Journeying

My Return with Gusto!

2009-01-19T18:27:00.000-08:00

I returned to the US with an exhilarating final day in Peru (for this trip, at least!). I had a 9 hour layover in Lima. So I left the airport, picked a small park along the coast at random (well, I liked the name - Parque Del Amor - Love Park : ), and went there. Turns out, people were paragliding there! It's a banana-shaped parachute that catches the updraft of ocean breezes along the cliffs. So people were stepping off cliffs and just gliding along the coast, back and forth, up and down. I couldn't let everyone else have all the fun, so I went, too! Tandem, of course, but it was flying like I've never experienced. I felt perfectly safe, and just so open.

And how about this final metaphor - I jumped off a cliff!

That was what so much of this trip was about - trusting my intuition; trusting the kindness of "strangers" - though I recommend striking that word from your vocabulary; trusting that Life is here around us and in us with never-ending opportunity for growth, for joy, for compassion and love. Making this trip was a huge emotional and spiritual leap for me in the first place, and I did so many new things along the way - it seems so appropriate that on my last day there I embodied the leap - and I didn't do it alone - I went tandem - reminding me that there is always someone here to support me, whether I'm aware of it or not. Now that support lives in me, too.

I'D LIKE TO GO BACK WITH A GROUP OF PEOPLE.
I met so many wonderful people who live in Peru, saw so many wonderful places to visit, and
experienced wonderful places to stay. So I'd like to take a group there to share an experience of community and self-exploration. Peru is a great place to connect with the 4 elements - around and in us, and to seek balance. So I'd like to guide a group through a retreat of sorts that would combine rituals, spiritual practice such as meditation and journaling, connecting with local people, and connecting with history through the many ruins - to create a really meaningful journey. Why be a tourist when you can truly explore?!

Email me if you're interested! bobpileggi@yahoo.com

WHAT ELSE IS NEXT? Guidance while I was in Peru told me a few things clearly, among them: Breathe, and coach. This weekend I begin a breathwork training - to create space in my body for the expansion of consciousness - and to be able to help others to do so. I plan to begin a coaching certification training in the spring - for a long time I've been helping organizations and people through change, and so now I dive in more deeply to help more effectively.

So I'm settling in the Philadelphia area and open for private practice, while also facilitating retreats, group experiences, etc. Feel free to contact me for this! I do plan on moving to the Pacific northwest in the next few years, as I feel called to be there. But one step at a time!

TRIP ITINERARY
Sep 7 – Oct 12 Learning Spanish in Cusco from Fairplay
Oct 12 – Nov 12 Visiting Practitioner, Paz y Luz, Sacred Valley. Shamanic study with Javier Regueiro
Nov 12 – Nov 20 Exploring Machupicchu & Ollantaytambo
Nov 20 – Nov 23 Rest at The Green House
Nov 23 – Dec 22 Living on Organic farm near Pisca, experiencing community living, studying native spiritual tradition, and gardening!

Paragliding & Some People

2009-01-19T18:12:00.000-08:00

Paraglider (Lima, Peru)
Love Park (Lima, Peru)
Mountain summit in clouds (near Ollyantatambo, Peru)
Local volunteer kindergarten teacher (there are no funds from the government to pay her) points to the mountains where some of her students come from, walking 3 hours each direction - each day that they come to class (Huaran, Peru)
(Photos are copyright Bob Pileggi 2008)

Peace in the Valley

2008-12-10T08:15:00.000-08:00

(PHOTOS are in the entries below.)
GO TO http://www.bobpileggi.info

I decided to extend my stay by 2 weeks in order to rest. I realized that I´ve spent much time learning a lot, and not a lot resting. Well, my intuition led me to a family with a farm and some extra rooms that they let out. Now I awake to birds singing, horses gently neh-ing, morning clouds dispersing from mountaintops, and lush green farm fields. My ¨family¨ is part French and part Peruvian, making conversation quite fun! I´m enjoying the time to rest and soak in the vitality of the Sacred Valley.

I return to the US on December 23, 2008.

