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Oh Sweet Serendipity

8/28/2013

I headed to church on Sunday feeling so grateful for everything that had come my way the last few weeks. On my way there I ran into Laura. She told me her family was coming to visit from out of town and were going to be staying at her condo in Mill Valley, and that I had to vacate by Wednesday. “Oh boy, where do I go now?” I thanked her for the place to stay and knew something would open up for me, just not sure what exactly where that would be. After church I headed to the storage facility to see if I could learn more about the job position since I hadn’t received any offers from the other places where I had applied for work. It was there that I ran into Grant.

I heard it said that when one door closes, somewhere God opens a window. Well, in that precise moment of not knowing where I would sleep next, Grant says to me, “I have a spare room at my place where you can stay.” Wow! Here was my chance to stay in Sausalito and be close to my friends and work. Grant showed me the room, said he could put down a mattress and provide me with a sleeping bag. I’d have the use of the bathroom and kitchen and there was free internet access. “Bliss!” I thought.

A few days after finding a place to rest my head for a little while longer, I received a call from the manager of the storage facility. He told me out of all the resumes he had received for the Caretaker/Office Assistant position, my qualifications seemed to match best. He asked if I could send a resume for him to pass along to the Regional Manager. I agreed. I then headed out to assist with the celebration of the Spring Equinox for the group, A Band of Wives. I greeted guests and helped out in the kitchen of the founder’s home. It was a wonderful event and I was able to meet more inspiring women.

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Guided Path

8/20/2013

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The following days found me feeling confused and lost. I was still grieving the losses of 2011 and now I was trying to cope with the realization of having to release Zach from my life. I missed my love and still had hope that we’d somehow find our way back to one another, but as the days passed, I just felt more lost and alone. Just as one door closed, another opened and my love decided to visit California. He said he just needed to get away for a couple of weeks and, of course he always seemed to come to California when he needs some time for himself. He split his time between Los Angeles and the Bay Area and despite not seeing him, I felt his love and it was good to have him home.

I had so much going on inside of me that needed to come out and my outlet once again became my art. I received the proof for my second book, It’s Simply…GOLDEN: 75 Years of Inspiration and looked forward to publishing my work. It was good to be back in Sausalito. I was able to get out and promote my work with local business owners. I stopped by the shops on Bridgeway Boulevard and met with store owners about carrying my books in their shops. Everyone was so nice and supportive and I was excited about moving forward in my career as a new author. Being able to combine my passions of writing and photography had been such a blessing, especially during this time of transformation.

Each day was a gift. Along with working on furthering my career, I continued to practice yoga and my relationship with Mathew was strong. He was a dear friend and kindred spirit. I was grateful for the practice. Mathew realized how important it was for me to have some sort of stability in my life with everything I had lost, and my yoga practice was just that. I wanted to keep my body strong and needed a space to calm my mind and sooth my soul.

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Living the Four Agreements

8/14/2013

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Over the last couple of months, it has become customary for me to write a blog each Wednesday sharing parts of my forthcoming book, It’s Simply Serendipity: Four Steps to Manifesting a Life of Bliss. Today however, I am going to do something a bit different. The last week has been particularly peculiar. Not sure about this most recent New Moon and our meteor shower, but crazy things have been happening.

     First of all I’d like to share an experience with you when it’s OKAY to say NO! About a month ago I was presented with a wonderful opportunity to showcase my photography as part of a two-person show at a prestigious San Francisco hotel. The theme of the show was sailing on the Bay and I was going to present a few of my photographs and all of my books. I was really excited and looking forward to it.

     As the proposed dates for the event approached, I requested confirmation from the organizer on more than one occasion, and then finally received it last week. We agreed to meet last Thursday to discuss details. Well, let’s just say the meeting didn’t go as I had hoped. The organizer requested I submit 10 canvas pieces of my photography along with my books. Well, I knew that would be difficult with only a week until the exhibit. I had originally agreed to five pieces and knew that would even be tough with the time-frame allotted. After our meeting I went to my printer to see what could be done and was told the same thing, VERY tight and not sure it could happen.

     Frustrated by the lack of organization and how things were now being rushed, I decided to take a step back and really look at this opportunity from a new perspective. YES, this was a wonderful opportunity, but was it absolutely necessary for me to take part? I already had my plate full with launching the new book and my America’s Cup responsibilities, not to mention trying to keep a roof over my head. After taking time to really look at what was being presented, I decided to say NO! When I do things, I want to do them right. I want to present my best work. I don’t want to throw something together simply because of the prestige. I knew in my gut I needed to walk away, and that is what I did, and I don’t regret it. Another opportunity may come along, it may not, but for now, this was what I needed to do.

