2010.10.23 19:00 - Shifting between SL and RL

The Guardian for this meeting was Pema Pera. The comments are by Pema Pera.

Alfred Kelberry: meep-meep!
Lucinda Lavender: Hi Alfred...what are you up to?
Alfred Kelberry: um, nothing... a nice pab meeting maybe :)
Lucinda Lavender: ah:)
Alfred Kelberry: i'm floating above the pond :)
Alfred Kelberry: haha
--BELL--
Lucinda Lavender: oops not such good aim today
Alfred Kelberry: i've never seen anyone sitting on a fountain here :)
Pema Pera: Hi Lucinda!
Alfred Kelberry: oi, pema-san
Pema Pera: HI Alfred
Lucinda Lavender: Hi Pema!
Lucinda Lavender: I aimed funny and landed in the pond:)
Alfred Kelberry: how's your monk bar experience, pema?
Lucinda Lavender: oops again...
Pema Pera: Nice to see you moving around in such an agile way, Lucinda, on a Saturday night!

It took a while for Lucinda to find a cushion to sit on, after first sitting right in the middle of the pond, and then on the edge of the pond.

Alfred Kelberry: luci, i first thought you wanted to make me a company :)
Pema Pera: it was a fun place to visit, Alfred
Lucinda Lavender: having trouble with sitting currently
Alfred Kelberry: i think it's ok to be standing, luci :)
Lucinda Lavender: standing is a nice thing too:)
Pema Pera: How have you been, Lucinda?
Alfred Kelberry: it's interesting how woly noticed the other day that standing up means you're leaving :) and people tell you bye before you even say anything :)
Lucinda Lavender: I have been pretty good, more busy than usual...
Lucinda Lavender: today was quite full with a cider pressing...
Alfred Kelberry: oh, cider pressing :)
Alfred Kelberry: sounds yummy
Lucinda Lavender: yes...mixed apples. needed the granny smiths for tartness and it was very tasty
Alfred Kelberry: :)
Alfred Kelberry: lovely, luci
Pema Pera: I very much enjoyed my first apple cider in the U.S., I remember it well, the first fall that I was there
Pema Pera: such a nice tradition!
Lucinda Lavender: :) yes
Pema Pera: sitting outside amidst the colored leaves
Lucinda Lavender: thanks to the internet we have learned how to do so many things
Alfred Kelberry: is in your memory the cider gets better each year? :)
Alfred Kelberry: luci, and found so many wonderful people
Lucinda Lavender: not sure about better but we are getting better at the planning and execution
Pema Pera: did you learn to make apple cider through the internet?
Alfred Kelberry: thanks, luci. i actually thought of pema's first memory of cider :)
Lucinda Lavender: yes:)
Lucinda Lavender: so many blogs and designs
Lucinda Lavender: so created a grinder from a garbage disposal
Lucinda Lavender: works well
Pema Pera: neat!
Lucinda Lavender: people working on something together...taking something they made home
Lucinda Lavender: feeling part of the seasonal rythm
Pema Pera: ah, you made cider together with friends?
Lucinda Lavender: yes
Lucinda Lavender: second time this fall
Lucinda Lavender: chopping...together
Pema Pera: what a nice idea!
Lucinda Lavender: really fun...
Pema Pera: and nice to improvise
Lucinda Lavender: yes...i love to do that. And see how people converse together...especially when they are new to each other

We switch to talking about the PaB retreat.