WHAT I´VE BEEN DOING
- After Machupicchu, I settled in Ollantaytambo for a week. It´s a beautiful town built by the Incas with the original irrigation system still running through the streets. I was actually offered a free place to stay for a few months, but decided to let it go because the tourist traffic was actually busier than I wanted to be around.
- My next stop was The Green House http://www.thegreenhouseperu.com/, a beautiful B&B in Huaran, a small town. A great place to stay for rest, or to use as a point of exploration for the Sacred Valley.
- I next found my way to the farm on which I´m now staying. I´d actually been there twice before to visit - and realized that now it was time to stay.

WHAT I´VE BEEN LEARNING
- Life is worth living. I mean really living. Worry, doubt, regret, holding on to grudges - this is dwelling in the past or future, holding us back from really living and enjoying the gift of life.
- Sometimes when I feel stuck, unable to decide, I find that moving forward is the best way to unstick myself. Just move, even a little. Change perspective. And next steps come in to view...
- Unconditional acceptance and laughter can be more healing than any medications or therapies.
- Life shows us the way when we take the time to listen and look. If we spend all of our time pushing forward, ¨making¨ things happen that we think we want, we may miss some great messages from life about what we really want.
- Ultimately what I feel like we really want is reconnection...Reconnection to the source and meaning of life. When we let ourselves slow down and really feel, there´s an opening deep within us that can just never be ¨filled¨ - not with all of our doing-ness, not with all the things we buy, not with any addictions we take on, small or big. It´s an opening that is pregnant with possibility. It´s an opening that is our closest connection to Life itself. It´s an opening that will never be filled in this lifetime - not until we again become part of all of Life itself. So what do we do now? Look for balance - accepting this primal yearning for reconnection (instead of avoiding it or trying to fill the void), while enjoying all that Life gives us now...

Machupicchu Images - City in a Cloud Forest

2008-11-15T15:11:00.001-08:00

Go to http://www.bobpileggi.info/

All images in this blog are copyright 2008 Bob Pileggi. Please do not copy, download or print any of the images. If you´d like to use one, just let me know. Other images of people and places are in another entry below.

The image immediately below shows the ruins, with a small and larger mountain just beyond. I climbed the smaller of the two - Hicchu Picchu, though you can also climb the other taller one - Waynu Picchu. Most images have either these mountains in the background, or a more ¨pointy¨ mountain called Apo Manchupicchu (just above my head a few photos below), after which the city in the clouds is named.

The day began with a drizzle, developing into a pouring rain, followed by fog...and then one of the most stunningly beautiful sunny afternoons I´ve ever experienced. Enjoy the images!

Click on any image in this section to get a version 2-3 times as big.

Machupicchu - Stunningly Beautiful Gratitude

2008-11-15T13:13:00.000-08:00

Machupicchu is truly one of the most spectacular places that I´ve ever been. I got there at 6 am to be able to take advantage of the whole day. It was drizzling and developed into a pouring rain (the place is on top of a mountain in a cloud forest, afterall). I hid out and meditated in a ¨cave¨ area. When the rain stopped 2 hours later, there were incredibly beautiful mists/fog. Then it dried up and i could walk around. Then around 12:30 the sun came out and oh my goodness it was surreally beautiful. Just amazing to think about how much work went into creating this place. It is truly a place where earth meets sky, where condors were courted to visit a temple in order to take prayers to the heavens, where cloud mists and sun meet rock, trees and crops. I teared up with enormous gratitude for the opportunity to be there, and for all the support I´ve gotten to help me follow my heart and dreams...

Life & Spiritual Exploration in the Sacred Valley

2008-10-28T13:56:00.000-07:00

(MORE PHOTOS are in the entry below.)
GO TO http://www.bobpileggi.info

WHAT I´VE BEEN DOING

- Oct 12 - Nov 12 2008 Visiting Practitioner at Paz y Luz in the Sacred Valley.

- I´ve been in the ¨Sacred Valley¨ - a small town named Pisac, to be specific - for 3 weeks now (and planning on several more). I´ve been mostly loving the village life - Pisac is about 8 blocks square, with houses and farms scattered around it, nestled among mountains along the sacred river. This is at the southern end of the valley of which Machupicchu is also a part, north of here.

