Summer has taken its hold over me

And I like it.

It’s been over a month since I’ve written here as summer has taken its hold. Everything has been pushed aside from my meditation practice to consistently writing to routinely exercising. I’ve been enjoying donuts, live music, lots of nature and visiting with people I love. After moving to the desert of the Coachella Valley over 2 years ago more space opened up for friendships, creativity sprouted yet socializing was dimmed. I didn’t actually see people very much except online and the occasional in-person visits with the 3 friends I have locally.

Author’s Image - Cape Cod

Lately, it has been all about seeing friends and family conversing, hiking, eating, listening to music and being together. Lots of togetherness and my extroverted self has come alive again. I’m reminded of how to be with people again although my post-pandemic self still needs the quiet down time to gather my thoughts, I feel sparked from other humans. While I left the oppressive vibration of Silicon Valley my creativity and meditation practices sprouted like never before, my relationships blossomed, I began to put other oppressive vibrations on myself. I felt like I had to achieve something, to be something, to “brand” myself as this new person, a writer and meditation teacher. And while I have accomplished this, the whole branding with consistency feels yucky. The word itself “brand” is an awful word with its origins as an identifying mark burned onto livestock and originally onto criminals or slaves. This viscerally makes me want to never use this word again with its origins of oppression and harm, it’s another invisible chain placed upon us. The American culture of individuality, achieving, standing out as someone different and special is so pervasive today. We are all equally important whether we interact in this way or not. And we make a difference whether we have the right amount of followers according to the “marketing leaders” of the illusory world. I am grateful for the time away from it all. This is has been the most present and free I have felt by simply not engaging. I’m reading books again and engaging active listening with those in front of me or on the phone.

I thought I had to be this distinct, writer, meditation teacher and mental health advocate who has achieved the adequate number of followers with a wide range of visibility. I remind myself of the advice I gave a musician friend a few years ago, “Don’t make the music with the thoughts of others in mind, make it for yourself and you will have less inhibition. You will impact more people when you create for yourself.” I think I’ll be taking that advice for myself a bit more. I acknowledge that getting caught up in the need for validation isn’t easy.

However, summer has taken its hold over me and I love it, I am also proud of the accomplishments that have grown from my hard work. They are the expressions of who I am, sharing my stories to process my own life with the hopes of impacting others to do the same. After all, it is one of the commitments I made to myself when I became a certified meditation teacher, to connect as many people as I can to meditation as a practice to get back to their inner worlds of love and compassion because if we can all do that then we will be a less polarized society. I am committed to my donation-based Ram Dass Parent Sangha where I guide in meditation and hold space for other parents who also wish to stay connected to their heart’s center enabling them to be more grounded parents and releasing expectations of who their children ought to be. I am committed to continuing to create and write about mental health stigma to educate and dispel narratives of fear in the hopes of seeing change.

I have also come to terms that I cannot be an entrepreneur in this way, working in a silo to achieve these missions. I need people to spark my creativity, to exchange thoughts and ideas. It does not work well for me online all the time so I’m planning lots of in-person events this fall from camping and hiking in the Pinnacle mountains, to a writers retreat in Santa Fe and the beloved yoga and music retreat at Bhakti Fest in Joshua Tree.

I am also grateful for all the paid work as a writer and meditation teacher welcome more of that so if you know companies or individuals who need help, hit me up! Recently I’m writing the “Caregiver” series for Mad in America and blog writing for ArtSurgical by way of The Design Boutique.

Recent Collaborations

New meditation tracks tailored for parents:

Meditation Stress Relief for Parents

Metta for Parents

Mad in America - Giving Caregivers a Platform: Sam Husband of K’aryn Marie

This time, the journey takes a different course, avoiding the usual psychiatric treatment model entirely as a husband helps his wife through her experiences with “alters” (usually classified as Dissociative Identity Disorder, or DID). Together, attachment theory and his own supportive approach have proved instrumental in helping her on her ongoing path for healing.

PODCAST INTERVIEW

I was interviewed on a former work colleague’s podcast - “That’s Life I Swear” - as his first interview. We had a nice conversation about meditation and its positive outcomes Thank you Rick for having me on your show!

Here’s the link to listen to Episode 55: Interview with Shelley Karpaty on the Inner World of Meditation.

Coming up in August:

A parent gathering to meditate, read from a Ram Dass teaching and discussion. The participants in this group are typically parents who have children of adolescent age and above. As the problems become more complex in adolescence, we look to the wisdom of Buddhist psychology and spiritual teachings to find a new approach to guiding our children. This group is not religious or political in any way.

1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month ~ 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm PT

August 3 & 17th ~ RSVP to get the donation-based Zoom link

Thanks for reading to the end! Please give the heart a press, discuss and share, it makes my day.