Lucinda Lavender: this morning was a discussion of the retreat...I look forward to reading that
Pema Pera: if you have any questions or comments about the retreat, feel free to ask right now, Lucy!
Lucinda Lavender: wondering how being at one feels...
Pema Pera: being at one?
Lucinda Lavender: :)) well that way of putting it makes sense!
--BELL--
Lucinda Lavender: I was thinking tho of "being at a retreat" feelings...what those might be...
Pema Pera: it feels great -- like being with old friends with whom one can be totally comfortable
Lucinda Lavender: probably my feelings are about first time experiences
Lucinda Lavender: Hi Ewan:)
Pema Pera: having met so often through SL, meeting for the first time in RL actually doens't feel like "first time", strange enough
Pema Pera: hi Ewan!
Pema Pera: it feels more like meeting old friends
Lucinda Lavender: sounds very possible...:)
Pema Pera: in addition, the very fact that we are not part of each other's RL circle of friends also means that we have the advantage of strangers
Pema Pera: we can tell people things that we might hesitate to talk about to our friends in our immediate surroundings
Lucinda Lavender: ah...I see .
Pema Pera: things that might influence our future interactions with people we are stuck with in RL, if you see what I mean
Lucinda Lavender: one might feel freer
Pema Pera: so there is an extra freedom and an extra sense of intimacy too, both at the same time
Lucinda Lavender: yes...I see that
Lucinda Lavender: Hi Stevenaia
Pema Pera: the freedom of more casual interactions of distant people (geographically), yet also the intimacy of people who are close (in terms of seeing them regularly).
Pema Pera: hi Steve!
stevenaia Michinaga: evening Lucinda, Pema, ALfred
stevenaia Michinaga: is alfred sleeping?
Lucinda Lavender: looks like it:)
Alfred Kelberry: *wakes up* :)
Alfred Kelberry: oi, stev :) i really like your dress
stevenaia Michinaga: it seems to wake the sleeping, thank you
Pema Pera: :)
stevenaia Michinaga: I was reading your latest chapter 8 Pema, did the retreat influence its contents?
Pema Pera: I'm sure it did, Steve
Alfred Kelberry: pema, i see your point, and it's in part what therapists use. yet thinking that geographical distance is what it takes to talk freely, is a bit... sad

Lucinda brought up another RL/SL connection, continued a few lines below.

Lucinda Lavender: today I was asked about what projects - Lucinda listens...
Pema Pera: though I find it impossible to say what influenced what in what way
stevenaia Michinaga: sounded like such a comfortable approach of Olay
stevenaia Michinaga: Play
Pema Pera: Ole, let's play! :-)
Alfred Kelberry: luci, projects?
--BELL--
Lucinda Lavender: I had started to say that in RL today I was askedabout the projects I mught be doing lately...I mentioned Play as Being and it was really nice :)we had just been speaking about making boxes out of calendars and I explained about the star box I made with Bleu:)
Pema Pera: yes, Steve, it was fun for me to write that chapter; I was grinning while writing, seeing how much it was a kind of rewriting of history, yet at the same time it also felt very natural and straightforward. Funny how you can chew on something for years, and then find a very simple way to summarize from scratch.
Pema Pera: how nice, Lucinda!
Pema Pera: from pressing cider to making star boxes . . .
Alfred Kelberry: ah, that galaxy box beside the art gallery? you made it with bleu? :)
stevenaia Michinaga: your calendar, Luci would best be seen from the inside
Lucinda Lavender: thinking about rl and sl overlaps I guess...all the ways that we discuss one place in the other
stevenaia Michinaga: what a wonderful thing
Lucinda Lavender: yes...I did make it with her
Alfred Kelberry: nice :)
Alfred Kelberry: i think her cosmic outfit was the continuation of that :)
Lucinda Lavender: the long term projects just cometogether sometimes...Pemas and Mine I am thinging
Lucinda Lavender: oops
Lucinda Lavender: thinking
Alfred Kelberry: :)
Pema Pera: yes, indeed Lucinda!

I think Lucinda was refering to her dream project, so I asked about that.

Pema Pera: how is your work with dreaming going?
Alfred Kelberry: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=think
Lucinda Lavender: well I think it is going well...I have been watching for dreams about my conductor:) as part of processing
Alfred Kelberry: interesting reference to "cause to appear to oneself"
Pema Pera: hi Eliza!
Lucinda Lavender: Hi Eliza:)
Eliza Madrigal: apologies Steve :)
stevenaia Michinaga: hello Eliza
Alfred Kelberry: eliza :)
Eliza Madrigal: HI :)
Pema Pera: your conductor?
stevenaia Michinaga: n.p.
Lucinda Lavender: it feels very important
Lucinda Lavender: yes died July 31 tragically
Lucinda Lavender: concert season has begun tho
stevenaia Michinaga: oh my, how sad
Lucinda Lavender: we are working it through but it is like losing a family member
Eliza Madrigal: yes of course
Pema Pera: that must be very difficult
Lucinda Lavender: yes and I will be pondering it for a while
Alfred Kelberry: *hugs luci*
stevenaia Michinaga: has it influenced your dreams?
Lucinda Lavender: had a dream this week tho where he thanked me for the gift of my passion
stevenaia Michinaga: smiles
Alfred Kelberry: oh, that's so lovely :)
stevenaia Michinaga: a lovely gift
Lucinda Lavender: we put our heads together and were in a state of communion I think
Pema Pera: thank you for sharing that with us, Lucy
Eliza Madrigal: how beautiful Lucinda :)
Lucinda Lavender: I am dreaming the same amount as usual...maybe 4 a month....but this one was what I was hoping for
Eliza Madrigal: must have been deeply comforting
Lucinda Lavender: the internalizattion of his gift to me
Eliza Madrigal: :)
stevenaia Michinaga: a person's imortality resides in those who have been touched
Lucinda Lavender: :) yes!!!Steve think so!
--BELL--
Eliza Madrigal: mmmm wonderfully long and lingering nine seconds :)
Alfred Kelberry: :)
Eliza Madrigal: Loved the way Lucinda last night intro'd pab... playing and being and mix them together... hehe.. something like that :)
Lucinda Lavender: :) sometimes things roll off the tongue...
Eliza Madrigal: :)
Pema Pera: :-)
Lucinda Lavender: nothing impeding

