Funny, I told a friend of mine that ‘I stopped doing Yoga when I got to India’ and they responded, ‘Ohhh, you’ve become a real Indian!!’
I know, it’s been a while since my last post… so, where am I now? Los Angeles. Home…
and 20 lbs heavier than when I left for India last November.
My return to Los Angeles at the end of April was thankfully gilded by mounds of work then followed by heaps of decompression time, which started to feel more like the slow healing bruise of the post trip blues. Of course, that’s ostensibly the best time to get productivity with knife and fork on the dinner table, but for me it turned into the skipping of dinner and slothing straight for dessert. I have come to terms with the fact that I can be very lazy sometimes, but I guess, the truth is that after 5 months of intense focus and work, down-time was what I really needed - to step back (eat everything) and give my brain and being time to process… I’d like to say, I was giving the seeds of the project vital room to digest, grow and shift into their destined shape, but the other truth is I’ve just plain needed of a real vacation and didn’t feel like doing anything until I got one!
So 2 weeks ago I brokered life’s ‘pause’ button and got my dearly needed real vacation at Breitenbush Hot Springs (www.breitenbush.com), near Detroit Lake in upper Oregon; a worker-owned cooperative and intentional community on 154 acres of wildlife sanctuary in the
Willamette National Forest... it’s Amazing! I’ve been there 9 times in the last 2 ½ years. After a week of soaking, reading and resting, I then traveled to Canon Beach with dear friends for the 4th of July weekend… a true toast to ‘found’ family!! Now, after being vivified by the bounties of Oregon I am back and ready to start re-looking at the Book.
The newest “Living the Dream” news is that out of all the publishers I met with in Delhi 2 weeks prior to returning home, I’ve chosen Penguin Group to publish. And luckily they have chosen me too. So, we are looking at a 2012 release in India and are currently seeking for a suitable co-publisher for the worldwide release. Also, writer/director/producer Karan Johar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karan_Johar) has agreed to do the Foreword of the book and remarkable, maverick casting director Shanoo Sharma (my partner-in-crime and the one who has really made this book possible) will thankfully do the Afterword.
I also was very fortunate in getting quite a bit of press before leaving Mumbai as well thanks to my munificent friends: Bhavna Oberoi who connected me with Kunal Kishore and Gunjan Saini at Value 360 Communications (www.value360india.com). I had fun being interviewed and elaborating on the project in that context and it’s endlessly fascinating to me too what the interviewer actually writes and gets printed. I guess it is like going to a photographer and getting your portrait taken- then later, you see what they actually shot- how they in fact got you or didn’t get you… always amazing to me- everyone's different interpretation of what was actually said!
Anyway, my favorites, for various reasons, were from the Wall Street Journal’s blog (http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2011/04/19/whats-salman-khans-day-like-ask-this-photographer) and The Times of India (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/people/Good-shot/articleshow/8005512.cms). And this one from Mail Today…
Until next time…
Be well, grateful and kind-
Mark
