Serenity

There’s a full moon arisin’ and Puna celebrated with a Full Flower Moon in Scorpio music healing event at the community center, which meant rolling out yoga mats and settling into relaxation while a lady played singing bowls and a guy played gongs and a hang drum.

I wanted to participate because I adore hang drums and wondered what a singing bowl could be made to do. Mine says ‘ding’ and that’s about it. But these musicians squoze some pretty amazing sounds out of those instruments. I was feeling pretty relaxed and zen and started hearing images, like Tibetan monks tiptoeing around their monasteries and whale song and gumball machines. It was very cool. It was very Puna.

The only real downside was a mosquito who was feasting on my ankle. I shifted, I scratched. I remembered that there was someone in the near distance with a chainsaw ripping holes in my serenity at the botanical garden the other day. At the time, I fervently wished him an empty gas tank or a kink in his chain. Of course I realize that he was just doing his job; a garden in a jungle requires constant maintenance. But I did feel that I’d paid for my serenity and there is hypocrisy in having to fight for it. I also couldn’t help wishing the guy would drop the damned thing on his foot.

Which brings us to today’s lesson in living: There will always be a mosquito or a chainsaw or horrible neighbor. The key is not letting these things drive you buggy. True serenity, like true happiness and contentment and gratitude, comes from within.