We talked a bit more about the PaB retreats.

Alfred Kelberry: pema, during retreat, do all your meditations take place in quiet secluded places?
Pema Pera: no, we had a retreat in San Francisco, and we spend much of the time walking around in the city
Alfred Kelberry: how was it different?
Eliza Madrigal: and walking.... and walking... it was great :)
Alfred Kelberry: more distraction (monkeys)?
Pema Pera: oh, different in many ways . . . yes, more distractions, but also more direct integration with daily life
Pema Pera: how would you summarize it, Eliza?
Eliza Madrigal: contrasting two experiences, I found that SF was quite different in the way I sort of.. energetically responded to the environment. Oddly, quieter in the busier environment...
Lucinda Lavender: contrast
Alfred Kelberry: :)
Alfred Kelberry: eliza, maybe quieter in busier places cause there are just less energy available :)
Eliza Madrigal: both experiences were very important to my practice I think... one in a more subtle way that has unfolded, and one in a way that was maybe a little intense
Eliza Madrigal: ah, actually so much... from all the people, being in big crowds some days for instance
Alfred Kelberry: or i should have said, less free energy available :)
Eliza Madrigal: lots of energy in both environments but interesting to be able to take the time to notice that
Eliza Madrigal: :)
Eliza Madrigal: uh oh...lost Luci
Alfred Kelberry: crashed probably
Eliza Madrigal nods
stevenaia Michinaga: looked like a swift departure
Eliza Madrigal: The thing is, the company really matters in both environments and I couldn't have asked for more :)
Pema Pera: :)
Alfred Kelberry: i think it's a wonderful idea to hold retreat in different environments. see the difference.
Eliza Madrigal: actually... in all three :)
Eliza Madrigal: yes
Pema Pera: actually, even in San Francisco we spent half of the time in a room together -- so each day we had a more secluded environment too, but it was mixed on a daily busy with the street life as well
Alfred Kelberry: i like it :)
Eliza Madrigal: yes, there were quiet stretches too, and a feeling of time available for conversation to unfold
Eliza Madrigal: in some ways the first mini retreat may have been the 'strongest' in terms of my understanding more of what we were working with in PaB together, especially Being Seeing ...
Eliza Madrigal: but each is special in its own way :)
Pema Pera remembering walking around the pond in Princeton, letting Being See, with Adams, Eliza, Sharon and others
Pema Pera: not even a year ago!
Eliza Madrigal: and Steve standing....
stevenaia Michinaga: nods
Eliza Madrigal: I stood in that spot later :)
stevenaia Michinaga: smiles
Pema Pera: :)
Eliza Madrigal: Alfred have you gone on retreat before?
--BELL--

After the first hour passed, I had to return to RL.

Pema Pera: well, I'll have to get going
Pema Pera: good seeing you here, sorry that we lost Lucinda!
Eliza Madrigal: yes :(
Eliza Madrigal: Night Pema :)
Alfred Kelberry: no, eliza. but i'd very much like to.
Alfred Kelberry: bye, pema-san
stevenaia Michinaga: night Pema
stevenaia Michinaga: I must go too
Eliza Madrigal: yes, me too... hesitated to sign on due to being quite sleepy :)
Eliza Madrigal: But nice to see you guys
Pema Pera: bfn!
Eliza Madrigal: Sweet dreams Alfred and Steve :) love your pumpkin hat, btw S
stevenaia Michinaga: bye eliza
stevenaia Michinaga: :)
stevenaia Michinaga: it;s so seasonal
Alfred Kelberry: :)
Alfred Kelberry: thank you for your company girls :)
Eliza Madrigal: you're becoming trendy
Eliza Madrigal: :) Nite