Cosmic Momentum and Joy

Sometimes we become aware of the cosmic forces that are always in play. And when the right person – let’s say a woman, let’s say mixed and black – is ready to take the call, she is protected by coming from her center and being genuine. Watching her being naturally connected to joy and to her own destiny, intelligent and warm, we can then see cosmic forces putting the right person in the right place at the right time.  Our fears are suddenly proven wrong. The rightfulness of it all reveals a phenomenon, a miracle. Suddenly hope is resurrected, energy released. After all, weeks and months of doom and despair were needed to build pressure. The release comes with a huge momentum turning the tide. We are in the middle of this miracle. And we can feel it physically in our body, in our mood. A new force, ready to envisage the future, is in full swing. The backward-straining forces of destruction, often appealing to the lowest instincts of human nature, are suddenly exposed in their staleness, not inevitable and all powerful. Most likely the fight will continue to be harrowing. The Future is fighting the Past, and reverse. Evolution, though is happening. Perhaps revolutions as well. But evolution is the more lasting and powerful force. Being aligned with evolution is important and wise. We, too, can step into who we really are becoming....

Time to celebrate all this, knowing it will not last forever and many ups and downs will follow in an unpredictable and hot Fall. With various friends I have been sharing heirloom cider for toasting, bread and cheese with champagne, plum pie with apricot liqueur. (Happy tiny sips only since I hardly drink alcohol.) And this past Saturday, I crave something sweet and artful. Late morning after teaching, I drive down the hill to the Gourmet Ghetto, and get to talk to Paul who is the famous patisserie chef and co-owner of Masse’s Pastries, with his wife Marcia. They are an institution since 1997. Discovering back then that their pastries are truly superb and not too sweet, I stay loyal. The earlier in the day the more variety is still in their display looking glorious. Admiring, asking for names and ingredients, I try to make my choices. Paul wondering if my colorful jacket is from Uzbekistan, oddly enough leads to him speaking some German. Forty years ago, he worked in Zürich and often visited München, and loved the city for its beautiful women. My place of birth. Listening to a couple more description of cakes, I decide for the pistachio-strawberry and the merengue hazelnut. Paul’s creations are just brimming with joy and delicate vibrancy. What an artist he is.

 

When skill, dedication and love for work come together, beauty begins to unfold her wings. The air becomes thin and a form of elation permeates the field. This kind of beauty swells in my heart into an all-consuming bubbling joy, which is laced with gratitude and mouth-watering memories. So, with two mini-cakes, I leave on clouds. At home, I am perplexed: two beauties are looking at me, but the colorful pistachio-strawberry one is missing. I must have forgotten to call out its name, maybe just pointed my finger, paying no attention to what goes in the box, my eyes rapturously gliding over the extravaganza of cakes. I drive back down and Paul swiftly replaces the “unchosen” creature. Somehow, I really need my pistachio green and strawberry red desert for tonight, sharing dinner in the garden with a friend.

 

And then finally back at home, at 12:35 pm, a cosmic force propels me to go ahead and devour the merengue hazelnut mini-cake for my lunch, all by myself. (The other one will be enough for tonight, I rationalize.) Embarking on this rare adventure, my slight embarrassment quickly vanishes. The crunchy almond merengue, hazelnut cream, a perfect combo of textures. My taste buds recall European cakes, and are summoning vivid memories of summers in München. The outdoor cafés and beer gardens, the naked sun bathers in the Englischer Garten. Radieschen und Brezen mit Butter. The youthful air of confidence looking towards a future full of possibilities. Half a century back, as a student. Women of all ages walking in swinging summer dresses, plunging décolletés, naked legs and feet – natural, sensual, joyful. Dachshunde, and their owners, tired from the heat, resting in the cool shade of big old chestnut trees.

Well, today in August of 2024, my unexpected indulgence – I am aware that it is an old “sin” – is tremendously enjoyable. In my twenties I used to live on cakes and chocolate of all kinds, they were utterly cheap and delicious, and my fast metabolism kept me skinny. Of course, this was not healthy. The bad habit also aroused great envy in my dancer colleagues, so I hid it. Years later in America, I was finally able to shake my sugar addiction – the need for fast-produced energy – with the help of Traditional Chinese Medicine. It saved my life. As I am eating my cake now, I am flooded with gratitude that I survived the foolishness of youth. Luckily, once in a while, I can afford to be ridiculously indulgent at age 70. Going beyond one’s boundaries, works best if done only very occasionally. Then the enjoyment is heightened into a celebration of life with myriad of experiences, bad and good, devastating and delicious.

 

This time of year, swinging in the breeze, Fairy Wand Bells are chiming in….

 

By gleefully stepping out of the expected routine, I salute the Future. Salud, cin cin, zum Wohl, cheers, naz dravi, Prost, a votre santé – may we all be ready to walk into a Future full with possibilities for our kids and younger generations. No matter the challenges, may we remember the times we were unburdened, and celebrate them. Not to drown in nostalgia or be irresponsible. But may we be guided, and move forward with a certain wisdom and generosity of spirit – into an unknown and uncertain Future.

 

Courage – there is Cosmic Momentum and Joy…