In life, friends come and friends go, but at Esalen, it happens every day. If your one of the chosen few who remain here week after week, month after month, year after year… you can either master non-attachment, meeting each new arrival the same as every other, making friends with every moment, giving love and attention in equal measure, or, the most painful option, go everyday making as many friends as possible, even though you know they’ll be gone tomorrow and may quickly forget you as they are absorbed back into the labyrinth like folds of Babylon from whence they came.The third option, the one most people choose, is to go with the flow, attaching only to those that truly vibe with us, those we are supposed to meet, and even if we never see them again, add to our lives in meaningful and lasting ways, as we added to theirs.By the time my second week at Esalen was finished, two separate groups of friends that I had quickly attached to, had come and gone, departing abruptly back to their lives in what they called, “The real world”. “We’ll definitely return” they always say, “see you next year!” or “In just six months I’m signed up for this or that workshop” I suppose I should be happy that many will indeed return, but who will they return as? And who will I be then? What expectations about outselves or the other shall color our next meetings?The transformations that happen here can be very rapid. From one moment to the next you may recognize one personality but not the other, and I don’t need to plan on transforming to tell you I already have, am now, and will continue to do so.Over the past year my mother has seriously gotten back into black and white film photography like she was before my sister and I were born, her renewed interest has reignited my own and as such I borrowed here 35 millimeter, Russian made camera, and took it with me to Esalen. At first I was only interested in nature shots, not really wanting to or feeling comfortable with taking pictures of people, and I was lucky enough to take this picture of a bobcat standing guard over an array of solar panels, that now contribute to powering Esalen. The picture hangs on the inside of my door, watching over me as I sleep.After a few days of contemplating the photo I began to visualize the Sun in all its glory, watching over all life in our solar system, tirelessly giving its love and light without any expectation or need of anything from anyone. Can I be a Solar Warden too? Not just for Esalen, but the world? A beacon of love and light, always shining, without attachment, without expectation? Yes I can, and so can you! Wont you shine with me?#Esalen