Skip to main content

What is Next?

The Blue Lotus Meditation Center (formerly the Venice Wholistic Center) where I (pre-COVID) attended a number of programs including mindful meditation, book discussions, nutrition forums and healthy meals, yoga, writing groups, Soul Collage sessions and Buddhist studies was severely damaged in hurricane last summer. 


For whatever technical reasons, the insurance claim was denied and so the building was demolished and the land is up for sale. Before the wrecking crew arrived there was a gathering of those who were involved with the center and one of the monks led a meditation on impermanence. It was a way to say good-bye to the place.



 
I am on the far right, if anyone is interested.

It really was nice to have this closure on a sad passing for all of us.

A lot of work had gone into renovations over the past two years.

We wait to find out the next chapter. There are some interesting prospects on the table.

Comments

  1. lots of changes have come to pass in the last two years. Dealing with change can be hard, but we are all waiting to see what's next.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh gosh! This is so sad. I’m really sorry this had to happen Olga. There have been so many changes and challenges in the last two years and I’m missing friends from a Zumba group I attended too. It’s definitely impermanence even though I’d hoped it would be for a long, long time of being with these good friends.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a shame and that is so sad about the insurance not paying. It was nice of you to attend and support with the closure.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am so sorry. Accepting impermanence for things we love is the hardest part of life. I hope you find a new location!

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a shame that it wasn't able to be rebuilt. I do hope another location can be found to house this group and its activities.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Change is inevitable. -- I am sorry for your loss of a cherished meeting place. You are left with some fond memories and that is a good thing. - I myself struggle with change. - I hope they create a wonderful new meeting place for you and your friends.

    ReplyDelete
  7. It's too bad that something could not be done to save the site. But, how appropriate to lead a meditation on impermanence.

    ReplyDelete
  8. That is too bad. Sounds like an awful lot of good was happening there

    ReplyDelete
  9. We live at the mercy of Insurance companies. They must all do well because they run some expensive advertisements.

    ReplyDelete
  10. What a terrible loss to you, your fellow members, and the staff at Blue Lotus.

    Hopefully, an alternative site will be found and the center can be rebuilt. I know that the center was a powerful element in your spiritual life.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I appreciate readers' comments so much. You don't even always have to agree with me.

Popular posts from this blog

It's TIme

 It's been a while since I have posted anything and even my reading your posts is falling by the wayside. I am in Florida now. I have a yard where little attention was spent on landscaping for the past years so I am slowly and (somewhat) methodically addressing that. I also volunteer to work at the pollinator garden and the edible garden I helped install at the UU grounds and I took over the volunteer job of cleaning out the overgrown community garden by my neighborhood mailboxes. The neighbor who was doing that got sick and could no longer attend to it. It's a bigger job than I'd thought at first -- not only overgrown with weeds, but the plants that are wanted there are in life and death competition for each others' spaces. And two walks a day, morning and evening, so Levi can keep up with addiction to canine social media and a daily rousing came of stick or ball midday take up another chunk of my time. I have a weekly meditation group that I co-facilitate, and my own

New Furniture

 We went shopping for a new couch. I liked this one, the first store we went to. Of course it would be an impulse to buy the first one so we trekked around to other stores -- something we liked more, a better deal? No surprise that we ended up going back to that first store the next day and purchasing that couch for our living room. Also a matching love seat for the den where we watch TV. Because I had replaced my old love seat with two recliners. We couldn't keep three households worth of furniture after all. Well, my recliner was not big enough to accommodate both Levi and me. Poor boy had to watch TV from his bed on the floor. There! This is much better! Spoiled much? The little tail on the floor belongs to his toy squirrel, Buddy. It's like having a toddler with the need to be picking up toys or risk tripping over them. But his very favorite play thing is that bathmat that can be found anywhere but the bathroom floor.

Walking

 I have always been a walker. Now that I have a high energy dog there is no excuse for not getting out there. And the weather is not an interfering factor here. Early morning and early evening are our preferred times so even when it gets hot we should be okay. We can get quite a long walk going around the neighborhood, greeting neighbors out working in their yards or walking their own dogs. But the landscape changes quickly just beyond the confines of the housing developments. It could be described as natural Florida or as sites of future housing developments. I do prefer the first option. And I really enjoy being out in natural areas so I often opt to head to a nature setting. I would have liked to put a picture here. Unfortunately my iPhone has made a unilateral decision. It will no longer be sending my photos to my computer. Why? I have no idea. However, we may be walking along happily enough -- me listening to the birds or trying to identify wildflowers and other plants while Levi