Perspective
I suppose with a lot of what we see in our lives it's all a matter of perspective. Our point of view changes the way we look at circumstances that occur everyday.
How do we then consciously shift our perspective so we feel better about those events that seem to happen beyond our control?
I'm beginning to see it's all about awareness and being present enough in each moment to choose. It's really easy for us to go on auto pilot and react or act out of sheer habit. Just like I almost cropped this photo so it was level with the horizon and then I decided I liked it better this way.
Who said I always had to keep the horizon level anyway? All it takes is a moment of realization that don't have to do things the same as we have before. In any moment we can change our minds and our perspective.
Outside Options
The interurban trail bridge at Arroyo Park today on the way back from Chuckanut Falls.
The day after Thanksgiving, also known as Black Friday or Buy Nothing Day depending on which extreme direction you sway, is full of options. One of the best options in my mind, regardless of what the day may be labelled, is to get outside. I always feel better after I get out in the woods and get some fresh air. Even a simple walk outside usually clears my head better than anything else. Its hard for me to imagine all those people who choose to go shopping today but I'm not here to judge either. To each their own, really, I just want everyone to be happy. Truly happy. I wish life were easier for all of us, in every way possible, today and everyday. That's all. And I'm thankful most of us have so many options to choose from as we go about our lives.
WTF?
Why The Face? I wonder what is going going thru this high mountain squirrels mind...
I was trying to figure out what picture to use for tonights blog post and stumbled across this image, then I was trying to come up with a title and WTF to write about on day 12 of my blogging streak. This was perfect, WhyThe Face? I think my face has looked like this recently, thought I'm not sure exactly why. Could be that I haven't been sleeping very well, and maybe had some gluten contamination too, and my hormones are doing strange things again, as they usually do a few days before my period arrives. So WTF is appropriate in a lot of the ways you could use it here. Why The Funk? What The Fuck?
And Wednesday Thursday Friday are the next three days in a row after today so maybe tomorrow I'll have something better to say...
Deception Passion
Kwuh-kwal-uhl-wut aka the Deception Pass Maiden near Rosario Head on Fidalgo Island. 11/16/17
Often I get a flood of strong emotion with even a mention of Deception Pass. Every time I go over the bridge the connects Fidalgo and Whidbey Island I look down at the shoreline and remember that very first kiss.
We were walking down the beach one day as the waves crashed against the shore and the seagulls soared overhead. Our two sets of footprints were sure to be erased by the rising tide as we drifted closer together the further we got away. The cool salty air swirled around us gently with no indication of the impeding inclination. Suddenly the forward motion stopped and it felt as if we were two black holes caught in each others gravitational field. As our eyes connected and lips collided the waves rippled through space and time. The universe would never be the same.
In fact everything has changed since that day. It was unexpected and innocent really, neither of us knew what would happen when we followed the magnetic pull towards each other. Sometimes love bends the rules and breaks our pre-conceived notions of what is possible. I know I didn't know then what I know now, if I did, I may not know how to get from there to here.
Yet there we were, together, today, so close to the first place where our hearts expanded in a unified field of love almost 17 years ago.
Changing Choices
Just before the start of Round the County out of Roche Harbor on Sunday last year.
I chose this picture for this post today because Round The County is coming up this weekend. The annual party at Anacortes Yacht Club is tomorrow night beginning a tradition that takes place every year. Orcas Island yacht club hosts this two day event that has an overnight stop in Roche Harbor on San Juan Island. I won't be sailing this year because I'm making the choice to change.
One of the changes I'm making today, is to this website as I have now made my A-musing Blog my homepage so the first thing you see when you visit will be the last thing I have shared online. I'm making the choice to write more and to work on a lot of my projects I have had good intentions of finishing before now. I've suffered from a lot of distractions and a bad habit of procrastination coupled with some healthy excuses. The time has come however to choose to change and part of that involves sailing less and writing more. My goal is to attempt to write something on my blog every day followed by a good amount of time writing other things after on the computer. I need to get my books finished and published so now is the time to push. I hope you enjoy my daily musings in the meantime and I hope all my friends have a safe and fun time sailing around San Juan County this weekend with out me.
Totality Awesome!
I totally meant to finish this blog post and publish it over a month ago. Here it is now instead. If you've seen my YouTube channel you already know I had the opportunity to experience the total eclipse with a group of friends at Silver Falls State Park in Oregon. Honestly I didn't expect it to be nearly as amazing as it was. There was a bit of concern over all the hype in the news about crowds and traffic and there was some personal family drama before we even left Bellingham that made it even more tempting to bail on the whole trip. The VRBO place was already booked in Portland and we had financially committed to my friend who planned the trip so we went anyway. And I'm really glad that we did.
