Narayan, a Cottage and Magic Shea Butter

It may be when we no longer know what to do,

we have come to our real work,

and that when we no longer know which way to go,

we have begun our real journey.

~Wendell Berry

Back when I met her, our lives looked very different than they do today. Our aspirations and especially career goals were very different from what they are now. You never know what the next chapter holds until you get there!

I met Narayan 20 years ago when she was a dresser my first play I was in in San Diego. All I knew was that she was the funny gal from the theatre department, who made her own beautiful dresses, and was looking for a couple of roommates.

We ended up moving in with a couple of friends, into a haunted house in North Park, San Diego. A lot of other crazy things happened but perhaps I will leave that for the Halloween post! ;) We met up again a few years later in L.A. when we were both our pursuing acting careers and she had also become a manicurist to the stars. Seriously, name a star. Yep, she did their nails. She went into their homes, did big Vogue photo shoots and got stars ready for the Oscars.

Over time we both kind of veared away from acting and started bringing more focus to other interests in our lives. She got seriously into Kundalini yoga and then started creating her own shea butter creams for healing pedicures.

She now lives in Ojai about 5 minutes from my sister Penny and right next to Bart's Books! (One of my 2 favorite book stores ever- the other being The Bodhi Tree in L.A.)

Now she has her own line of products that she makes by hand with amazing organic ingredients. I had never used such amazing "lotion/cream" in my life and I am one very dry skinned chick. I admit to being recovering product addict so this is big. Oh, did I mention I love the face scrub? I know I am starting to sound like a commercial but it true!

The shea butter is organic and unrefined. Watch out for the whipped white stuff big companies call shea butter! Narayan's is blended with essential oils and jojoba, so it doesn't get hard as rock like a lot of the stuff they sell at health food stores. I am telling you, it could make a rhino as smooth as a baby's bottom. (A human baby, that is. Not a rhino. Was that clear?) Anyway, I LOVE her shea butters and they smell heavenly!

I took these photos at her groovy little cottage in Ojai, California ...

The journey between what you once were

and who you are now becoming

is where the dance of life really takes place.

~Barbara DeAngelis

To check out her awesome shea butters and other yummy stuff, click here!!!

And click here for a funny article and video about her by Joel Stein for Time.

Does the path have a heart?

If it does, the path is good;

if it doesn't it is of no use.

~Carlos Castaneda

Hope you are all following your the path your heart is taking you!

Blessings and light!