Into the un-tamed. California…

“Freedom is French.”

Or so I always thought. Diving into a glass of champagne, a banned expatriate livre, or the heart of a French lover…you’ve been drunk on it all too, oui?

“The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.”
― Henry Miller

This holiday, I became divinely aware that perhaps freedom is wherever one is in that exact moment. Oui, Mr. Miller, Freedom is French, it is also Instagram, it is Watching Otters Play or even being mesmerized by repeating patterns of snow, mountain, rivers, fir trees, feathers and flow from 30,000 feet up, strapped into a tight big bird airplane seat soaring on my way to Carmel/Monterey/Big Sur California.

“We travel within closed loops, taking our worlds with us on devices. If the deep absorption of place requires the setting aside of the place one has come from, it has grown infinitely rarer. That in turn means the diminishment of discovery, which demands the vigilance of the senses. Without discovery the spirit withers.”

So writes New York Times’ Roger Cohen in his article, The Virtue of Redeeming Vice, (since then, picked up everywhere!) on his visit to the lo-to-no-tech, intelligentsia-hub, Hotel Savoy in Berlin late this December. While Cohen’s pleasure centers around the boundary-less, nostalgic lure for the era of indoor smoking and boozing he finds there, he calls out the “simpering obsequiousness” of what most see as luxury service, “the non-air-conditioned nightmare,” as my favorite writer and Big Sur denizen, Henry Miller would call it…and seduces in his find that “the relief from sameness is overwhelming” and that “in those swirls of smoke lurks conversation, meandering without purpose, a dying art.”

Tasty like a good cigar and a ribald joke, the California northern coast’s wild places and its earnest 1970’s Organic/Peace/Love revues refreshed my own meandering, playful zeitgeist this holiday. Welcoming me into the home I stayed in this holiday 2014, was not curling cigar smoke, but the chit-chat of one very conversational blue scrub jay through the frank, open windows flitting among…

…a scrub of a dozen California quail, preened like dandy authors at the Savoy bar, meandering, conversating, with little black feathers like commas or quotation marks on their caps, whimpering and pecking out their life stories on the grass.

I always see pheasants or quails right before a move, and this invisible state flag festooned with “Freedom is California” was moving indeed. I followed the paths of sea lions rolling up shores, lizards, quail, comorants, orcas, and other artists of expansion like Henry Miller, Orson Welles, Don Draper, Hank Moody or even legendary actors such as Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, here below conversating in The Sandpiper, surprisingly one of the few movies ever shot in Big Sur. ( Plenty of car commercials on the hairpin curvy roads, yes, movies, no.)

Burton describes the first arrival of artists in the 1960’s as ‘the ones who knew that a spot of American earth remained that was still wild and untamed. This was all they asked of it, a place to be free and to grow. And this is all it gave – wind, rain, sun, silence, and a place to be free and to grow. And sometimes the shuddering of the earth as it quakes, the roar of the wind, the pounding of the surf against the rock, reminds you that you are a guest, a visitor, the Big Sur is eternal and you are not.’

And so, here are my writer peckings, having tasted supreme freedom and happiness trotting on these shores. Shared in the hopes you might take some delight in these artful etchings, apt Henry Miller quotes, and, as per usual, I count #1-9 steps through a system of happiness-cultivation detailed in my book, Tracing The Nine Stars.

1  NATIVE DAUGHTER

I re-discovered my native roots by padding over rough, muddy, caverned, rocky-strewn, sandy, incline/decline slides and my foots were going all kinds of free-based, lubricated and jointed ways their Maker intended. First Steps for the Native NYC Daughter, Step 1 for Happiness.

“The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.”
-Henry Miller

Discovering the Henry Miller library in Big Sur, its walls covered in letters, posters, photos; pouring over pages in Henry Miller’s Big Sur and The Oranges of Hieronymous Bosch…this rooted me further in LOVE with my favorite author, ever. Reading. Walking. Rooted in simple happiness? I was there on the very ground he loved…on his birthday…! And unprompted, the clerk scribbled note of it in the leaves of my copy of the book for heaven’s sake!

I realized that the art we love, books, paintings and music are some of our life’s best friends. When we meet them anew each time, it’s a relationship cultivated with deep history. Devouring my new book, I was laughing and crying all over again. Miller’s irreverent reverent take on life mirrors mine, he appears always at the right time and we share so many life moments. I know…so Her.

To wit, Miller was a fan of ping pong,which I am not necessarily, although I’d flik-flack a ping pong any day with him or her below:

However, Henry and I do share a love of esoteric literature and the crazy King Ludwig of Bavaria, for example. Miller’s birthplace was Yorkville, NYC, exactly just 4 blocks over in the neighborhood where I live today, AND he wallpapers his walls with all sorts of visual oddities, to name a few synchronicities. (Besides the heady, unplanned visit to his home turf on his birthday!)

