Best of Baja Awards, the People & the Places. Breath-Making Photos! Tantalizing Video Tour of Happy and Johnny’s “Creational Vehicle” Revealed! | HappyO & Bliss U News

Mar 18

Hi Banana Blossom, Hello Miracle of Spring!

Yes, it’s true. According to our friends, it appears that we’ve gone off the deep end. And I don’t mean “Gone Snorkeling”.

After arriving in Mexico three months ago and discovering that our cell phones don’t work here, we gladly turned them off. The results were not surprising, yet nonetheless really profound: deep presence and peace of mind.

With the exception of an hour or three on the internet each week, wherever we are is where we are — simply, naturally, and wonder fully present.


And, it’s not just us. Imagine a whole country doing this, or an entire state being on a perpetual phone fast together. Welcome to Baja California Sur! It’s Mexico’s least populated, most rural and richest state, in many more ways than one. Thanks to the phone-free cultural context, it’s usually quietly understood that “we’ll see you when we do” and that we set our appointments by dreaming them and tuning in, co-creating synchronicities, dancing with destiny, and being perpetually delighted by chance encounters.

Absent are the obligations. Gone the lists of “necessary” (are they really?) daily phone calls and even the subtlest tensions that can be built around expectations of others wishing for us to call or immediately text them back. Texting doesn’t exist as far as we can see. We’ve yet to see anyone carrying a cell phone calling or texting while standing or walking along a street or anywhere in any public place.

Baja Californianos don’t look to a cell phone as a source of entertainment or as a convenient way to hide from humanity while awkwardly waiting. Instead these natural Blissologists enjoy talking to each other. Hmmm… what an interesting idea.

The pace of life here is slow and celebratory. Consequently? Watching the sunset is the evening news, and unlike other kinds of news, it’s always different and beautiful too.

A full summer-like winter season has passed for us here in Baja California Sur, brimming with heartful vignettes of daily acts of kindness and generosity wherever we are. The landscape is amazing, not only the land and sea, but also the landscape of humanity. We’ve befriended hundreds of amazing people from around the world here, including several serious perennial adventurers, though mostly we’ve befriended local Baja Californianos and Norte Americanos who share at least one thing in common – they all love living here, especially in the winter.

And now, the drum roll please… for the Best of Baja Awards: Goes to the precious people of the “Pueblo Magico” (designated as one of the 10 “magic towns” in all of Mexico): Todos Santos. It truly is.

Fond Thanks to the generous friendships of the many who hosted us including amigos preciosos at Indio Spirit Art Gallery and Teatro Luna Azul, our CaboMil Radio Show host and phenomenal new buddy, Wendy Rains, the singing gardening yoga teachers, Bolo & April and friends of Yandara Yoga Ashram, the extraordinary exemplar of a human being Peter and his La Semilla Organic Farm next to the wonderful community at the San Jose Organic Farmers Market, Peter’s Raices & Brazos (Roots & Branches) Community Center, the friendly & intelligent folks at Bio Sana Eco Community, the kind spiritual community of Los Naranjos Dharma Retreat Center tucked into a high, remote valley of the Laguna Mountains, brilliantine Tanya of Blue Wave — the American health food store in Los Barriles, and so many more.

May I appeal to your inner philanthropist-volunteer here? The Todos Santos Orphanage needs more assistance than most. They could benefit from English teachers and managers, better organization, more educational programs, and lots of love for the orphans.

Raw Report: Cici Cummins wins our Best of Baja “Most Talented Raw Vegan Chef” Award. How does she tantalize our taste buds and tickle our hearts so? Generous Cici, proprietor of the little, non-assuming, Raw Goddess Green Smoothie Cafe in the heart of Los Barriles, imbues her food with love. Lots of love. You can feel it. Her desserts are to live for – and they live up to her promise: “They will nourish you and satisfy your sweet tooth’s roar”.

Nearby, at the edge of the small town of La Ribera, world-renowned eco-visionary and botanist Gabriel Howearth, co-founder of Seeds of Change and Bioneers (double “Wow!”), created Buena Fortuna Gardens and Nursery. Planted by Gabriel 30 years ago, the gardens today include a mature food forest and, according to Gabriel, thousands of botanical species that he diligently planted from around the world following his decades of collecting seeds. He did this in order to preserve as many species as possible, realizing back in the 1970s what was percolating with Monsanto, after touring their plant in in St. Louis, Missouri. Even back then, according to Gabriel, Monsanto was extremely well-funded and astonishingly high tech.

