Mariela’s Sunday Thoughts: Summer visitors
We’re wrapping up summer and the shift is palpable in Sandpoint. Less traffic, smaller crowds, people going back home, people coming back home.
That’s something I’ve always enjoyed about our little town: it is small enough to make anyone feel at home right away.
Grounded opened just as summer was approaching its high, and we were lucky enough to become the home of many of you, that were here just for a little while.
For the first two months of the studio being here, our “regulars” were a lovely blend of locals and visitors - and one of the main reasons for Grounded to exist, community, immediately manifested.
I was thinking about one of my nieces, Naomi, the other day. When she was a baby and starting to talk, the first thing she’d do every morning when she woke up was run a sort of “roll call”. When one of her parents would go and pick her up from her crib as she woke up, she would start listing the people in her life: everyone she knew. Literally, everyone. She would even name them in order in which she had met them, the order each person had entered her life - starting with whichever parent wasn’t right there by her crib, to her sister, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousin, and expand into neighbors, playground friends, grocery clerk. She wouldn’t just name everybody, she would ask about them.
After naming each person, she would expect an answer from mom or dad letting her know where that person was. Naomi didn’t wake up to her world, Naomi would wake up every single morning to her community.
We all have collected multiple videos of Naomi’s morning roll calls through the years. Eventually, she stopped doing them. Or so I thought.
Naomi is now seven years old, and she video called me last week. She was visiting my mom and they were reading stories when she asked what I was doing and my mom offered to call me. I picked up, she asked how I was feeling, what I was doing. I told her. She then asked about Uncle Edwin, my husband: what he was doing, where he was at. And then she asked about my in-laws, and my friends, and the person that makes the huckleberry ice cream my mom liked so much last time she visited Sandpoint (someone from Panhandle Cone & Coffee).
And then, she asked about you.
I told Naomi about Grounded in May, when the project was born. I showed her videos and pictures of the space, I shared the renovation progress, and I gave her a virtual tour of the finished studio, right after I taught my first class there. She asked me to tell her who attended the class. She asked about names, occupations, how we met. She assumed all my students knew each other and are friends. So ever since then, whenever I talk to her, she asks about you. Have you been to class, what you’re doing, where you’re at.
Naomi has a natural, deep connection with people. She understands that, without community, there’s no humanity. Her world is not about herself, but about those who cross paths with her. Everyone is immediately included, thought about, considered, remembered. She integrates oneness into the mundane, and she interacts with people from a deeply curious place that goes beyond the simple act of socializing.
I try to be more like Naomi every day. I try to pay extra attention to any interactions, I truly appreciate the time and effort each of you make every day to step outside your comfort zone and come by the studio to work out or practice some yoga. I think of all the teachers that so generously offer their art at Grounded. I feel deep gratitude for them, their trustworthiness, honesty, goodwill, and work ethics.
Yogananda said "if you think deeply about any person, you will begin to be like them". “Think deeply”, in this case, could be interpreted as meditation. “Be like them” is the exciting part: whenever Naomi thinks of a person, she thinks about their positive characteristics that stood out to her. It’s not uncommon for her to ask me if Edwin is “still so silly”, or if I’m going on any adventure any time soon. The people that belong in her world are shaping with their good intentions, examples, and attributes, her own persona. If she thinks of us (she meditates about us), she will be more like us. When she thinks of us, she thinks of one specific positive aspect of ours and, according to Yogananda, she invites that into her world.
So if you’ve taken my class or we crossed paths at the studio, know that there’s a little girl in Argentina occasionally asking about you, and genuinely hoping you are doing well.
A simple journaling (or thought/meditation) prompt to connect with community:
Morning: just as baby Naomi did, make a note of all the people in your life. Those who make up your community. Go beyond friends and family. Naomi often asks about people she’s never met and only knows them because they’ve made a positive impact on someone she knows. Make this list LONG. Notice how massive your community is.
Evening: grab the note you created in the morning. Choose one person. Think about them. What is their best quality? Why is that person on your list? write a few paragraphs about that one quality they have.