A rare video filmed in his bathroom in 1975, shows Henry waking up, bath robing it and discussing the art papering the walls. I’d never seen him on film, so we went to a whole new level here.  A blog by his daughter with such tender memories, his art and famed quotes on Henry from the likes of John Lennon and Erica Jong? Wow, more #happy #rooted tears.

2   ORANGE YOU YOUR DESIRE?

“Sex is one of the nine reasons for reincarnation.
The other eight are unimportant.”
-Henry Miller

Oranges represent paradise, for Henry Miller. No question about everything French equaling desire. My first trip intro to Henry was Anais Nin‘s diaries and the next, a pilgrimage to Paris with a dive into Henry Miller’s Black Spring.

This same LOVE-ly merged, better-together creative vibe is all over California! Par example, I was introduced to two friends of the friend I was visiting, a shining example, a couple who live, work, desire and play in that vibe, hip-hop musician, MC Yogi and painter, yoga teacher Amanda Giacomini.  Here, below, they danced on stage before 1000’s in Goa, India for VH1 Supersonic 2014 while I was in Cali…look at this aerial view video with Paul van Dyk…wow!

Notable is MC Yogi’s path from a kid in trouble (drugs, guns, etc) to finding yoga and meditation. Peep his Kickstarter campaign, which raised 86K plus towards his new album.

Catch the adorably, upbeat song and graphics for MC Yogi’s Give Love here.

Yep, I will be always raving about the Desire towards Good.

I LOVE to the 10,000th power Amanda’s 10,000 Buddha paintings.

And no mistake, true LOVE and Desire are beyond death! The clerk at the Henry Miller library told us of the years after Henry’s death, when still, ladies of 70 and 80 years old with a twinkling in their eye, would show up inquiring if their old lover, Henry was around!

3   MEAT POWER

Power meals were many this trip. Above is Carmel Belle, in Carmel, a restaurant so simple, so clean, so full of community characters…all this made for one of the most delicious breakfasts ever!

I admit, I had a taste of the Paleo diet this trip, eating red meat, chicken and eggs, all local, farm-raised, free-range and…deeply nourishing. There is a powerful balance with all creatures, an appreciation, compassion and right relationship for humanity to be passionate about restoring. I think we are moving towards that, for God’s sake an orangutan in an Australian zoo recently acquired “non-human person rights” as a sentient being. If we are going to eat an animal, in all sacredness and gratitude, that’s power with, not over. Connection and appreciation goes a long way on this planet. Touchy subject, deep mysteries.

Power as a third step relates to the core of our bodies. Our middle ground, our gut, our place to digest and process the energies of our life and food. Our central life-giving, solar plexus. Power with.

My sunny Carmel Belle breakfast of open face avocado, olive oil and sea salt on country bread plus two poached eggs was simple yet full of extraordinary taste for its origins of kindness!

Below, patronesses caressing their tresses while awaiting their fare while under the simple chicken pecking about wall decor.

4  HEART BATH

Above, Prehistorics caressing rocks. The heart of this land is the Esselen Indians, traced back 6500 years ago, their name, Ex’selen translating to”the rock,” which is derived from the phrase Xue elo sonia eune, “I come from the rock.”  They were hunter gathers, the ultimate carry-in/carry-out ecologists, they left no trace, except hand prints on rocks, perhaps to tune into the information witnessed, recorded there.

Even the famed city, Exelen, which they spoke of, was never found. Methinks it actually is Esalen, the human-potential institute founded in Big Sur in 1962, 27 acres perched on the coast. This “city,” where over 20,000 seekers per year flock to get their “hands on the rock” of shamanic, timeless teachings, may have been the Native’s prized, future seen culture and city, because that’s how Natives are, whether named Ancestors or Original People, native to a piece of land or sea. They love you long time. They live a long time. They live Beyond Time.

The list of notables drawn to the freedom of Esalen’s think-tank and spring-fed hot sulfur baths is long, including smokin’ Steve McQueen and wifey above, and you realize the fruits of all this freedom already live within us today. They were Western pioneers of a different sort, prophetically seeding this wild place whose spirit and face was a pure refresher from the air-conditioned nightmare America’s culture was becoming.

Influenced by the Beat Generation’s pursuit of freedom, Esalen has sheltered musicians such as Joan Baez, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Jai Uttal and etc.