We highly recommend buying potted plants and seeds from Buena Fortuna, especially if you or your friends live in Baja California Sur. Saturday tours of the 11 acre edible jungle at Buena Fortuna are followed by a scrumptious fresh-picked raw vegan lunch. Most winters, Gabriel and a team of other leading researchers and teachers co-create one of the most fascinating, info-rich, week long permaculture retreats in the world, right here at what may be the most diverse organic seed farm in Baja, Buena Fortuna.

We give thanks for the many organic farmers who are lovingly nurturing our bodies, hearts and minds, and generously inviting us to harvest from their gardens. For three decades I’ve been dreaming about exploring this Shangri La called Baja. Now I am beginning to understand why.

Raw Regime Tip: I concur with raw researcher Victoria Boutenko that the latitude makes a difference for ease of eating raw vegan. The lower the latitude, the easier it can be. It turns out that I love perpetually balmy weather (mostly sunny and in the 80s) which according to Victoria is essential for easefully enjoying and benefitting from a raw vegan diet. Adopting a raw vegan regime on the Tropic of Cancer (at latitude 23) for the winter is as easy as opening a fresh papaya. Much more challenging for Alaskans to be raw vegan, which is likely why I was the only one I met in that still relatively wild, great state. Alaska is the Baja California of the United States.


Even mild Ashland, Oregon, inspires a lot of melancholy-in-the-winter people to take vitamin D supplements during what can be a 6 to 8 month long, dripping, sun-free winter. Sufficient vitamin D is essential for us all, much more so when chomping on raw, so be sure to feel good about celebrating any cravings you may have for a more varied and hot food diet if you live in a wintery or cool cloudy clime. According to Nature’s laws, we are meant to sleep more, exercise less, and chub up a little in the winter if the climate is cold and/or cloudacious. Ask any bear.

Wherever we are, if we are in the northern hemisphere, spring is in the air, and now is time to start planning, soaking, sprouting and planting our gardens. In contrast, here in Baja California, the summers are purportedly so torrid that almost nothing grows which inspires estivation, the summer equivalent of hibernation.

A Strikingly-Splendid Snorkel Report: We saved the best for last. Cabo Pulmo is Baja’s fish mecca or megalopolis, (a beautiful mouthful of a word) though not necessarily for fishermen. There are none to be seen here, since no fishing is permitted. “Yeah!,” I say, because what a difference this makes to the thriving fish population!

Miles and miles of very shallow, snorkel-friendly, coral reefs extend along and out from this pristine, unpeopled coast of coves, caves and white sand beaches.



Many of the corals died here decades ago due to fishing, yet somehow the remaining 10 – 20 % that are still alive are thriving again since the area was named a Marine Park in 2006 after being deemed a World Heritage Site in 2005. The corals support what must be hundreds of thousands (or perhaps millions) of friendly colorful fish in the clearest, most inviting turquoise, emerald, and aquamarine waters imaginable. Yet, there are virtually no humans here. Perhaps it’s too remote and rugged except for the most intrepid travelers, like Yours Truly? Exploring this heart-thumpingly wild expanse is what inspired Jacques Cousteau to call the Sea of California the “Aquarium of the World”.


Happy Health Tip: Before consuming anything, first ask, “Will this nourish me?” Will this (food, thought, conversation, place, decision, belief, music, person, action or lifestyle) really nourish me?

Singing Bliss Tip: The extreme hardships-of-the-heart that I was somewhy blessed to experience courtesy of the Raw Spirit Festival resulted in me losing some of my lightness of being, including my poetry and singing voice about six year ago. Now, my voice is coming back! As I used to say, “I don’t sing because I’m happy. I’m Happy because I sing.” I hope you are singing and playing too, if not actively with family and friends at least while in the shower and kitchen.  Next time we meet, let’s be sure to sing together. After all, is there anything sweeter than a singalong with friends beneath the stars and moon?

Couple’s Love Tip: I told my Sweet Love that from now on I’m going to add a Love Tip to each newsletter. So, I asked my beloved Johnny how is it possible that we are so in love living in such a humble little rv together 24/7? How is it that we are best friends and beloveds who get along so well that people frequently comment “I want a relationship like yours!”.

