Gifts and the Rest of my Life
First day of the rest of my life. Moved out of my home yesterday and relocated for the next few days to my (very generous) neighbor’s unit in the same building, a highly convenient step in this final stage of preparation. I now sit at the porch on the second floor looking at my cat nibbling on the lawn downstairs. Inside, my neighbor’s cat approaches the sliding door that keeps her away from life out here.
On this porch, I am much closer to the large tree on the property, and can almost touch one of its limbs. A squirrel makes his loud squirrel noise as he observes me in my very important ritual of drinking the first coffee of the day.
Gatita comes up the fence of the downstairs unit just below me and groans in a plea to come join me. Unlike me, she still lives in my old home, and seems confused as to why here is where I am now. She is not the only one… I feel a little stunned by the speed of life, my life at least.
I have always marveled at how Americans can uproot their lives and move from city to city as though recreating one’s life elsewhere were no big deal. I am very Brazilian that way. Brazilians seldom move. There is still the large flow of populations toward the big cities there as is the case everywhere, but culturally, Brazilians seldom change cities. In my experience here, Americans seldom build a life where they were born.
Nothing other than weather and the changing seasons exert external pressure to hit the road. Officially, Inward Ride has not yet started as I haven’t left Ojai. But, oh boy, has the journey started!
It seems that no amount of jumping into the tasks at hand will ever feel like it is enough to check them off. Post-production continues, framing some pictures later today for delivery, a new shoot early this coming week to help support four months on the road without working. Passport renewal interview and 12,000-mile service plus new tires for the bike in Los Angeles mid-week, continued sponsorship efforts and communication, and final delivery of all images by week’s end. I will be ready when I’m ready.
Something else has started, long before the physical migration: the kindness of others. As the days go by, the list of generous offerings continues to grow. Different gestures, different means, different things gifted, some not even palpable. A beautiful variety of “goods” that reminisce of times of trades in community markets of old. I am the one on the receiving end, hoping that my open heart, my sincerity and vulnerability will give them all something in return for their kindness.
I choke a bit with the beauty of this path in my life that has no return. Only through now, into the wilderness of the unknown.
Very soft notes are played in a piano nearby. A move to a mere few yards away and a whole new experience opens up. Tree, cats, squirrel, sounds…and the quivering in my heart.
I end now in deep gratitude, thanking you, all of you, with all of your very personal expressions of generosity and interest in my quest. Through your very unique gifts, you are also allowing me to see deeply into who you are.
Thank you.
Inward Ride and Ciro Coelho are supported by:
Aether Apparel website, Facebook and Instagram
“Ice Cream Man”, shot in Havana, Cuba, in 1993, hangs by the door at my house. ©Ciro Coelho/InwardRide.com