New York (The Final Frontier and Homeward bound)
The final week of my trip was spent in the Big Apple the great capital
of the United States of America, the city of yellow cabs and hotdog
stands, the city that once was almost called New Amsterdam based on
a close vote between the Dutch speaking and English speaking population to
decide the language of the American nation. If it was not for this vote results
the international and US language may well have ended up being Dutch!
My visit to New York brought my round the world trip to a beautiful ending as I
finally met with a very dear and old friend from 17 years ago, Kenneth Salaz.
Ken is now a full time proffessional magician and artist. I met Ken in
the streets of Paris in 1992 playing music in the streets and entertaining
the public. After those happy moments, we tried staying in touch but, over time,
we lost each others' contact information. It was only by course of a curious
search by Ken that he found my facebook page on the internet and contacted me.
My last days in the New York were spent, therefore catching up with Ken and his
life in New York in the area where he lives, Greenwich village, an amazing area
of artists and musicians, a place where Bob Dylan had once roamed the streets.
We visited some famous bars even where Bob Dylan had played and, on one evening,
had the good fortune to watch Ken's amazingly talented girlfriend, Chloe, sing her
own songs at a local bar in front of the public to ruptuous aplause.
Chloe's gig.
To keep in shape and to keep up my Aikido practice, I managed to visit
daily the local Bikram Yoga studio and Aikido dojo of the famous 8th dan Aikido master,
Yamada shihan. Coincidently, the last person I trained with at the dojo was an
older man in his 60's by the name of Larry. It brought a wonderful conclusion to
my Aikido training on this trip as I had been visiting dojos in almost every town and city en route. My dojo visits have been recorded on the Aikido blog: http://ouraikidoworld.blogspot.com
Training at New York Aikikai's dojo.
On the last evening in New York, with a few friends of Ken, we broke open some wine bottles
and laid down some evening snacks of French bread and olives with cheese for a little party
at Ken's place. We ended up singing until the early ours of the morning and Ken provided
us with our own little private magic show!
Last night party snacks!
This concludes my trip around the world in 9 weeks. I have made new friends and seen again old
friends. I have learned a little bit more about the planet upon which I live.
I go back with feelings partly of sadness to say goodbye to those great friends and partly
of gladness to see the place which I miss, my home in Holland, the place where another new
journey begins.
The Purpose
A question I asked myself and others have asked me: why was this trip necessary?
I definitely had a clear and defined reason why I wanted to do this trip in the beginnning
and I spent a few more days reflecting about it as the trip approached the final days.
Ultimately my purpose to do this trip was to be in touch with my core self without the
bias of perception from the people I share my life with at home. It is so easy to fall
into a character that represents us which is manufactured by the job and activities we regularly
do and the people who are connect to our every day lives.
Our amazing abilities to create illusions about who we really are allow us to fool ourselves
into thinking we are somebody that is defined by these illusions.
The journey that we are on at home can lead us into forgetting about being in touch with our core selves.
Of course, one doesnt have to be on a physical journey. It is also possible to stay in one place
and follow a spiritual journey and this is the means that most people adopt in order not to lose sight of where they are coming from or what is their true self.
My journey was necessary, however, to be made by moving away from the location of my normal comfort zone.
Part of this necessity arose due to many consequential events having occured in the past three years
during which the Aikdo landscape which I was heavily a part of had changed dramatically (due to a very close
friend and teacher passing away, Peter Bacas). While the Aikido landscape was changing, I myself felt fixed
into the past with this friend and teacher and found it difficult to move together with the changes in my environment.
I simply ended up being an observer. Watching it happen before my eyes, I could not influence it or myself in any way.
The other part of the necessity to leave Holland for a while arose due to the need for
reunion with long time friends and forming of new bonds with new friends. It is in this way that I could establish for myself a family feeling around the world. I know that the people important to me are very close by even if they are thousands of miles away. However, like every family, a visit to the members of the family is a very well waranted and welcome event which builds new happiness and kindles new inspiration for each other.
I feel lucky and give thanks that I have a family around me in Holland and around the world through Aikido and through the very important friends I have made who have made a long lasting impact on my life.
"With love for the purpose and love for the cause". These are the words of a great poem by Thieme Rapini and they also encompass the philosophy of Aikido. I find a union therefore between non-Aikido friends and Aikido friends through these words and, by these words, I give my blessings to all who have reached me on the journey both in and out of Holland,
both in and out of Aikido.
Ken and Lawrence. The unforgettable reunion after 17 years.
.jpg)
