What’s better the second time? A wedding! But to the same person in this case! 😀 Eliza and Jimmy tied the knot in August 2020 in SF’s Golden Gate Botanical Garden. As their officiant, I gave them the blessing then, but the plan was always to have a big wedding and of course COVID had a different idea. Like a number of folks planning their 2020 wedding, this couple and their parents, and their friends had to be flexible for 2 years. And in the end, it all worked out beautifully.
I was honored to officiate again with a more formal setting that turned into a magical day. And now that the day has passed, it’s almost like it all happened just like it was meant. Eliza and Jimmy kept sharing how the day was better than they could have even imagined. This couple makes the world a better place! I’m so happy for them and grateful to be their friend. Many of you know Eliza from Mukunda Studio – she’s been supporting the studio as the Well-being Operator and a long-time friend and former co-worker from Fan Asylum days (What is now the 2nd floor of 1250 Folsom – Mukunda Studio!).
Not everything can turn out this positive with the passing of these couple of years, but maybe we’ve had time to ponder our life more than we ever would have. Almost like we had at least a couple of times to review and consider what it means to live on this planet with our brothers and sisters near, far and wide. Not likely a fairytale ending like this wedding day, but at best a chance to open our hearts more fully and witness a global coming together in the most unexpected way.
As this blog is being written, I’m learning that Russia has initiated an unprovoked attack on peaceful cities in Ukraine. What could have been thought of only as intimidation tactics, has now clearly turned into what it looked like it was setting up to be – war. It’s very painful and difficult to imagine these neighbors, who once shared so much in common and in many ways still have so much in common, are turning to battle and destruction as a means for power and retaliation. Such a strong emotion and counter to the other strong emotion that doesn’t get the lights in the headlines – Love. Maybe it’s hard to see that love is a weapon, or maybe better to say, a medicine. Maybe the sickness needs to run its course whether we love or hate. Maybe this is the nature of power in human hands as this story is nothing new in history. Why does this story keep playing? Is it just that everything we are and everything that we do, whether love or hate, make war or peace, is the only fluctuation of existence that we can rely on as our human experience?
As we come to a close with February’s festivities of Chinese New Year, Black History Month (intended to signal an everyday awareness), National Wedding Month! and as it seems that this 2-year COVID journey is ending, I hope that we keep giving a second chance to welcome hope more vividly. I wish for us to truly open our eyes and hearts to the pain of those who have been marginalized and disproportionately overlooked when understanding the cruel hand of power and endless hunt for satisfying the empty ghosts that reside within us all. We are all experiencing this human birth that is filled with the vibrations of survival instinct, but also a deeply melodic tune that when awakened can have us only see one another as a reflection of the universe’s best creation. May the pain of buried truths help us pull aside the veil of lies that shadow our past. May we leave COVID behind but allow the teaching of this time to engage us in an unexpected second chance to understand life’s meaning. And finally, may we truly have learned something from these last couple of years in particular so that we really can make our life and the lives around us just a bit better.
Let’s stay connected, Marc Mukunda!
