Home Is Where the Heart Is

I lived in Minnesota my whole life until three years ago when I moved to Encinitas, half an hour north of San Diego. The night I arrived in Encinitas, I remember thinking, This is home.

Five months later, when I returned to Minnesota for a three-month visit, I honestly wondered whether Minnesota would still feel like home. Thankfully, It did. But halfway through my visit, I felt something shift. Oh, I get it, I thought. Minnesota will always feel like home. I just don’t belong here anymore.

During my current three-week visit to Minnesota, I shifted again. I was visiting some dear friends for dinner and was enjoying their company as always . . . except I was

A Block Away

Paramahansa Yogananda's Hermitage

Hi, everybody! I made a quick three-minute video to show you where I live and what I’m a block away from: the Self-Realization Fellowship temple and Paramahansa Yogananda‘s Hermitage and

A Wonderful Year

One year ago today I moved to Encinitas, California from Minnesota. Best move I ever made. After living here a year (except for a three-month visit back to Minnesota in the summer), I can’t even bear to think what my life would have been like had I stayed in Minnesota. I can’t imagine not knowing all the great people I now know. I can’t imagine never having had all the life-affirming experiences I’ve had since I’ve been here. And it’s all because I

A Pumpkin Paradise in Encinitas!

WALL STREET JOURNAL FEATURE ON THE
SELF-REALIZATION FELLOWSHIP HALLOWEEN CELEBRATION

Last night, I was privileged to be part of the Halloween festivities outside Self-Realization Fellowship Books & Gifts, the store in Encinitas where I volunteer on Thursday afternoons.

The front entrance to SRF Books & Gifts

Bramachari Luca, who is featured in the above two-minute Wall Street Journal video, and I swept the sidewalk clean of hay in the afternoon.

The left side of the SRF Books & Gifts building

At eight o’clock a bunch of us, including a number of SRF monastics, broke everything down and cleaned up. All the pumpkins were handed out to the public, first come first served. I just tried to do what I could and stay out of the way of the people who knew what they were doing. It was fun to be part of something so cool!

The right side of the SRF Books & Gifts building

Christopher Gray, my next-door neighbor and friend, did a lot of the hard work in setting up the display  yesterday afternoon and breaking it down at night. Thanks to Chris, you didn’t have to be there to enjoy the festivities!

The lights come on and the crowds come out!

Chris’ eight quick-hit videos (seven of which are eighteen seconds or less) cover all the pumpkins on display, and his photos capture

When God Paints the Sky

A few nights ago, I walked half a block to the J Street Viewpoint to do my energization exercises in front of the ocean. As soon as I got there, I took one look at the sky and raced back home to alert my friend and next-door neighbor Christopher Gray that he should grab his camera and hurry back with me. Thankfully, he did just that.

What I had seen was sunlight pouring through a hole in the clouds and spilling onto the metallic-silver water below as if God had reached

Good Morning from the Ocean and Me!

I shot this two-minute video this morning to share the beauty of Encinitas with people I care about. This is where I live and why I live here.

May your

Panorama in Paradise

Hi, everybody! I wanted to share with you my second most favorite view in all of Encinitas. When I walk to the gym, I like to stop in this spot at the top

I Left My Heart in Encinitas

My friend, Jean, was kind enough to let me stay with her since my arrival in Encinitas on Saturday evening. I’ll be with her until Monday, when I will be able to move into the townhome I’ll be sharing with the owner. Jean, who lives two-and-a-half miles from the area I’ll be living in, is also letting me use her Honda Fit. When I lived in Encinitas for five months earlier this year, I did not have a car. So you’d think that I would be happy to have a vehicle to tool around in.

Not so much.

Living a couple miles away from my stomping grounds and driving everywhere is a completely different experience than living where I want to be and walking everywhere. In fact, at times it doesn’t

Leaving Paradise

I am sitting in the San Diego airport. I will soon be sitting on a chair in the sky, winging my way back to Minnesota after five glorious months in Encinitas. Emotions are mixed. I am happy that I will soon see my family and friends, but I will miss my daily life in paradise. I will be in Minnesota for three months and then fly back to California in early August for another nine months.

I love living simply. It isn’t for everyone but it works for me. I am intentionally homeless; I

Me and the Deep Blue Sea

Friends, meet Ocean. Ocean, meet friends (Photo by Christopher Gray)

Walked a mile-long stretch of beach in Encinitas last night at sunset. Breathtaking. Metallic blue water, orange sky, surfers riding the waves. As darkness fell, the

God Struck a Match

The sunset over the Pacific ocean, just two blocks from my home in Encinitas, was magnificent last Wednesday. It looked like the sky had been ripped open to reveal secret islands hovering above the water, smothered in molten lava. It was if God had

My Life In Encinitas: A Photographic Walking Tour

After nineteen days in Encinitas, California, I still find myself walking the streets with a skip in my step, a smile on my face and a song in my heart. Walk along with me and I’ll show you the sights!

The view from Third Street, looking down C Street toward the public entrance to Moonlight Beach

If I leave my front door and hang a left, walking north toward C Street, here’s the view of the ocean I have from the end of the block.

Walking down C Street for two blocks, I come to the Moonlight Beach parking lot

Here's a view of Moonlight Beach from the parking lot

Moonlight Beach in all its glory

Another shot of Moonlight Beach framed against clouds and water

God’s Living Brush

A koi pond in the Self-Realization Fellowship Gardens (photo taken by my daughter, Erin, in January 2005)

As I sat on a stone bench in the Self-Realization Fellowship Meditation Gardens yesterday and gazed out at the ocean just after sunset, I was transfixed by the sheer beauty of what was in front of me. The deep blue of the ocean, the red hues on the horizon . . . I felt I was looking at a museum-quality painting. And in a sense, I was. This world is but a

Encinitas: The Adventure Begins!

Day one in Encinitas, California. I have lived in Minnesota my entire life and have never missed a Minnesota winter. Check that one off the list.

My plan was to return to Minnesota in five months. Yeah, that might not happen. I think I’ve discovered paradise!

I just got back from walking around downtown Encinitas in the

California, Here I Come!

When I close my eyes, I imagine I’m standing on the grounds of the Self-Realization Fellowship Hermitage in Encinitas, gazing out at the ocean. This is where Paramahansa Yogananda wrote much of his spiritual classic, Autobiography of a Yogi.

I’m excited! On November 29, I’m flying out to Encinitas, California, and don’t plan on returning to Minnesota for five months. I’ve never missed a winter in Minnesota and it’s about time I did.

I’ve also never lived anywhere else in the world. Every place I’ve ever called home is within sixty-five miles of where I live right now. It’s time I busted out of my comfort zone and opened myself up to new experiences.

Where am I going to live? Don’t

Bathed in Loving Energy in Encinitas

The SRF Encinitas Temple

I first visited Encinitas, California, in June 2000 as part of the annual Self-Realization Fellowship Convocation. When I walked into the SRF temple where dozens of devotees were silently meditating, I was immediately enveloped in thick, palpable loving energy. I stopped in my tracks, transfixed. I wanted to stay right where I was, rooted to the ground, and let this incredible energy wash over me for hours. I forced myself to sit in a pew but was too