Do you know that feeling when you open the door of the house you grew up in? You have done it a million times and still every time again you are flooded with emotions. That feeling continues as you drop your bag on the kitchen floor (and you might hear in your head your mother saying “don’t you dare leave your bag there, take it to your room!") and as you open the fridge or the cabinets to see if there is something to eat, climb up the stairs into your parents bedroom where the “ho no! no you are not” is sound as you climb into their comfy bed to watch TV. It’s a life long ceremony that is breached only when the house is sold. Last night was the last night I got to take part in this ancient tradition.
The house in רמות or Ramot (link to photos of the neighborhood) where I grew up in and around, was sold a few weeks ago. So as I lied down in my sister’s bed (it was more like crashing as I am still jet lagged) I knew it was the last time I will sleep under this roof. Years will pass and there will be no place on earth where I have spent the night in as many times as the house on Mishoal Moran 17 (maybe except the Roxy,) there will be no place where I have received attention and love as much as this house (clearly not the Roxy.) This is where I learned to love, to be part of a group, to develop relationships (look where that got me!) to give without the expectation of receiving (just like Christmas) and it is still the only place where I fall asleep with not one single worry on my mind.
Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras defines yoga as “yogash chitta vritti nirodhah,” or “yoga is the control (as in soothing, cessation or suspension) of the fluctuation of the mind.” I am not remotely capable of giving an interpretation to this sutra. And still I have learned that being at HOME, wherever home is for you, the house you grew up in, your city, state or country, your small but cozy studio apartment in the 5th floor walk up in Manhattan or a tent after a long day of hiking, BEING at home enables "yogash chitta vritti nirodhah," it might be that because our mind is so restless with thoughts and distractions it is easier for us to work on yoga when we have less distractions, where we are somewhere familiar. Or maybe because working on yoga is scary (as I often say, I don’t really want to know myself, who knows what I will find out!) it is easier to do the work where we feel secure. For each his own reasons, HOME is a very powerful place.
In our home, with the years, my span of emotions shrank from the whole house to just the common areas and my parents’ bedroom. As one is ready to leave the house to the Army, his room is stripped off of everything but a bed, a closet and his cloth, at that point he also gets his own TV. A week after you finish your army service movers are being paid for by the monarchy (as a ‘hint’) and you leave the house. Then my parents get to do what they have been waiting for since you were born, make your bedroom into yet ANOTHER office.
You can see more photos of the house taken in Sept 2006 at: http://www.flickr.com/gp/48634258@N00/02378o
Our house (soon to be someone else’s house) faces a vast forest. It is the Southern border of Jerusalem. Our house is the last house before the valley begins. The other side of the valley is an Arab semi-hostile village called Biet Ixa and a small deserted village with a natural water spring which we used to walk to as kids called לִפְתַא Lifta or لفتا in Arabic, you can see photos of the village and the water spring at http://nakba-online.tripod.com/Lifta-pics.htm. Nebi Samwil north of Ramot was believed to be the place of residence and tomb of the profit Samuel though today we know that is not true. Surrounded by Arab villages and stunning beauty, Ramot over the last 10 years transitioned from a young Anglo-Saxon neighborhood to a religious oriented place to live in, and as all the kids left the house and there was no need for any more offices for the two adults left in it, Mom and Micha are moving on February 15th. So long sweet memories….
(If I was a real blogger I would end this by saying: “Do you want to share your childhood house story? Tell us all about it” but I am not, though some of my best friends are!)
I am meeting with some more Leumi people in Tel Aviv today. Later on I am giving a workshop at Profimex called How Would Buddha Sell Ice to the Eskimos (available for download here) based on the book “The Diamond Cutter: The Buddha on Strategies for Managing Your Business and Your Life” by Geshe Michael Roach.
The weather in honor of Jeff’s Weather Blog and women in the Israeli economy in honor of my feminist mother’s birthday:
The weather is perfect! No rain, not a cloud, cold but very sunny! A real Mediterranean winter.
I had a meeting in the offices of the chairman of the board of directors of Bank Leumi, one of the largest banks in the country. His office is opposite the office of Galia Maor, the CEO of the bank, ranked the strongest woman in the Israeli economy by Forbes. The same day, the First International Bank of Israel announced that Smadar Barber-Tzadik will become the CEO of the bank replacing the current CEO. Both of them, together with Shari Arison who is the riches Israeli citizen and the owner of Bank Hapoalim make an impressive group of women in banking.