- I never get tired of looking at the mountains. They are sacred, indeed. The daylight is changing them constantly, and since it is spring here, they seem to get more green every day.
- I´ve been going for walks, and making day trips to local Incan ruins. Spectacular architecture, ingenuity, and views from mountain-tops.
- I´ve also been working with a local shaman, participating in ceremonies that have proven life-changing...

WHAT I´VE BEEN LEARNING

To be honest, some ceremonies have included what are called ¨plant medicines.¨ Used responsibly and intentionally, they can be incredibly educational and heart-opening. They have been shared for 1000s of years, and help people to ¨see¨ more clearly. Or really, experience being alive more clearly. Through the ceremonies, my counseling sessions with my shaman, and my more relaxed daily life, here´s some of what I´ve learned...

- I´ve had experiences of pure compassion - for myself and all beings.
- I´ve had experiences of feeling completely, inherently connected with all living beings.
- I´ve had experiences of ¨knowing¨ my inherent worth as a human being - perfect and beautiful, just as I am. (I have long struggled with feeling like I wasn´t welcome to live my own life, wasn´t welcome to be alive... as if my entire existence was somehow just ¨wrong.¨ But no more struggle is necessary...)
- I´ve experienced loss of all judgment against myself and all others.
- I´ve felt a depth of pain and sadness like never before - as if I were experiencing the pain and sadness of all living beings, all at once. The experience was heart-opening like no other.
- I´ve learned that it is ¨enough¨ for me to be present in this moment. So many of us avoid being present in so many ways, and for so many reasons - conscious and unconscious. Being present is such a gift - to receive all that is available in the moment, and to more fully and authentically offer myself to others.
- I had an experience of ¨knowing¨ the meaning of life - or at least my life, in a general sense. And that is that I was born from Life to experience Life, in all its magnificient manifestations. (This would help to explain my nagging desire to know how people live their daily lives in cultures around the world!) This view of the meaning of life helps me let go of all judgment of my own life or that of others. It helps me to step more boldly into being responsible for my own life. For experiencing more and more - through meeting new cultures, working with individuals and groups, forming new friendships and community, and just trying new experiences without fear of ¨failure.¨ All of life is now a joyful experiment...

- These experiences have felt to me like what so many spiritual teachers have been suggesting for millenia. I have studied different traditions, engaged with different spiritual practices... and now I feel like I´ve had actual experiences of pure compassion and ¨Oneness¨ that mystics describe. I will carry these experiences for the rest of my life. They will guide my actions and my perceptions.
- Oh, and I´ve learned that I deserve to rest. I´ve felt a calling for years to take time for myself to simply rest. I´ve worked so hard for so many years, building communities and (hopefully) helping others reconnect to their higher power, to their inner compassion, to their inherent worth. And I did only a so-so job of offering the same to myself. I never thought I deserved it. I thought I had to keep working to ¨prove¨ something. Now I hope to bring more self-care into my life - more balance. More than ever I want to continue building communities and helping individuals and groups reconnect to themselves, their inherent worth and beauty and gifts... And I want to keep traveling and exploring and increasing my presence, my consciousness, my gifts, my love!

A Lot of Photos! (They are thumbnails that DON´T get much bigger when you click on them.)

2008-10-10T11:28:00.000-07:00

A Summary of Cusco (Weeks 1-4)

2008-10-10T11:25:00.000-07:00

I´ve spent 3 weeks in Cusco, Peru.

WHAT I´VE BEEN DOING:
- Learning Spanish! 20 hours per week of grammar and practice, walking around town with a teacher. Great language program with 1 to 1 classes: http:www.fairplay-peru.org
- Volunteering 12 hours a week for Fairplay - they´re training new teachers and I´ve been their ¨practice¨ student. It´s been a lot of fun, and I´ve gotten a lot of extra language practice in.
- Having fun with other travelers - visiting local sites like the Inca Museum and some ruins.
- Havnig fun with my host family! They are a hoot! Always curious about what´s up, always speaking Spanish - and always patient : ) A couple of family folks have gone on hikes with us, too, guiding us through lesser-traveled ruins. I´ve also been to the family farmfields one heck of a hike up a steep hill from our house.
- Learning how to order food, get my laundry done, use the internet - and the bathrooms...