Esalen has been a haven for visionary scribes like Timothy Leary, Alan Watts, Joseph Campbell, Hunter S. Thompson and thinkers such as Erik Erikson, Ken Kesey, Alan Watts, John Lilly, Buckminster Fuller, Aldous Huxley, Linus Pauling, Fritz Perl, Robert Bly, Carl Rogers, Deepak Chopra, Ram Das, Amory Lovins, Van Jones, Marianne Williamson, Andrew Weil, Julia Butterfly Hill, Shiva Rea, and etc. All have passed through the pearly gates.

Like those ancestors, I disrobed and climbed into a hot tub perched over cliffs pounded by waves, whose curves were icy peppermint blue, clear as a bell before smashing like crystal party favors into white ribbons and bubbles.

Sleek black otters snake all over the water, floating on their backs like the bathers, holding paws and romping together, and eating from their heart-table (just go with the heart stuff…we are at Esalen) while whales spout slow and massive in the distance. A symphony spectacular all these rhythms consorting.

We too feasted later on abalone, practicing glamping at Basil, a certified green restaurant which is all about seasonal ingredients from farmers and fishermen. Under a heated tent in downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea we ate like floating otters perfectly warm and content while rain storm clouds misted over.

Back on the highway we made the pilgrimage to Nepenthe, a historic look-out point, along with the multitudes of tourists. One treasure that captured my imagination was found there in the “gift shop,” however:

5   WEED PLAY

“Imagination is the voice of daring. If there is anything godlike about God, it is that. He dared to imagine everything”
― Henry Miller

Heading for the hills to forage is trendy for a reason, it’s the ultimate creative playtime! As a forager from way back when, naturally I succumbed to the wildcrafted wares of Juniper Ridge, the “world’s only wild fragrance company.” Their playful, simple packages note the gathering data as in “lot #2104-2.” The package also intones: “fragrance from real plants, bark, moss, mushrooms, and other wild things found hiking in the backcountry. An aromatic snapshot of life on the trail. Go there.”

It also speaks thusly: “Winter is my favorite time in Big Sur. The ground is wet and vibrates with new life. Deetjen’s Inn is empty and the staff are relaxed–plenty of time to gossip with each other in the hallways. Found a giant cluster of Honey mushrooms on the trail earlier today–it’s sitting on the rickety bureau in my Redwood room like some massive pagan altar.”

Freedom in foraging comes from trusting intuition, to dare to search and find what one seeks, to identify, to creatively work with the plant world as partners in healing.

And last but by no means, least, is this hilarious foraging image from their Facebook page, along with this genius marketing speak imploring holiday purchases: “Get Your A… In Gear!”

6   ROCK SMART

“Life has to be given a meaning because of the obvious fact
that it has no meaning.”
― Henry Miller

“How about rocks? I’ve just discovered how to make rocks…
not easy, you know.”
Henry Miller on his paintings

The wise zen rocks above are from the Andrew Molera State Park where we hiked one day. Forging a 50 ft, 3ft deep raging stream over rocks like above, in bare feet, to get to this beach had absolutely no need of my usual NYC street smarts, I had to summon up something deeper.

And here ye, is my intrepid stream-crossing guide, foodie mentor and love bug pal, Monique Baron, director of development at Esalen Institute. She went first through the stream. Looking for all the world like a Ralph Lauren ad, I had to snap her picture.

Speaking of rocking beauty and wisdom, I was fascinated that jade is harvested in Big Sur, whereupon Monique gifted me with a piece she was given by a friend who found it in the mountains. Jade is known for amping up everything from money to good luck to dreams…so here ye, here ye! Here my new jade stone is home in her Himalayan saline bath to re-charge. We made it into a heart because the Instagrammers like that.

And then there is my new, glowing moon stone ring foraged from a bin in a Turkish bazaar in Carmel. I bought it for the opalescence, which I saw in the ocean waves, the shape reminded me of the prism squares we turn to for intelligence, the glowing blue of computers, saturated Instagram phone pics and TV screens. The tiny pyrite or hematite surrounding stones reminded me of all the sand and pebble crystals that make up foundations of mountains and computers.

Why we turn to stones for answers, grounding, and wisdom perhaps begins with the crystals in our computers and the lights in our eyes. Yes, I am star struck by mystery. In fact, I have determined on this trip that my tombstone should say:

“…and still, the mystery continues.”

Further, naturally stoned, below is me at the famed Pebble Beach Resort and golf course, where each night people gather around fire pits, listen to a bagpiper and cheer on the sunset.

7  IMBIBING HAPPY GIRL FAME

“It may indeed be the highest wisdom to elect to be a nobody in a relative paradise such as this rather than a celebrity in a world which has lost all sense of values.”
-Henry Miller

While the likes of famous philanthropic celebrities such as Angelina Jolie or Leonardo DiCaprio had yet to be invented when Miller wrote that quote, it’s true that basic humanness electing to immerse in the simplest, pure, Acts of Paradise are a bit of Fame we rather enjoy often. It’s the #7 step to Happiness.