Johnny said, “That’s easy. We are ceaselessly joking, giggling, sharing beauty and serving each other. We both love learning. We live the most romantic, non-materialistic, interesting, visionary yet simple lifestyle imaginable. We are on perpetual honeymoon while living our dreams of being authors, musicians, artists, friends and philanthropists-of-action. Though we don’t have any spare change at the moment, we both love to help people whenever it feels right, wherever we go, just for the fun of it.”

Wow, I think I’m in love with that guy!

Why Baja California Sur IS dangerous: most of the paved roads don’t have shoulders. Consequently, driving can be dangerous.That’s about as dangerous as it gets unless you consider that you may not wish to ever leave, which could be “dangerous” to your business back home.

But, what about the crime rate of Baja California Sur? Surprise: it’s much lower than the average crime rate in the USA. People do not own guns, are generally rural thus usually not nearly as materialistic or ambitious for wealth, being quite content to enjoy life with their families outside. They don’t have to go anywhere to camp with their families since their homes are very simple and small, and they frequently enjoy going out for dinner –  in their own front yards.

But, the poverty must be overwhelming right? Fact: there are no beggars in Baja California Sur anywhere at all. Almost weird. How could that be? A local said that the people here are too proudly self-sufficient, that they would rather work than to ask for a free hand out. I can relate. There seems to be very little unemployment among those who wish to work. The result? A solid middle class is sprouting. This old fashioned work ethic is alive and well, accompanied by generosity of spirit — two virtues for which until recently Americans were internationally renowned.

I remember getting a string of great little jobs while traveling in Australia as a teenibopper in the early 1980s because the word was out: “You Americans really know how to work!” It was true. Recently, in the USA, a similar prejudice has been growing toward “hard-working Mexicans”. And for good reason. No wonder there are less jalopies these days in Baja California Sur than there are huffing around in the United States.

Like and unlike the US government, the Mexican government has more than it’s fair share of corruption. However, people may be a little wise(r) about it here. Rather than debating if it is corrupt and how corrupt it is, the people already know… that to survive and joyfully thrive they best stick together. And they do. Almost all of the Baja Californianos we met make a conscious choice to live simply so that others can simply live, to not take more than they need or more than is fair.

For example, after 1500 miles of driving on primarily sandy roads (there are very few paved roads here), the muffler pipe became loose. We were in a small town. As soon as we started looking for a mechanic, within a minute we drove past a tiny sign reading “Soldadura” (Welder). It was Saturday and the welder was somewhy open. The welding shop consisted of an open shed toward the back of the lot. However, two men were heartily laughing beneath the trees, engaged in an animated conversation in the sunshine in front of a grove of tall swaying palms as we pulled in.

We showed one of the fellows our loose muffler pipe. He smiled, turned around, grabbed a large piece of cardboard in one hand and his welder in the other. Then, without saying a word, he placed the cardboard beneath the rv and started welding. Five minutes later he was done. “How about 50 pesos,?” he smiled. That equates to US $4.50.

Feeling inwardly astonished, we agreed, and threw in a healthy tip. He could have charged several times more but did not. Unlike American mechanics, there was no appointment necessary. No expensive building. No uniform. No staff. No lengthy estimates or receipts. No Computer print outs. No computer. No calling for parts. No cash register and no cashier. We checked the work. It was excellent.

Cultural Dyslexia. After watching, from the cozy comfort of our creational vehicle, the great pomp and ceremony while listening to the music, giggles and guffaws of dozens of this small town’s employees convening at the daily dawn ritual of raising a ginormous Mexican flag, we stayed cozily parked in the parking lot to tap into the town administration building’s free internet.

Can you imagine a town administration freely sharing their internet in the USA? It won’t happen. Soon a large, older, official-looking, working man knocked on our door. My beloved and I sighed as we glanced at each other in a moment of “cultural dyslexia”, knowing it would be the end of our internet session because he was going to tell us to leave.

After lifting up a hose toward us, he asked, “Would you like me to fill your rv with water?” He then beamed us a smile, then twinkled us with eyes.