WHAT I´VE BEEN LEARNING
- I create the fun in my life.
- Traveling is less about seeing things than knowing more of Life.
- Everybody´s wanting to connect.
- Every thing passes - my lost hat, stolen camera, whatever - it passes and I get to replace them with joy (the adventure of barganing for a new hat or camera in a local market). (The market may seem sketchy, but the camera works great, cost the same as in the US - which is saying a lot since other retail stores in tourist areas charge 2-3x US prices - and is better than the one stolen.)
- Everybody´s looking for love or expressing it.
- Welcoming people into my life is easier than being afraid of others or avoiding them - even when we can´t speak the same language. There are no strangers, just people we don´t know well yet or haven´t learned from yet!
- I really appreciate a warm home (literally - there´s no heating here, and it´s been chilly!), a hot bath (no bathtubs), homecooked food, and good conversation. I´ve been thinking about how my next home can be a place for people from different cultures...
- I LOVE helping people create the life they want, and becoming more of their authentic selves! I´ve had a few coaching sessions over the phone with people and I loved it, and also miss it. So more to come : )

WHAT´S NEXT
I´m headed to an organic farm near a tiny village near a small town with some intermittent internet access and a lot of tourists on Sundays for a traditional market. So it´ll be quiet, and I´m looking forward to some rest, meditation, yoga, wanderings in the hills and valley. The crops were planted recently and the corn is a foot tall spring green blanket across most of the valley. Time to rest is something I´ve not often gifted myself, so here I go - a new experience to learn from. And with a very sweet family that runs the farm - a Frenchman who speaks English and Spanish, and his Peruvian wife who speaks only Spanish. Spirituality is important to them, and I´m looking forward to some lovely meals and conversations with them (we already had one lunch when I visited last week).

My Journey "Jumpstarts" in Lima, Peru!

2008-09-11T21:25:00.000-07:00

I`ve arrived in Lima, Peru. After several years of wanting to create a "long" international trip to a non-industrialized culture, several synchronicities have led to Peru. So here I`ll be for 3 months.

In just 2 days of being here, I`ve noticed...
- a sense of rebirth... feeling somewhat helpless with basics like eating (drink no water, but it´s ok to brush teeth with; eat nothing uncooked unless you can peel it...) and travel...
- traffic is like an organism - cars weave in and out of each other, along with pedestrians, with few accidents, no matter how few centimeters the come close to one another.
- people are incredibly friendly.
- Compared to a city like New York or Phila, there are relatively few tourists here, and so in a crowd my skin tone stands out. Someting interesting to notice...
- hostel living is also very friendly - like joining a club of people who share a common experience.
- And yet I`m still scared of being alone!

My how fear rears it`s many faces...

The journey here was even fun and friendly, having met 2 Israeli travelers who will be in S. Amer. for 6 months, and a woman whose family is in Peru and who offered her contact info if needed any help while here.

My first and second days included:
- spicy cinnamon buns
- an Incan pyramid among modern apartment buildings
- the best roasted chicken I`ve ever had (sorry mom)
- a monastery with cool catacombs where people were layed to rest
- a beautiful cathedral
- adventuring through a grocery store with lots of lime green signage and dance music
- not getting sick, yet. whoo hoo! (Though I´m assured it´ll happen at some point.)

WHAT I´VE LEARNED
- I´ve jumped way out of my box. I felt fear before jumping. Fear while jumping. Fear on this side of the jump. And I´m surviving it all. My choice now? Focus on my fear, or on the excitement of jumping and the spices of life I´m getting to experience.
- It´s SO ok to ask for help! And people like to give it. I asked someone at a coffeeshop if he spoke English; he said no, and then kind of yelled to the other 10 people in earshot to see if anyone spoke, and one person did...despite my initial embarrasment over the fuss, it got me directions to where i wanted to go!
- I feel alone and separate from many of the people here because I look different and we can´t really speak to one another. But we are more alike than different. Most of us want to love, to connect, to help, to give and receive friendliness. Remembering this will go a long way to enjoying my time here (instead of fearing it).

Special thanks to Pamela, Rebecca, Craig, Brian and others for coaching me into creating my dream. And to several people who were so incredibly supportive and helpful in the process - especially by listening to all i was afraid of and debated about. You so know who you are : )