it’s a magick all to its own.
As I sit, waiting for baby, admiring the glowing garden dancing Life’s mystery in the garden, the dappled sunlight splaying intricate patterns across the multi-colored plants, I realize I am learning the lesson of Patience. I have always been one to surf intensely fast through the waves of life, taking them on full throttle, riding them joyously with the feeling of the wind furling out my hair and of course, crashing occasionally, landing often. But these days, this past summer has been one of intensely slow time. It is a time, then to meditate, to surrender to the dance of Life, to allow Baby to grow and develop before the intensity of Birth. This is all preparation for our new little one who will need that patient, loving care as he begins his earth journey.
As for the Baby, Leon has told you already our names, but in case any of you missed out, a boy will be: Mojave Bela and a girl: Yoko Mojave Lotus. Either way the child will have my last name, Koda. When I thought of the name Mojave, it rang so true that I felt I had to give it to my child whether it’s a boy or girl. The name filled my heart with such a good feeling, a feeling of hope, magick, and vastness. I’ve always wanted to name my child after a place on earth and the Mojave is not only the name of a mystical desert, but also the ‘people of Spirit that live by the water,’ the Native Americans who traversed the vast beauty of southern California. Leon and I have both spent time in the Mojave and find it to be a place of rich, ethereal splendor…a place where I spoke with the Joshua trees and discovered they speak in cubes which inspired me to begin painting. A place where Leon has connected deeply with the earth, finding Death Valley in particular to be one of the most sacred places in america
So, little Mojave is ‘technically’ due sometime between October 27th and November 6th, you pick your favorite date, your best bet. My two different doctors and doula have different ideas about when this baby will descend and I, myself, am just hoping he’s not ten days late like Rubybleu was. But, of course this is possible, leaving us a wide open span of a month or so for when to expect our new arrival. No matter what, little Mojave will certainly come when he is ready, in his own time. Of course, all of you will know as soon as he pops out, but don’t hold your breath—it’s barely October!
In the meantime, we have decided to take action on another project with the Rubybleu Foundation. This week we met with Subhash Bose, the coordinator of the women’s Self-Help Groups that we are connected with here. He has chosen a woman to receive our first micro-loan that will enable her to start her own small business. She will use the modest sum to open a rolling tea shop. If you recall the last article I posted on our web site, it reports some of the information regarding micro-loans for women as a way to help make more money for their family’s need of food, clean water, education and health. The project is also sustainable in that as she pays back her loan, it accrues an eighteen percent interest which will go directly back into the women’s communal fund to aid the self-help groups as a whole. I will be writing a more extensive article about the micro-loan project, so remember to check our website, http://www.rubybleu.org/ for updates in the coming weeks.
I have come close to finishing my Cancer Chronicles, but have slowed down writing and painting considerably in my last months of pregnancy. Suddenly I find my mind drifting absently with the waving palm fronds and wandering clouds. Somehow it is an increasing struggle to focus on my work and I spend more time taking slow walks, doing yoga, meditating and simply staring at the garden. I did manage to complete a new painting for my Tarot series, the Empress, which I will attach along with the latest photos of Leon and me.
Many of you are coming to see us in the next few months and I want you all to know that I am so looking forward to being with family and friends, to show you this beautiful land we live in and to have you stay in our lovely little home. As Leon mentioned, we are always in need of some OFF mosquito repellent and tea tree essential oil so if you throw those items into your pack before setting off to this wild, crazy land of India, we will be grateful. In the meantime, those of you still undecided about whether or not to visit, I encourage you all to take the steps out of america, so that you may glimpse something new, challenge your soul, look back upon and reflect on the land from which you came. We’ll be here…
Take care!
Much love,
Katalin
Since so many of you have been requesting updates on my pregnancy, coming baby, due dates, pictures and so on, so I felt compelled to respond with another letter, another blog for the website.
Firstly, I want to thank everyone for responding with such sincerity about my artwork. Getting a response to my work is crucial as an artist and writer. I find that the one vital aspect of life that is truly missing from my world here in Varkala is the lack of community in which people, artists and so on are responding to my work. Of course, that will shift and change as the season approaches, ushering in travelers of all kinds, old friends and newer connections.
