So I've been making some great contacts and Santa Fe seems to be opening up in a beautiful way. Sometimes I feel like this film is a flower that just keeps blossoming and expanding.. or perhaps it's more apt to use an image taken from the golden spruce of a tree that from such a small and humble seed continues to grow and branch out taking in nutrients from all directions.

This morning I met with Joan Halifax Roshi of the Upaya Zen Center here in Santa Fe. I awoke at 6:30 went to the local pool for a swim, shower and shave, ate some granola and yogurt, walked the dog, and then found myself for no reason feeling a sense of extreme urgency to get to the Upaya Center. In that moment I thought to myself why so nervous and wound up? Why when it has taken you almost three years to get here are you now rushing when you are perfectly on time.. and rushing to a Zen Center of all places.

Upon arriving it was very clear that there was no reason to rush. I entered the center and was guided to a beautiful room to wait for Joan Halifax Roshi. The place is beautiful, and all of my anxieties seemed to float away under the grounded energy the permeated everything around me. I was given a cup of tea by a peaceful woman and I sat and waited. After some time, which I knew would pass even as I was rushing, Roshi came in and greeted me with a warm smile.

I told her about the project and about where I've been and she responded with an array of other people I should speak to throughout the Southwest. She offered me toast and jam from her breakfast and informed me that although she didn't have time for an on-camera dialog today, she would love to do it later. She was heading out of town and would be back on the 22nd. She was then going to another space owned by Upaya up in the mountains, and I was welcome to come along, as was Moses.

I am so grateful for the invitation and am looking forward snowshoeing through the snow to another beautiful and sacred space. It's so beautiful to encounter hearts that are open and 'in' love.

In the meantime I am continuing to collect content in and around Santa Fe. Interviews that seem to be manifesting include individuals working in Permaculture, Native Elders, Sustainable Farmers, Authors and generally progressive Thinkers.

peace,d

PS. Some great online videos already available of Dharma Talks and Buddhist Teachings they are worth watching if you aren't in too much of a rush ;-) Oh and here's a random unrelated link to a Buddhist temple built out of beer bottles. Mike Reynolds of Earthship Biotecture would be proud.