"And love dares you to change our way of caring about ourselves..."

My boss, Christine Carter, has been reading this book called Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard which says we all have "bright spots" in our daily lives, things that make us happy, and we should be aware of them and then clone them. 

This weekend has had a lot of "bright spots." We got some furniture from Christine and started setting up our meditation room. Then, we got dressed up(ish) and headed into the city for dinner in the Mission district (a hipster hot spot). Karma was so tickled to see himself in the mirror before we left, he said (out loud in Tibetan, but I'm translating), "Young guy, Karma Rinchen, congratulations!" LOL. He was also super excited to see me dressed up in a skirt w/ ballet flats & jewelry (wearing make-up, nonetheless!). 

We walked into our friend Chelsea's birthday (dance) party to a dark room w/ flashing lights and blaring music and he didn't miss a beat. He started hugging all my friends that he'd met on Monday night at my meditation group, he was speaking English and joking around and soaking it all in. I didn't feel like I had to babysit him--he seemed so comfortable. I hit up the dance floor and had a great time. Everyone wanted him to dance, but he said he'd have to "study" it before actually giving it a shot. He also observed that the way we were dancing "would be easy to get drunk and do." I told him that many Americans (among others) do just that. Later in the evening they played game where people had to choose back-up dancers and then dance to a randomly chosen song. He ended up swaying around to a little ditty called "Like a Virgin," a song & album created by Madonna that topped the charts in 1985 and sold more than 21 million copies worldwide (according to Wikipedia).  This recently ex-monk danced like a virgin, well because he actually IS a dancing virgin....This was the first party he'd ever been to like this. We were recapping his experience for a friend today and he said, "I was SO happy and people were drinking beer!!!! (what a fun and shocking thing to see people do at a party! ;))

We rode BART (subway) for his first time on the way home from the party. He's been on the metro in New Delhi, which is brand new so it's much cleaner. It was my first time riding the BART with a boy and it was a wonderful experience being able to put my head on his shoulder and relax on the ride home. 

We woke up to a rainy Sunday and decided to go shopping at "the mall." I saw in the paper that JCPenny's was having a sale, so I took him to the less fancy mall (Walmart is one of the department stores). He's got to see ALL sides of America. I'd love to take him shopping at the fancy mall, but my budget doesn't really support that (yet?). Anyways, he had a blast and we got him some fun, new clothes. We'd also gone to the discount shoe store yesterday and got him some new shoes, including a pair of snazzy, white, slip-on Dravens w/ black soles (my post-punk rock self couldn't help it and he LOVES them...). He was in dire need of new shoes--he came with only one pair. We did, for the record, go to Walmart, which I'd swore I'd never take him to. I was looking for "The Club" to buy for my car, but they didn't have it. I'm happy he got to experience shopping there without purchasing anything. I explained to him why I'm not wild about it (destroying local business and exploiting 3rd world labor...not that JCPenny is that much better...) and he gets it. Actually, he's been eating mostly vegan (minus a few dairy & egg items) with me since his been here and has loved everything he's had. 

He is easy to shop with, goes along with the flashy stuff I pick out for him (but still let's me know if it's too over the top) and never complains. Actually, he never complains or whines. It's really incredible. 

Here are some photos from our post-shopping, dress-up photo shoot:

We met up with our friend, Sean, and went to see the movie It's Kind of a Funny Story. I thought it would be difficult for him to understand, but as soon as the movie was over he was saying, "Great movie! What a great movie!" I liked it, too, and when I asked him why he thought so, he said, "because it was similar to real life." I forgot how sensationalized and unrealistic Bollywood movies are (which is what he's mainly seen and mainly why I love them), this was artsy and had some elements of fantasy, but was very down to earth.


Tonight's "first" was roll-up deodorant where the "roll up" part is flush with the stick itself and you have to turn the entire bottom of the stick. Who knew that it rolled up? He thought it was broken because he couldn't figure it out. He was so excited to learn how it worked!

This weekend has completely rejuvenated me. I feel so excited to have Karma here, to see this world through fresh eyes and share my life with him.  I am grateful for these "bright spots." 

I'll leave you with this blurry, yet amazing, photo that captures the essence of his infectious laugh. 

(Btw, the title of this blog is from the song Under Pressure, featured in the movie we saw tonight). "Why can't we give love one more chance...." =)