The past two months have been quiet and laden with gorgeous sunsets, millions of colors rippling out across the sky, turning the sea crimson, purple and gold. The beach here is just beginning to come back, in that achingly slow manner of the tropics in which all moves gently and softly except of course the plants which grow so fast it leaves me astonished at times. When Leon takes a cutting of a banana tree and pops it in the ground, adds a bit of water, you will see brilliant yellow-green new growth a few inches high in just a few hours! You really can watch the grass grow here…it’s a magick all to its own.
As I sit, waiting for baby, admiring the glowing garden dancing Life’s mystery in the garden, the dappled sunlight splaying intricate patterns across the multi-colored plants, I realize I am learning the lesson of Patience. I have always been one to surf intensely fast through the waves of life, taking them on full throttle, riding them joyously with the feeling of the wind furling out my hair and of course, crashing occasionally, landing often. But these days, this past summer has been one of intensely slow time. It is a time, then to meditate, to surrender to the dance of Life, to allow Baby to grow and develop before the intensity of Birth. This is all preparation for our new little one who will need that patient, loving care as he begins his earth journey.
As for the Baby, Leon has told you already our names, but in case any of you missed out, a boy will be: Mojave Bela and a girl: Yoko Mojave Lotus. Either way the child will have my last name, Koda. When I thought of the name Mojave, it rang so true that I felt I had to give it to my child whether it’s a boy or girl. The name filled my heart with such a good feeling, a feeling of hope, magick, and vastness. I’ve always wanted to name my child after a place on earth and the Mojave is not only the name of a mystical desert, but also the ‘people of Spirit that live by the water,’ the Native Americans who traversed the vast beauty of southern California. Leon and I have both spent time in the Mojave and find it to be a place of rich, ethereal splendor…a place where I spoke with the Joshua trees and discovered they speak in cubes which inspired me to begin painting. A place where Leon has connected deeply with the earth, finding Death Valley in particular to be one of the most sacred places in america
So, little Mojave is ‘technically’ due sometime between October 27th and November 6th, you pick your favorite date, your best bet. My two different doctors and doula have different ideas about when this baby will descend and I, myself, am just hoping he’s not ten days late like Rubybleu was. But, of course this is possible, leaving us a wide open span of a month or so for when to expect our new arrival. No matter what, little Mojave will certainly come when he is ready, in his own time. Of course, all of you will know as soon as he pops out, but don’t hold your breath—it’s barely October!
In the meantime, we have decided to take action on another project with the Rubybleu Foundation. This week we met with Subhash Bose, the coordinator of the women’s Self-Help Groups that we are connected with here. He has chosen a woman to receive our first micro-loan that will enable her to start her own small business. She will use the modest sum to open a rolling tea shop. If you recall the last article I posted on our web site, it reports some of the information regarding micro-loans for women as a way to help make more money for their family’s need of food, clean water, education and health. The project is also sustainable in that as she pays back her loan, it accrues an eighteen percent interest which will go directly back into the women’s communal fund to aid the self-help groups as a whole. I will be writing a more extensive article about the micro-loan project, so remember to check our website, http://www.rubybleu.org/ for updates in the coming weeks.
I have come close to finishing my Cancer Chronicles, but have slowed down writing and painting considerably in my last months of pregnancy. Suddenly I find my mind drifting absently with the waving palm fronds and wandering clouds. Somehow it is an increasing struggle to focus on my work and I spend more time taking slow walks, doing yoga, meditating and simply staring at the garden. I did manage to complete a new painting for my Tarot series, the Empress, which I will attach along with the latest photos of Leon and me.
Many of you are coming to see us in the next few months and I want you all to know that I am so looking forward to being with family and friends, to show you this beautiful land we live in and to have you stay in our lovely little home. As Leon mentioned, we are always in need of some OFF mosquito repellent and tea tree essential oil so if you throw those items into your pack before setting off to this wild, crazy land of India, we will be grateful. In the meantime, those of you still undecided about whether or not to visit, I encourage you all to take the steps out of america, so that you may glimpse something new, challenge your soul, look back upon and reflect on the land from which you came. We’ll be here…
Take care!
Much love,
Katalin
