Friends in Ajijic
One of the things I’ve enjoyed the most from our time here in Mexico is the amount of friendship we’ve generated in the last two months. Of course, while the local Mexican population here in Ajijic is friendly and accommodating, nearly all our new friends are expats like us. Sure, the area on the lake is beautiful, the town historically quaint and the weather temperate—all which obviously draws people to this location. But beyond that, Thom and I seem to have proportionally found more people to connect to here in this small town, and in a surprisingly rapid time period, than we ever do in other travels or back home in the U.S. Naturally that has me asking myself, what is it about this area that seems so conducive to easily finding and then encouraging such relationships? [Read more…]
Since turning 68, I’ve been increasingly interested in what it means to grow older in a vibrant and purposeful way. Much like my work with 
As some of you know Thom and I are spending a couple of months in Mexico to escape the heat of the summer. Our location is the small town of Ajijic (elevation 5,046) located in central Mexico around 230 miles east of Puerto Vallarta. It’s monsoon season here so not only is everything green and lush, the weather is just about perfect. Ajijic is also on the edge of one of the largest and most scenic lakes in the country (Lake Chapala). We’ve rented a wonderful home with a pool (solar heated of course) that is a short walking distance to downtown and the Malecon (Boardwalk.) Town itself if stuffed with dozens of good restaurants, cute shops and very friendly people—expats and locals. Sounds just about perfect right? Well, it’s not. For one thing there are LOTS of mosquitos (remember all that green?) And for about a week we’ve been experiencing power surges on and off day and night which is more trouble than you might guess. But the thing is…in practically every single place in the world we’ve been fortunate to visit there is always something—call them power surges or not. In other words, stuff happens even in paradise.
I woke up in the middle of the night last night and guilt was on my mind. My primary focus was guilt for not writing another blog post in weeks. Guilt about being unproductive. Guilt that doubted my value if I wasn’t doing what I feel is important to me. Guilt about my inherent worth as a human being. Ugh—that rabbit hole can be nasty! Fortunately, I am a good enough meditator that I was able to put those thoughts aside and go back to sleep. But unfortunately, they were still on my mind this morning. And because I suspect I’m not the only one who feels the nagging pull of guilt at least once in a while, I decided to write down some of the thoughts I’ve been able to explore as the morning progressed.
I have been a big fan of science fiction my entire life. Back when I was a kid, I couldn’t wait to watch the latest episodes of The Jetsons, Lost in Space, Outer Limits and of course Star Trek. Recently, Thom and I agreed that one of our favorite rides at Disneyland used to be Carousel of Progress. In 1977, the year Thom and I met and married, theaters gifted us with the first Star Wars movie—and we saw it at least seven times that summer along with every sequel and prequel ever since. And let’s not forget books like Dune or everything written by Ursula K. Le Guin or Robert A Heinlein. I think the attraction is the mostly positive vision of life, people and worlds so creatively different—and yes, all wrapped around an adventure. To me, science fiction requires unlimited imagination and open-mindedness. If we can’t imagine something different and yes, impossible—how can we ever hope to create or achieve it? And now, a new sub-genre of science fiction called solarpunk raises that bar in optimistic and innovative ways.
It is said if you look long enough you will find what you are looking for—or it will find you. So, after a couple of months of not feeling inspired or excited to write much, I finally stumbled upon an idea that just won’t let go. Of course, that idea will take a while to completely unfold, but ever since I first heard it I felt captured and inspired by a new way of looking at things—a new way of looking at life. That idea is an optimistic protopia. What is protopia? It is the middle way between a dystopia or a utopia. It asks, will our futures look like a dystopian disaster where the planet and humans are fighting tooth and nail to survive? (Think of the movies Terminator or Mad Max.) Or will it look like a utopian dream where everything is perfect, all people are “perfect”, and nothing ever changes? Until recently no one really talked about a third alternative. A middle way. And that future is protopian. I’m guessing most people never even heard of it just like me. 
Did you ever play house as a kid? I did. And while once in a while my play house would contain a family with kids, most of the time my play revolved around adventure and the experience of living somewhere new. Then like most of us, I assumed I gave up playing house when I became a teenager. But this last week I realized that in many ways I still play house on a regular basis. In fact, every time Thom and I rent a vacation rental we are “playing house” in a similar way. Taking that a step further, this last week Thom and I bought a Park Model in Tucson and it hit me—this is just another way to play house! What about you? Did you play it as a kid? And are you playing a variation even today? 
Earlier this year I revealed that my word for 2023 was acceptance. I had been reading Michael Singer