This is where I have been for the last week or so: http://news.bahai.org/2008convention

Baha’i World News Service is doing a great job of covering the International Baha’i Convention, and I highly recommend checking out their stories and pictures…it will give you a glimpse into this amazing process.

As it turns out, evenings at the Convention Center tend to be pretty quiet, so I sat down for a moment to take off my heels and write a post.

I’ve seen friends from around the world, I have interacted with and assisted delegates from more places than I can count, I’ve had a smile on my face for nearly a week now and I can’t help but keep smiling! They are all so beautiful, and the atmosphere here is indescribable.

One of my favorite moments was when over 1500 people from around the world circled around the Shrine of Baha’u'llah on the 9th Day of Ridvan. (pictures here) It gave me a better understanding of how global our Faith truly is…the sky was blue and perfect:

the flowers were in bloom:

and everything was right with the world, in those moments.

Happy Ridvan.

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For the next week, I’ll be a little busy.  Please forgive me if I don’t answer emails/messages/notes/phone calls/carrier pigeons/smoke signals.  

“The light that is shed from the heaven of bounty, and the benediction that shineth from the dawning-place of the will of God, the Lord of the Kingdom of Names, rest upon Him Who is the Supreme Mediator, the Most Exalted Pen, Him Whom God hath made the Dawning-Place of His most excellent names and the Dayspring of His most exalted attributes. Through Him the light of unity hath shone forth above the horizon of the world, and the law of oneness hath been revealed amidst the nations, who, with radiant faces, have turned towards the Supreme Horizon, and acknowledged that which the Tongue of Utterance hath spoken in the kingdom of His knowledge: “Earth and heaven, glory and dominion, are God’s, the Omnipotent, the Almighty, the Lord of grace abounding!”"

    (Abdu’l-Baha, Baha’i World Faith, p. 247)

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The stinging, spicy aftermath of the largest salad she had ever eaten lingered on her lips and tongue. Blank pages stare at her hungrily.

look around.

One in the corner, with a calendar on her lap, the eraser end of her pencil lodged between her teeth and short dark hair swept to the side, dark eyes intent as she shuffles things around.

Slouched sideways, only the top of his hair peeks out over the book he reads, through the noise of the coffee grinder and ambient café music. Occasionally his beard appears from hiding, his hand reaches out and he drinks his frozen mocha, still immersed.

Next in line, her face is lit by the glow of her laptop. “Pictures!” she exclaims, and stares into the depths of the screen, smiling in response to something…or nothing. Her green eyes glow from within.

Across the table, he writes almost as fast as she does, their pens nearly colliding. Dim lights make blond hair only glow, not shine, and when he looks up, he meets the eyes of the girl with the calendar.

They are an awkward and comfortable rectangle with five corners.

Empty water glasses litter the table. They discuss the internet, language, anger, music, communication, and death. The natural rhythm of conversation dips down, climbs up, and plateaus, and all heads bend back down over their projects.

Darker it grows inside and out, the volume of noise rises in the café as the evening shift starts. They are silent. These are the forever days, in which no pictures are taken, but the familiar faces with familiar expressions have knowledge beyond words.

This is life.

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I am tasting colors, writing blind
my fingertips touch and stretch
we’re running so fast
maybe I’ll tie me to you…

If only we could see through these eyes
faint little heaps of shredded tires
and left-over green grass
from the yesterday of the past.

We’ll never leave we will stay here
and I am writing beside you
with my ink-less stained hands…

I am right beside you.

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My mother makes a fresh pot of Persian tea every morning.  Glass cups only, steam rising and at least 3 sugar cubes for me.

The house is always surrounded by the sun, and around our kitchen table there are shafts of light that warm our feet.  Well, not in winter, but Chicago is not known for its mildness…both in weather and personality.

—-

Every morning I walk up a mountain, every night I walk down.  I know the dips and turns of the path, the gardeners are working and the rocks slip away under the heels of my shoes.  There are spiderweb cracks in the stairwell of my apartment building, and six different kinds of flowers blooming in my doorway.  (I counted one day.)

—-

I love black and white family photos from the 1940s: flaws are hidden, and lips, eyes, and hair are defined and perfect.  I wish that I could discover their stories just by flipping through the photo album.  The stories need to be gathered, collected, treasured.  We have lost so many stories…

—-

I want to read, have conversations, and see things that make my mind go in strange tangents and causes spontaneous laughter.  There are a million ways to reach that point, but sometimes it takes concious effort.

—-

I have had two desserts today.  They were healthy because I put fruit in them. 

