I recently finished an interesting book called The Zen of Oz, which draws all sorts of Buddhist lessons out of the experiences of Dorothy and the other characters of the classic story. At first, this seemed like a gimmicky conceit - but as I finally really became engaged with the book (thanks Arlene!), I began to see how well the story conformed to the universal concepts of Eastern spiritual thought.



In addition to some obvious things like the yellow brick road standing in for the spiritual path, I found some things that seemed very personally relevant - this is the kind of book that would offer the same kind of personal insight to most anyone who might pick it up.

Anyone who has followed events described in this blog knows about the uncertainty surrounding the most basic of circumstances for us - what house/city/state/country we might end up in, what we will be doing there, etc. When Dorothy encounters the scarecrow, it is at the point where she encounters a fork in the road. As Dorothy tries to decide which direction is best, the scarecrow offers ambiguous suggestions and they get acquainted.

The author points out the irrelevance of the choice, as long as they remain on the path - both directions are paved with yellow bricks. As he points out, "The decisions life throws in your path aren't always as important as they may seem."...(should we move to this town/state/country or that?) "The decisions themselves are immaterial. What matters is that you make the choice, that you have the courage to move forward. If you are paralyzed by indecision, you become stagnat, dull, lifeless - just like the scarecrow stuck on his pole."..."Only by moving forward, only by braving the unknown, experiencing uncertainty, and opening yourself up to the iinfinite possibilities do you realize your dreams, find your heart's desire, and discover freedom and fulfillment."

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So as for our choices, currently Fort Collins is once again in the lead. I really find it troubling that we can't own a house here in the Bay Area, and this makes it seem very temporary. I feel distressed every time I see a realtor's sign in front of a place or pass by a realty office. With homes running a third of the price in Fort Collins, and Mona and Clark (and the ranch) just an hour and a half North of there, it's hard not to keep coming back to that as a good choice. I have also been finding more to like about the open space and recreational activities there.

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Oh, I'm not working again. Finished up about three weeks working without a contract, and now just attending to things around the house - going to the gym, etc. Not a bad thing for now.

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