spend quality time with a new friend every week.

Coryn and I had an amazing time at Dagny’s yesterday, sharing tea and I think she had coffee (it is a coffee house) and we laughed and talked and laughed and shared dreams and poetry and ideas and memories. It was the perfect “hang out with a girlfriend” sort of afternoon where time just flew by and all was right with the world. Tonight we are taking a belly dancing class. Hooray!

The night before last Fred and I hung out in the river bed, one of my favorite sacred spots here in Bakersfield. I am getting so much better at letting people know I need breathing buddies and then making that request… and following up with it… and being unattached. There are some folks I would still like to breathe with who I haven’t and its all just right, perfect and good. :-)

Thomas and I were in Acting Class together – it went really well, we got along great and clicked well. I also enjoyed hanging out at a “Macbeth” party with he and his main squeeze. That is a YUP done that lately.

Jennie Babcock and I have been doing weekly “girl talk” sessions. I actually confessed my crush to her, which felt great. I haven’t sat around chatting “girl talk” consistently with another woman in eons, so this is a very good thing.

Nyoka asked me if I would officiate her wedding the other day! I purchased one of her paintings so we have visited several times that were deeper than the norm… and yes, I have bumped into her at the Silver Fox several times.

Jodi worked on the One Act Festival with me.

I haven’t seen Jill K. at all, I need to call her.

Just surprising becauee I went to pick up my script for Streetcar and ended up hanging out and getting into a heartfelt discussion with Coryn.

Hal was there for a while, then Brittany stopped by. Saw Fred.

But the coolest was sharing with Coryn some of my processing over the last several days. I would share in bits and pieces and then when someone came along we would look up and include them in a less deep discussion and they would leave and we would laser into exactly where we left off….

I love having friends like that and spaces like that where it doesn’t take long to drill into the heart of the matter. It’s always great to see Hal, too, my acting class finally starts next Weds, which means Weds. nights are going to be ripe for transcendence. Acting class, Poetry group…and the requisite “I better get to karaoke while the gettings good!”

I mean, last Weds was a huge awakening for me (still getting insights on that one) and the Weds before that was positively phenomenal.

Now, add in acting class and…. whooooooa. I just remembered Coryn is going to be in that class too. I am very blessed.

I also had a very brief chat with My Muse later. I mean, very very brief, I think I clocked seven minutes including a nice laserly chunk of silent connectedness.

I had a brief chat with Roger about blogging about “Streetcar” to make sure it was ok. It is.

I need to get some of these folks to hang out with me at Remington. Hal went up there with his girlfriend. Now this is weird. I don’t know if I am comfortable thinking about getting naked with Hal – is it because he is my teacher?

Weird.

Almost everyone else I can think of, no problem. Hal, it feels… weird.

Off topic, off topic. Ok, Ok, Ok. I am moving along….

I bumped into some folks on my list at the Silver Fox on Friday night. Nyoka was there, quite a pleasant surprise, and then Coryn showed up (with Nola, who I didn’t know when I wrote the list or she would be on it.)

Later that night I saw a whole bunch of other friends, again – not high quality per se, but lots of hugs, lots of low-level and fun exchanges.

I am hoping to create one or two openings for solid, heartful interaction this week. I know my “quality time with friends” is running a bit on the low side. I can feel it in my face.

And wow, I saw oodles of people from my list at the art show this weekend.

Intentionality has a way of increasing my outcomes, big big big time.

I am also including a photo of Susan and me here at the art show. Not the best of me, but she looks cute and you can catch a glimpe of some art.

I was just checking my initial list of “whose who” that I wanted to spend more time with and on it is Jeny Rendt-Scott Sanchez, who gave me a ride home from rehearsal the other night. She and I packed a TON of relating into a 10 minute car ride.

I also saw Kristina Saldana on the list and yes, this week we were together a lot and she gave my world’s favorite note this week about people stepping on my lines… and this week the working on the set side by side with her definitely qualifies. Set work is a great relationship builder (as I just noted with David.)