—-

The advent of the prophets and the revelation of the Holy Books is intended to create love between souls and friendship between the inhabitants of the earth. Real love is impossible unless one turn his face towards God and be attracted to His Beauty.

 (Abdu’l-Baha, Baha’i World Faith – Abdu’l-Baha Section, p. 363)

Posted in Family, Haifa, Personal, Thoughts | Comments (4)

2 months.  62 days.  1,488 hours.  89,280 minutes.  <– My time remaining in the Holy Land.  That is all there is to say about that, for the moment anyway.  I’m busy working, over 60 hours a week now as things ramp up around here.  I love it. 

For starters, it has been a bit of a crazy week.  I heard about 11 engagements in the course of 1 week…11 couples getting married.  It has been pointed out to me that this is probably because I know a lot of people.  This is true.  However, it is also because it is spring, people are planning summer weddings, and I am 24 years old…all logically leading to a certain percentage of my friends getting married.  I am very excited, although I’m only going to a couple of these weddings.

On to the next thing.  There are a few blogs/sites that I want to bring to your attention.  All of these are on my links page, of course. 

Elemental Change – a collaborative blog by some Baha’i friends of mine on a wide variety of topics: entrepreneurship & finance, design & music, technology & social enterprise, politicking & think tanking.   I am really enjoying it so far, and can’t wait to see more.

2inspire.us – “What the news ought to be.”  I really love the idea behind this.  Why is the majority of our news so negative?  Well, we know why…people are attracted to tragedy.  But our spirits need upliftment too.  Check it out.

Baha’i Perspectives – many of you have heard about this site.  Articles on subjects that affect all of us, written by Baha’i friends around the world.

Artificial Sound & Light - my friend Vahid changed it up a little bit with his new blog.  Totally different from many of the blogs I read.

The Candy Coating – Dangerboy and Orion, two guys with a blog.  Thoughtful, often funny essays on various topics.  They are both Baha’is, but it is really a place for people to share their thoughts and talk to each other. 

Finally, I had a wonderful evening last night.  Taco dinner, Persepolis, and an impromptu Sufjan Stevens dance party in my friend’s living room (yes, it is possible to dance to this kind of music).   I love that my friends and I can still dance around like when we were little kids…with no judgement or shame. 

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I walked around the gardens, and picked up a fallen flower to hold close to my heart.

I ran down a path in darkness and silently shouted to the palm trees and sky, a promise and a blessing.

Tonight, at Bahji, I continued the process of letting go. Of people, of places, of expectations, of the labels and insecurities and confusing thoughts. And I reconstructed, strengthening ties and bonds and the pieces of spirit between all of us that hold us together. Letting go and holding on are not all that different, after all.

Be a true friend. Be loving and mindful of the tests that we are all going through. Be compassionate, firm, and joyful. Seek out justice. Continue to learn patience. Continue to learn everything.

This is a reminder to me, but also to you.

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I am not a superstitious person, but recently things have been a little crazy around here…and now I am looking over my shoulder…

On Saturday my flatmates and I were washing our balcony (spring cleaning!).  We have a faucet on the balcony that does not have a handle, and so we use a little piece of metal to pry it open.  Yes, this is so smart.  Needless to say, my soapy hands slipped and I sliced open my left index finger on the faucet. 

Great timing, since I was going to the beach later and ended up getting salt water in the wound.  yeah, ouch.  It is taking longer to heal since I am left-handed and it keeps getting bumped against things.

Ok, so it is acknowledged that I can be a little klutzy sometimes, and I have at least a dozen scars to prove this.  This is a natural part of my life, and I actually carry band-aids in my purse.  

But the next part of the story was just too much.  I was walking down the street with my cousin Monib a few nights ago when I felt something hit my hand.

Something warm.

I looked at my hand in the dim light.  Covering the top of my left hand was bird poo.

I looked up, and sitting on a telephone wire above was a unconcerned looking crow.

Luckily there was a pizzeria across the street, and so Monib and I walked over to clean up.  The guy behind the counter pointed out the restroom and I washed off my hand (and jacket).  By this point I was laughing out loud, because really, how often does this happen?!  I didn’t freak out, although I admit that I was a little disgusted.

Monib said it is supposed to be good luck to get pooped on by a bird, but I’m of the opinion that someone created that particular saying to console whoever got bird poo on them.  Don’t “they” (oh, the ever popular “they”!) say that things happen in threes?  Well…now I’m waiting.  I’m sure I’ll find something to be the third occurence, and then I can go back to breathing easily. 

(now that I think about it, I don’t have the greatest luck with birds…)

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