Well, I have lived a couple of lifetimes since Trellis House was shut-down by the Norristown zoning department 5 weeks ago. Quite a few miracles have occurred, and many angels have showed-up, but the scene is still a bit too “raw” for full-disclosure. Maybe I will write the full story one day. However there are a few things I can say about it now.
First of all: in retrospect, it seems clear that this was one of those cases where the Universe gave a kick-in-the-pants in a direction that was initially unwelcome, but that in the end served everyone. The bottom-line, I think, is that we were all ready to end this particular experiment. Some more than others, of course. It’s not up to me to share other people’s story, but for myself I will say this: running a commune is just about the most fulfilling thing that I have ever done in my life; and yet, it was time for me to take back some attention from my “hobbies” (i.e. running a commune) and put more energy into business. Which business, my new Website development and internet marketing training company, is one of the great miracles of this debacle. I sold 13 seats in my first webinar through my personal network alone, and teaching it has been just about the most fun I have ever had in a business context (“the most fun to be had while vertical”, a friend of mine used to say). Everyone I talk to thinks it’s a winner, there is a book possibility, I have an appointment at Drexel’s Baiada Center for Entrepreneurship to talk about teaching it there, etc. etc.
The second thing I realized is this: there is no shame in a spectacular business failure. And especially so, when this was an attempt to serve a beautiful dream: that “all would live as lovers do” (Peggy Seeger in her beautiful song Thoughts of time). I believe that Jesus had a similar idea as well.
So much for that. What will happen next with the house etc., is anybody’s guess. We haven’t given up the fight yet. Also the non-residential community is continuing.
In an attempt to get some clarity on all this, I did spend a long weekend at the Shivananda Yoga Ashram in the Catskill very recently. I am very familiar with Shivananda yoga from my previous life in the early 90s. I used to go on personal retreats in their Val Morin center (north of Montreal) and I had discovered that no matter what a mess I was going in, within two days of doing their program, I was good-as-rain. Miraculous really. I wanted to see if it still worked.
It did. Imagine this: 4 hours a day of yoga, 2-3 hours of meditation and chanting, long walks in the country, eating delicious vegetarian food, and sleeping the rest of the time. The yoga is much more meditative than other forms of yoga I have tried – there are many rest periods and lots of breathing exercises – without losing any of the intensity. It’s also a longer workout, about 2 hours. I totally dig it, and aside from feeling pretty sore, it was something blissful. In many ways I feel like I am starting a new life now, and very eager to see how much I can do at home. But I am pretty psyched about the idea of going back-and-forth between here and Shivananda until I get it right. They have wireless internet there too, so I can work. A major benefit of having an internet-based business, of course.
I really appreciate everyone’s support during this difficult transition. I am feeling very loved right now.
To be continued…
Marc