The house in רמות or Ramot (link to photos of the neighborhood) where I grew up in and around, was sold a few weeks ago. So as I lied down in my sister’s bed (it was more like crashing as I am still jet lagged) I knew it was the last time I will sleep under this roof. Years will pass and there will be no place on earth where I have spent the night in as many times as the house on Mishoal Moran 17 (maybe except the Roxy,) there will be no place where I have received attention and love as much as this house (clearly not the Roxy.) This is where I learned to love, to be part of a group, to develop relationships (look where that got me!) to give without the expectation of receiving (just like Christmas) and it is still the only place where I fall asleep with not one single worry on my mind.Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras defines yoga as “yogash chitta vritti nirodhah,” or “yoga is the control (as in soothing, cessation or suspension) of the fluctuation of the mind.” I am not remotely capable of giving an interpretation to this sutra. And still I have learned that being at HOME, wherever home is for you, the house you grew up in, your city, state or country, your small but cozy studio apartment in the 5th floor walk up in Manhattan or a tent after a long day of hiking, BEING at home enables "yogash chitta vritti nirodhah," it might be that because our mind is so restless with thoughts and distractions it is easier for us to work on yoga when we have less distractions, where we are somewhere familiar. Or maybe because working on yoga is scary (as I often say, I don’t really want to know myself, who knows what I will find out!) it is easier to do the work where we feel secure. For each his own reasons, HOME is a very powerful place.
In our home, with the years, my span of emotions shrank from the whole house to just the common areas and my parents’ bedroom. As one is ready to leave the house to the Army, his room is stripped off of everything but a bed, a closet and his cloth, at that point he also gets his own TV. A week after you finish your army service movers are being paid for by the monarchy (as a ‘hint’) and you leave the house. Then my parents get to do what they have been waiting for since you were born, make your bedroom into yet ANOTHER office.You can see more photos of the house taken in Sept 2006 at: http://www.flickr.com/gp/48634258@N00/02378o
Our house (soon to be someone else’s house) faces a vast forest. It is the Southern border of Jerusalem. Our house is the last house before the valley begins. The other side of the valley is an Arab semi-hostile village called Biet Ixa and a small deserted village with a natural water spring which we used to walk to as kids called לִפְתַא Lifta or لفتا in Arabic, you can see photos of the village and the water spring at http://nakba-online.tripod.com/Lifta-pics.htm. Nebi Samwil north of Ramot was believed to be the place of residence and tomb of the profit Samuel though today we know that is not true. Surrounded by Arab villages and stunning beauty, Ramot over the last 10 years transitioned from a young Anglo-Saxon neighborhood to a religious oriented place to live in, and as all the kids left the house and there was no need for any more offices for the two adults left in it, Mom and Micha are moving on February 15th. So long sweet memories….
(If I was a real blogger I would end this by saying: “Do you want to share your childhood house story? Tell us all about it” but I am not, though some of my best friends are!)
I am meeting with some more Leumi people in Tel Aviv today. Later on I am giving a workshop at Profimex called How Would Buddha Sell Ice to the Eskimos (available for download here) based on the book “The Diamond Cutter: The Buddha on Strategies for Managing Your Business and Your Life” by Geshe Michael Roach.The weather in honor of Jeff’s Weather Blog and women in the Israeli economy in honor of my feminist mother’s birthday:
The weather is perfect! No rain, not a cloud, cold but very sunny! A real Mediterranean winter.
I had a meeting in the offices of the chairman of the board of directors of Bank Leumi, one of the largest banks in the country. His office is opposite the office of Galia Maor, the CEO of the bank, ranked the strongest woman in the Israeli economy by Forbes. The same day, the First International Bank of Israel announced that Smadar Barber-Tzadik will become the CEO of the bank replacing the current CEO. Both of them, together with Shari Arison who is the riches Israeli citizen and the owner of Bank Hapoalim make an impressive group of women in banking.
1 comment:
well, i guess it's time to say goodbye to kanzas.
(and then there are all the people that start talking about other definitions of "home" - but we never liked them anyway..)
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