The Hazel Project

July.

Yesterday I washed my car with the special spot free rinse. Today a flock of birds unleashed bucketfulls of droppings on my newly cleaned car. I was impressed with their thorough coverage from door to door.

July has been a month focussing on work, finances, yoga, and running.

Work has been going well. As time moves along and I get to know people, I can tell I’m in the middle of an amazing time of opportunity and creativity here. Lately, I’ve been asked to participate in some of the creative aspects with my boss; I’ve learned a great deal. It is all a real privalege to be involved in this environment and it has reshaped my thinking in a super positive way. I am grateful beyond words for this reshaping.

The Financial realm has provided an excercise to change my relationship with money. So far it has started off well. So here I have the opportunity to set a precendence for myself. I’ll come clean with you and admit this is something I have to MAKE myself look at. There’s a lot wrapped up here and I’m hesitant to be specific at the risk of sounding childish. What I’ve learned is this area of life, MUST be a concious, daily, hourly, practice for me. Larry and I have talked about what goes into this practice and I really appreciate his insight.

Yoga has helped focus, and learning how to find space in the midst of contraction. Laser focus is another matter. It’s an attribute I’m growing into slowly, and has been something that needs more awareness. It’s funny to me when I recognize that I NEED focus to notice when I’m slipping OUT of focus.

Running in Valencia has been a beautiful experience. This little town has a 30 mile network of trails, called ‘paseos’, that route people through neighborhoods to main streets. That being said, our route takes us off the trails and along the streets. We have a 3.5 and 5.5 and 10 mile route so far. I’m happy to report I’m up to the 5.5 Mile route. I’m working up to running 6 miles in an hour. As I approah the 10 mile mark I’ll contemplate training for the L.A. Marathon. So the 5.5 was a big breakthrough for me and I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

OH THE 4th! I spent the fourth driving home from work, listening to “Lux Aeterna” by Morton Lauridsen; one of the most transcendant pieces of music I’ve ever heard. So this is a choral piece written for the Los Angeles Master Chorale and I encourage you to take a listen to it if possible. Or buy it outright. Listening to it as I drove home on the 5 provided this beautiful, surreal backdrop to the different fireworks displays firing off; from Santa Clarita to Burbank, to Glendale all these bursts of color scattered across the sky. When I got back to Echo Park, it looked like the set from Blade Runner; just an orangy haze left over from the smoke, covering all the way to downtown L.A.

So that was July - finding space for expansion and meaningful routine. Please know I think of everyone often - daily in fact. I send you all my best vibes and intention.

Thanks for checking in.

Stephen A. Thomas