Another Cali original, Happy Girl Kitchen Co., is one such place for that kind of simple, pure pillar of fame.

Serving up artisan preserves, workshops and events based on their philosophy and practice, Happy Girl Kitchen Co. works closely with area farmers, to produce products and savory, heady meals from organic farm fresh produce. Owners Todd and Jordan Champagne have created a haven in Monterey for learning and I was swooning over bottles of bitters, preserves and their workshops like “There’s a Party in My Pantry” Degree- 5 workshops in Food Preservation!” Gifts of Self-Preservation really do arise when making preserves…cheaper than therapy!

For lunch at Happy Girl, I had this bowl of quinoa, squash, pine nuts, golden raisins and some orange marmalade. Now this is Champagne for the holidays!

8   DESTINY’S BEACH

“Destiny is what you are supposed to do in life.
Fate is what kicks you in the ass to make you do it.”
– Henry Miller

We made several pilgrimages to the beach making prints in the sand, wishes with the waves and washing our 98% water body clean, ready for the New Year.

Also floating my boat was shopping via a Carmel shop of treasures from Istanbul. I discovered my moonstone ring and this peshtemal there, a Turkish cotton beach towel for a mere $20. ( go to Simple Life Istanbul for beauties like it and beyond.) My mood ring had me navigating visions of future beach destinies in Ibiza, Goa and Tahiti, all sarong-clad, seaweed in hair, leaping about…Destiny’s Child.

The ever-present white hot sun over the Pacific makes a clean slate, a path to expansiveness that, without words, lures and begs you to tie your destiny to something larger. A larger vision.

As the sun set, the evening’s makeup and heels went on for drinks at the visionary 490 acres belonging to Hyatt-heir and Joie de Vivre owner, John Pritzker. The Carmel Valley Ranch is set softly in the valley of the lush St. Lucia mountain foothills where we made our most vigorous hike. CVR is a hotel and residential commune of sorts nestled in paradise and determined to create a new type of “summer camp” resort.

While a hotel’s infinity pool is often spectacular, it’s not often paired with infinity-inducing happiness like an open-air yoga pavilion, horse stables, hiking trails, beekeepers, a two-acre organic farm, four acres of vineyards and five acres of lavender fields, but here it is. 

9  STARS ON EARTH

 “One’s destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things. Which is to say there are no limits to vision.”
-Henry Miller

The happy, plump passion flower above is smiling at Earthbound Farms. Earthbound is the largest grower of organic produce in US, located in Carmel along the highway. With a big sign, playground facilities, lots parking, a shop, a garden and fields, a bookstore, a full-service salad bar, thank you, and healthy, bright folks manning the cashier stations, it sits low in the valley just as a Walgreens or Walmart would squat their big-box honey pots to lure in vehicles.

In The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan referred to Earthbound Farm as “a company that arguably represents industrial organic farming at its best.”

While I’ve never been a fan of buying their plastic bags of organic greens, hats off to their productivity, bigness and moving organic equation forward. I must admit the lunch we had sitting by the passion flower bush with romping, un-determined gender Cali kids playing hide-and-seek, ranked as one of the most elegant and delicately nuanced salads I’ve ever eaten. It’s the farm fresh vibes and one can’t deny it.

Another California company gone “mass” that I love for this season is Loliware, and their edible cups. Invented when testing recipes for a Jell-o contest, no less!

I offer a New Year 2015 toast in Loliware‘s edible cups, entirely of vegan, biodegradable, right-relationship ingredients. You are to put whatever you like in them. Manifest in, manifest out is the mantra!

 “We live in the mind, in ideas, in fragments.
We no longer drink in the wild outer music of the streets – we remember only.”
-Henry Miller

As one who travels through life hungering for and noticing much the “wild outer music” of streets and forests, I came up with my epitaph for my eulogy or tombstone on this trip…“…and then, still a mystery.”

Because honestly, finding endless mystery, curiosity and even, kindness in ALL, is ALL, especially in what we resist, this is key. We have not a shred of hope of solving any of life’s mysteries ourselves except to attempt that very difficult task moment to moment!

And we give NYC-by-way-of-Paris-by-way-of-Big-Sur, Henry Miller the last word, as he is one of the greats whose operating system was set to DELIGHT and HAPPINESS, even while grumbling.

His painting, Gremlins from 1970, just might say it ALL.

Happy New Year, Y’all! Step Happy, You are Star-Childs!

 written by Jade Dressler, images by Jade Dressler, Monique Baron,
others from Google and credits happily applied!