I was able to squeeze in some positive time with some new folks this week. I have quite a bit in common with Marcy, in my cast -and syncronistically her husband gave me my first massage where I experienced spiritual breakthrough, so I know she must be cool. LOL. She is a writer, a tarot-card reader, very creative like me. A good match.

I had a great time this morning with David when we were at auditions, early on, and no one was there. He and I have connected ever since our first phone conversation. I remember saying to someone, “He sounded like he knew me already when I called” and I think somehow, deep within both us, he DID know me and I DID know him.

And then I got to play his mother in “Sunday in the Park with George” (a miracle, since I am only 5 years older than him.)
It remains one of my favorite shows, so working with him again is a joy, especially since people thought our friendship was tarnished when he dumped a show on me, the first show I directed. He was the initial director, and I took it over when he had another commitment.

SO! It all works.

And now, we had a great, soulful conversation. He is going to read “Power of Now” – (My beloved Muse, David – you reading?!)and discern if he really wants to teach anymore. We talked about Soul Squashing… and not being willing to have that happen anymore.

So, we will see… and I am looking forward to more deep conversations, heartful connection, etc.

One of my favorite memories of David was when we were working on the set for “Sunday” – it was probably about midnight and I was on the sidewalk, doing “grommetting” which is something I think normally happens in tent-making and sailing (?) but you also do it to make backdrops.

I was grommeting away and David was unloading his heart to me. And I grommeted and listened, nodded and grommeted and listened… and made space for David to be heard. I loved that moment.

And now, I will be officiating his wedding in August, which is so grand I can barely stand it.

Let me think – any others of note?

Last night I surprisingly bumped into Monika and Bryce and Kim Chin, who told me she is coming to V-Day tonight. I enjoy bumping into folks like that, keeping on the radar and all that.

I think today’s conversation with David ranks up there as a phenomenal moment of the week, relationally.

I even got to tell him some of my deepest emotional journeying this morning, it felt so good to be heard. I needed that last night and couldn’t find anyone who was available to listen so this was quite a blessing in many ways.

Saturday – spent several hours with Sheila and then David joined us. We had great, deep discussion, laughter, and most importantly to me – increased levels of intimacy.

Saturday before that I traveled to Orange County and had a family-quality-time-outing where the children and I spent quality time with Mel’s family. We all loved it -

The Saturday before that, we went to Fresno for a contradance and I had the best visit in years with Darcy who is both my friend and my cousin.

This last Friday night I went to this crazy bar with Brian and a couple of his friends, one of whom was a castmate in my very first show as an adult… Brian and I had a great time together and deepened our friendship.

This week I have tech rehearsal for the Vagina Monologues and if I am intentional, we can create some quality time… and there are lots of new people to be with in the production.

I did something pretty remarkable just now. I have had such a full week with so many different people, I thought I would do a quick assessment of which of my 43 folks I spent some quality (although many, rather brief) time with during the past week.

Wow. I am truly amazed… I am making progress, aren’t I?

Here is the list:

Jodi, Thomas, Jill, Melinda, Sheila, Hal, Jen, Jennie, Kaitlyn,Jeny RSS, Donna, Susan, Nyoka, Keely, Kristina, Jen, Roger, Robyn, Amy, Coryn

I am not sure how much this counts for quality… but tonight I am attending a going-away party for Ashley, one of my local artist friends. There will be lots of artsy people there… I am going to make it my intent to engage someone in deep conversation. That is how Ashley and I became so close – we clicked at one of Roger’s parties. Just sat there and yakked and yakked and yakked… on of those, “I know who YOU are” and “I know who YOU are!” that comes from being an artist in a small town.

And then, there is a birthday party for Kelly, my beloved Acting Teacher Hal’s girlfriend tonight, too.

Same intention there—and I am finding it completely tremendous to go to a party with an intent such as this one. Why haven’t I ever thought of it so consciously before?!