    All accommodations throughout San Francisco last weekend were booked as a number of events were taking place. I knew I would need to look elsewhere to sleep, so I headed to the South Bay. I had sold a few books so I was able to get decent accommodations for Friday and Saturday night. I woke Sunday morning and called a taxi to take me to the Caltrain station where I was to catch the train back to San Francisco. I literally had $15.00 to my name and I knew the taxi ride to the hotel was only $13.00 so I wasn’t worried. My surprise came when we arrived at the station and the meter showed nearly $17.00. I had asked the driver ahead of time and was assured it was no more than $15.00. When I handed him the bills he became very agitated. As he lifted my suitcase from the truck he yelled at me and told said, “You people spend all your money on all these things and then don’t give us any!” I was dumbfounded. I couldn’t believe he was being so rude. I apologized and left, if not a bit shaken.

     I boarded the train to San Francisco and placed my suitcase and bags (all of my worldly possessions) on the seat next to me. As the train stopped at stations closer to San Francisco I noticed there were droves of people all decked out in their orange and black attire going to the Giants baseball game. The train soon became full, but the conductor announced there were seats available up in the front.

     I was approached by a woman who asked if I could move my bags to open up a seat and I told her that they had just announced available seating up front. Next thing I know this man approaches me and asks if I could move my bags. Once again I told him the same to which he replied, “There are no seats.” He then went on to berate me even saying he didn’t know how I slept at night. If he only knew. If that weren’t enough, he then came back after storming off and took a photo of me with his phone to which I suppose he would plaster all over the internet showing the world what a horrible person I was. I couldn’t believe what I was witnessing.

     So here is where the Four Agreements come into play. If you’re not familiar with Don Miguel Ruiz’s book, The Four Agreements, it’s quite good. Ironically, I had just attended an event in Sausalito the prior weekend that focused on this particular book. So it seemed appropriate I would come in contact with these individuals and these situations. The Four Agreements are:

Be impeccable with your word
Don’t take anything personally
Don’t make assumptions
Always do your best

As I sat on the train in deliberation of what had just happened, these two back to back incidences, I began to reflect on these agreements. The one that jumped out at me was number three – Don’t make assumptions. The taxi driver assumed I had tons of money to spend and just didn’t feel like giving any to him. Little did he know I was handing him my last $15.00. The guy on the train assumed I was just a rude person and he was determined to let the world know what I had done. What he didn’t realize was that I didn’t want to part with my bags on a crowded train because my livelihood was contained in those bags.

I was near tears when I said to myself….”Cali, you have a choice on how you react to this”, and that is when I thought of the second agreement – Don’t take anything personally. I had no idea what was going on in the lives of these people. They felt the need to lash out and unfortunately I was their target. I sat up, wiped my eyes and said to myself,”The rest of the day is going to be FABULOUS!”, and it was. I met up with a new friend in the city who introduced me to her two friends and I got to play tour guide and show them all around my beloved Sausalito. They were so happy when we said our goodbyes, and my new friend offered me a house-sitting gig for this week, which I am so grateful for.

This is what life is all about. Things are going to happen. It’s just a matter of how you react to it. I could have just sunk down in my seat and played victim and allow these individuals to take away my power, but I now know better. I am a good person and judging others is such a waste of time. I live each day the best way I know how. I’m far from perfect, but I do my best and that for me is enough.

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Entering the Unknown

8/7/2013

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     When I want to heighten my creativity, I escape to the outdoors. One day during the week I was at the hostel I decided to play tourist. This is always a fun activity when you live in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I purchased a day pass on the Muni, our public transportation system, and headed out to explore. I rode the cable car from Union Square to Fisherman’s Wharf and passed out flyers about my book to the tourists. I then stopped by Pier 39 to see the sea lions. I always love visiting them and watching the tourists with looks of awe on their faces as they see the masses of seal lions sunbathing on the piers. I, of course took a lot of photographs since I take my camera everywhere.

     One of my favorite spots in San Francisco is the Palace of Fine Arts near the Presidio. I decided to have lunch overlooking the pond and capture photographs of the swan and ducklings that coasted by. It was such a wonderful afternoon that by the time I returned to the hostel, I was ready to create. I worked on creating profiles for my writing on several author sites and also learned that my Sausalito book was now available on Amazon UK. I immediately contacted my friends in the UK to let them know. Everyone was so excited.

    After a week at the hostel I headed back to Sausalito. My friend Tori invited me to stay at her home while she was out of town on business. I was thrilled because her place was a cozy cottage located in the center of town and in walking distance from everything. I also had the place to myself which was wonderful. Once I got settled in, I immediately went to work. I began creating again, this time working on my third book, It’s Simply…SF: Our City By The Bay, a book featuring my favorite parts of San Francisco.

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Oh Sweet Serendipity

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