If you had the pleasure of looking up into the night sky over the past few nights, you may have seen the beautiful full moon moving across the sky.
For me, the lunar eclipse felt auspicious—an opportunity to observe the wonder of mystery.
We understand so much through the realm of the intellect. We gather information, search for answers, and try to make sense of our lives. But the grace of mystery invites us into the heart, the gateway of the soul.
Wonder allows us to accept the journey without certainty of the outcome.
This past week offered me humble memories and profound gratitude for all the moments in my life that somehow brought me to this one.
Are the paths of our lives random? Or is there some greater force of nature aligning circumstances and carrying us toward experiences we could never have planned?
Perhaps we will never know.
And then there is free will. We still have to choose.
Somehow, I ended up on the path of studying and teaching yoga.
The grace of mystery invites us into the heart, the gateway of the soul.
The Strange Turns of a Life
This week, two amazing souls who touched my life in very different and profound ways took their departure into that great expansive space.
Their passing brought me back to another lifetime.
I was living in Los Angeles in the 1980s, following my passion for acting, when I somehow landed a full-time job working on The Dolly Parton Show.
Dolly had already found enormous success in music and had crossed into Hollywood after starring in the hit film 9 to 5. Then came television, with a weekly variety show filled with music, comedy, and an extraordinary parade of performers.
How did this New York City girl suddenly find herself there?
Luck?
Destiny?
Another strange turn on the path?
Years earlier, I had been a cocktail waitress at a Marriott lounge in Washington, D.C.—one of the many jobs I took to support my habit of looking for acting work.
My manager took great pleasure in calling me, “Laura Lye Janey Jones, you dizzy girl on the cocktail floor.”
Yes, my personality has followed me.
Years later, after arriving in Los Angeles and trying to find acting work, I created a comedy character using that name for a little show I wrote and performed in a small theater.
One evening, producers came to see the show and invited me to audition for a new project they were producing.
And somehow, that little character helped lead me to Dolly.
What I Remember About Dolly
How blessed I was to share even a small part of that adventure and to know such an extraordinary human being.
Dolly possessed enormous talent and an incredible commitment to her work.
But what stays with me now is something quieter.
Dolly was all heart.
Her beauty was in her kindness. Her gracious humor. Her humility. She had that rare ability to make people feel welcome in her presence.
She inspired us with an abundance of love.
And this week, as the world mourned her passing, I found myself remembering not the fame or the spectacle, but the human being.
The heart.
When One Path Ends
After the show ended, Hollywood entered a long and difficult writers' strike.
My acting career was stalling, and I was creating far too much pain around something I could no longer force into being.
In one particularly difficult moment, I heard two words very clearly:
Yoga retreat.
That is another long story for another blog.
But I listened.
I surrendered into a new role—as a yoga student and eventually a yoga teacher.
Before long, I had more work in this new direction than I could possibly sustain. Through another series of circumstances I never could have planned, I found myself teaching actors and artists and sometimes housesitting while people traveled between film sets.
One of those people was Tim Curry.
The brilliant talent behind The Rocky Horror Picture Show became a friend. During a difficult period in my own life, while I was separating from my first marriage, Tim generously offered me refuge in his beautiful home.
He later became a student, and eventually I was able to find an apartment of my own and continue moving forward.
I remain forever grateful for his generosity, and I mourn his passing this week as well.
It has felt as though the night sky has gained the brilliance of a few new stars.
A week of grieving.
A week of celebrating.
A week of welcoming again the mysterious collage of living.
Just living.
The People Who Meet Us Along the Way
I marvel at the path that brought me here.
Life is a huge journey made up of very small baby steps. Some steps take us forward. Some seem to take us backward, only to give us a perspective we could not have found any other way.
The message I keep hearing is simple:
Welcome the stranger.
We never know who may become a teacher, a friend, a refuge, or an unexpected part of our story.
I know I am right where I am supposed to be as I continue teaching and trying, in my own imperfect way, to pass forward the kindness that has been given to me.
I believe human beings are intrinsically kind and compassionate.
It is often the little mind—our fears, biases, patterns, and familiar ways of protecting ourselves—that keeps us hidden from the heart.
I keep learning.
I keep tripping over my own stuck places of doubt.
I look at the outer world and sometimes forget that there is another gateway, deeper inside.
And when I take the time to reflect, to go inward into those chambers of memory, I can see something I could not always see while I was living it:
There was always a lifeline of love.
The mystery may be learning to trust that lifeline even when we cannot see where it leads.
I still have faith that we are better than much of what we hear and see.
We are all capable of profound goodness.
And perhaps that is the practice.
Not perfection.
Not certainty.
Remembering the goodness.
What Would Dolly Do?
I think I am going to make a T-shirt that says:
What would Dolly do?
Because when life throws another obstacle into my path, when I become overwhelmed by fatigue or fear, I can remember that I still have a choice.
Today, I have a choice.
I can choose kindness.
I can choose humor.
I can choose to keep my heart open.
Life is a blessing, and I intend to keep creating characters, laughing at my own wild side, and welcoming people into whatever small space I can create where joy might thrive.
Yoga Among Friends is an expression of that longing in me—a place to welcome humanity into the sweetness of life.
A collection of wonderful souls reminding one another how to live fully on this wild ride.
At Yoga Among Friends, everyone is welcome.
It truly is the journey, not the destination.
Let's keep creating.
Let's keep sharing the goodness.
Let's keep our hearts open.
I look forward to seeing you soon.
With love,
Laura Jane
A Question for Reflection
Who has offered you an unexpected kindness that changed the direction of your life?
Perhaps they knew what they were giving you. Perhaps they never did.
I would love to hear who comes to mind in the comments below.
If you are new to Yoga Among Friends, returning after time away, or simply longing for a place to reconnect, you are welcome to begin where you are.