I grinned back, hesitated, then responded, “No thank you”, since we had just filled the tank. “However, would you like a few of these?”, I asked showing him some of the tastiest grapefruit on earth that we had just picked. He gratefully and enthusiastically accepted by shaking both my hands vigorously while we were both holding the grapefruit together in our hands. As in most countries, such generosity toward strangers is normal. After three months here, I should have known this by now.

Every day, let’s step into love, fully in love with life.

Please give extra love by supporting our health-enhancing sponsors, Hippocrates Health Institute & Health Force Super Foods, whenever you can. They are two stellar exemplars of sage and magnanimous lovingkindness that well represent the many beautiful hearts of America.

Remember the wise words of New York Times #1 Best selling author of Love For No Reason, Marci Shimoff,

“Whatever you appreciate, appreciates.”

Thank YOU, Resplendent Reader, for adding extra GLOW to my grateful little life.

I hope you enjoyed this first issue of the HappyO & Bliss U News, formerly the Raw Spirit Community News. Why the name change?

Because it is a big beautiful world out here! So, we are blissing forth — and taking you with us!

Feel free to reach out, especially if you’d like to get together for a Smoothie & Singalong in our creational vehicle in Coastal California in April or early May (La Jolla, Vista, Long Beach, Marina del Ray, Ojai, Santa Cruz…); Sedona, Arizona in late May; or Colorado, particularly while hiking along the Colorado Trail(!) for the summer.

Thank you for understanding that,

“I am a pilgrimage junkie, believing whatever god there is went to a lot of trouble to create the world, and it would be downright rude not to see as much of it as possible.” — ?

May you proceed from your Highest Wildest Dreamiest Dream outward.

I will be with you as you do.

Truly,

Happy!


Check out the NEW www.HappyOasis.com website!

Thanks Be to You For Supporting these Sponsors
who are making a positive difference in the world:

1) GlobalSourceCenter.com
2) Hippocrates Health Institute
3) Health Force Super Foods
4) BlissologyUniversity.com


Check out the Global Source Center. It’s the new nexus for community evolutionaries!



Hippocrates Health Institute is North America’s largest and leading comprehensive health retreat offering the fullest array of powerful alternative health and integrated medical approaches as well as organic gourmet raw restaurant daily buffets, beautiful accommodations, nature hikes, gardens, ponds, swimming pool, wheat grass house, conference center, proximity to West Palm Beach’s ocean, plus, consultations with a diversity of reseach physicians utilizing extensive advanced non-invasive testing procedures, ongoing daily classes and weekly residential programs. It is the retreat we most highly recommend for anyone wishing to prevent or overcome disease or uplift your health to the next level.



Dr. Jameth Sheridan is an eminent researcher and possibly the USA’s leading nutrition-packed super food formula pioneers. We imbibe in nutritious delicious Health Force Super Foods daily, particularly the Vitamineral Green, loaded with fortifying nutrients.



 It is a Deep Honor for the Raw
Spirit Community News
to join forces with these
stellar sponsors & supporters,
leaders dedicated to co-creating
a healthier humanity!

 Ann Wigmore Institute
Best of Raw Awards
Blissology University
Biolumina Spirulina
Brad’s Raw Foods
Drs. Brian & Anna Maria Clement
Dr. David Carmos
Da Vid Raphael M.D. & New Phoenix Rising
Don Miguel Ruiz Jr.
Dr. Gabriel Cousens M.D.
Foster & Kimberly Gamble
Graff Academy
Happy Oasis Retreat
Health Force Super Foods
Hippocrates Health Institute
ICR’s Global Source Center
Jeffrey Smith
Lydia’s Organics
Marci Shimoff
McLean Meditation Institute
Pura Vida Restaurant & Health Food Store

Raw Living Expo
Raw Revolution
Raw Spirit Fest
Sacred Chocolate
Steve Bhaerman
Swami Beyondananda
SynRAWnicity
The Garden Diet
Thrive Movement
Tree of Life Center
Victoria Boutenko
Viktoras Kulvinskas
William Eaton

STAY TUNED for these Intriguing Video Interviews in upcoming issues:
• Zoner, the raw/vegan hiker who has traversed more than 10,000 mountain trail miles so far…


 Be the Beautiful

Wild Flower

You Truly Are
With You In Celebration,
Love!
HappyO

In Baja California for
the final Raw Spirit & Bliss U News

www.RawSpirit.com
www.HappyOasis.com
www.BlissologyUniversity.com