Eastern Medicine

I've done it!  I've realized that I have achieved so many of my childhood goals!  I just should have been a bit more specific...

Growing up, I wanted to be a starving artist.  I thought the idea sounded so romantical.  I imagined myself eating soup in a cold apartment surrounded by my art, and probably not receiving any critical acclaim until I was dead and buried... like Van Gogh and Monet and all the great painters.  Doesn't that just sound SO romantic?  Woops.  Be careful what you wish for!

I always wanted to live in a brownstone... and now I do!  It just happens to be in the middle of Harlem...

I never wanted an office job, to be a teacher, to have any sort of "real" job... all I ever wanted was to be an artist.  I tried coming up with ways I could be an artist and make money... like interior design.  But ick.  I hated that. 

So I've been thinking a lot recently about happiness and what I need to do to feel rooted in life.  Would a 9-5 job do that?  I think it would bring me comfort and a sense of stability... but I think I would be giving up on my dreams.  And since I've already achieved them (in a sense) I think I owe it to myself to see where they end up.  Maybe they will end up in comfort and a sense of stability... I just have to wait a little longer.

And for that, I am so grateful for Eastern Medicine.  Western medicine sucks.  If you're sick, you basically have to have a lot of money to make you better.  Or a job that offers an insurance plan that will make lots of money to make you feel better.  Since I don't have that, I am so grateful for my Eastern Medicine.  I swear by Bikram Yoga.  SWEAR BY IT.  If I miss classes, I feel like crapola, and odds are if I miss 4 in a row, I'm going to get sick.  I can wake up feeling lost, sad, and full of anxiety, but I head to my yoga studio and by the end, my head feels a little more clear, and I am much more capable of facing my day.

I don't know how long I will practice.  I'm only 3 months in, which is basically a blink... but I like to imagine that I can make this a life long practice.  One of my favorite sayings our instructors always spout during class:

If you can, you must.

So I guess I must.