On the Move, In the Mood

Today I'm sitting in my dear friend's apartment in Asheville, NC.  My observation about Asheville is that there are people creating conscious community here like nowhere else I've seen in the states in a town this size (83,000 aprox).   It's quite inspiring to see.  This weekend is the LAAFF festival, Lexington Avenue Arts and Fun Festival with local music and expression in the streets.  More on that after I've visited.

I've been hanging out back in the USA for just over 2 months now and will be here for close to another 2 before going back down to Latin America and towards my new home on Ometepe.  (www.Inanitah.com) to teach yoga and massage.
When I first came back to the states the thing that shook me most was the price tag shock.  Food in Nicaragua is roughly 1/3 of the cost here.   Needless to say that walking out of the grocery store in Wilmington, Delaware with a small bag of produce, honey, and grains costing around $20 was a shock when I had been spending about $20-40/week on food in Nicaragua/Guatemala (mostly buying from the grocery and cooking).
I started lurking around the dumpsters near Trader Joes and asking at the local bakery's when they got rid of their bread, existing as much as possible on "free food", almost solely on principal.  It's not that I completely couldn't afford it, it's that WE, as a nation, can't afford it! 
We are paying for shelf space, lights, and utilization of huge corporations to fly things from around the world for our convenience.  Granted, in Central America, I do not have the opportunity to buy Israeli cous-cous or imported coffee beans, or gogi berries.  The difference is that in Central America, the local markets are where people buy mostly directly from the families that grow the produce.  In fact on Inanitah, we are growing as much as possible ourselves and purchasing eggs and milk from our neighbors who have cows and chickens.
How did it get so complicated here?  Annie Lenord has some thoughts on this in the Story of Stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/storyofstuffproject#p/u/22/9GorqroigqM

We are paying for these massive external structures that are, on the large, unnecessary.   How we live is a choice.  It's always a choice.  We get to say how we live and it requires us being willing to unplug from the status quo of being a consumer and beginning to trust ourselves enough to see that we can make choices from an informed place.   Choosing from clarity around what our own personal truths are telling us.
How do we achieve this clarity?  There are many paths.  The most simple is through the art of listening.  When we listen to our own inner voices instead of the ones that come from outside, we gain clarity as to what is alive inside of us.  This is part of the Great Turning as Joanna Macy calls it:
lhttp://www.joannamacy.net/thegreatturning.html

Enough for now.  Peace to you and this song to enliven and inspire. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Qd-fAnHjPg&feature=related