It was totality awesome! We found waterfall paradise and a deluxe place to watch the moon pass in front of the sun with a gathering of friends and beautiful strangers who had some sweet set-ups for viewing that they were happy to share with us. The sense of community was heart-warming as we all witnessed this rare occurrence. There was even a couple with their child visiting from France who had planned their trip so that they would be in the right place at the right time. We walked around, visited with each other and made new friends, looked through other peoples telescopes with solar filters and different homemade viewers, we even played music and hula hooped as well as took lots of photos and video during this time spent in this wide open field. A field which had recently been cleared and purchased by the state to become park land which just so happened to be the best spot in the area for watching the total eclipse. Serendipitous indeed.
We are blessed to be living in such a time and place that is evolving rapidly no matter how chaotic or backwards regressing it seems at times. Think about it this way, just to be able to predict the time and place to witness the moon pass in front of the sun during broad daylight is incredible. With all the knowledge and technology we all have access to, that we not only get to drive to a far away place to see this astronomical event, but to have a vacation rental house to stay in with devices to capture and share it with the world in an instant. It is amazing and I'm grateful to be alive in this time period of life on earth. I do believe this eclipse marked the beginning of a new era so to speak. Or at least a layer of it which is hard to define and explain with the confines of conventional belief systems. Nevertheless, the collective energy feels different since the eclipse and I think it's the start of a shift in the right direction for all of humanity. The big picture is challenging to see when we are puzzle pieces that have yet to find the exact place where we fit but it is actually happening. And I do believe that soon it will all make more sense.
"Soon", now thats a whole other subject/word I've been thinking about too. Soon is defined as in or after a short time. But what is a short time? Isn't it all relative to the scale we are looking at? I thought about this because I listed on my website that my books are "coming soon", it has not happened as quick as I'd hoped for but does that mean I was wrong to list it as soon? What time frame am I looking at for completing these amazing projects I have on my list? It seems I have so much time but not enough time to make time to call it sooner than later but still soon enough in relative terms. Life's too short relatively speaking to sacrifice living life to it's fullest in the moment for short term accomplishments, right? I know, and these projects will be done soon. I promise. It's the rainy season in the northwest and I'm ready to buckle down to get my books done. Thanks for reading my blog and for being yourselves. You are totally awesome!
Shutter Bug
Mount Cheam, Agassiz British Columbia
I take a lot of photos and I want to share the best of them but the whole process of editing, organizing and uploading is where I have trouble. I love to attempt to capture the beauty that I see everywhere I go and I love looking at them later as reminders of where I have been. I just wish I had a better method for processing as well as a good outlet for them to be seen and shared and used. For now this blog will have to suffice for sharing small snippets of my shutter buggy-ness until I get the gallery on the website rolling. Amongst many of my long-term projects and good intentions I still have to get out and experience life and adventure first hand. Most of this computer stuff can wait, right?
The image above is from my most recent trip to supernatural British Columbia with my famous and beautiful friend Kamala Chambers from Thriving Launch who I've known since high school. We picked up a snowboarding hitch-hiker on our way up to Hemlock Valley resort to go Skiing for Ladies day after spending the night at Harrison Hot-Springs. When we picked Bryana up she was drenched from standing out in the rain waiting for a ride. We all hoped the mountain would be high enough that the rain would turn to snow when we arrived. Instead we skied in the rain and got very, very wet so it didn't last too long. In fact I was ready to bail before we left the slippery parking lot but Kamala was encouraging so we got our free lift tickets and braved the wetness. Fortunately, the best part of the ski-trip was making a new friend and so we offered her a ride back down the mountain. As we drove back into the lowlands the sky opened up revealing a magical landscape of ice crystals and rainbows.
When we arrived at the Abundance Farm where Bryana lives, the sounds as we stepped out of the car for a stretch were wild. Sunbeams hitting the ice coated willow trees combined with a light breeze made the landscape come alive with sounds of crackling, falling, shattering bits of frozen water. Lots of photos and videos were taken in a short amount of time and then we were back on the road headed towards home. Our entry back into the States was much easier than our entry into Canada which reminds me I need to update my Nexus Card. It was a quick and wonderful trip in some potentially hazardous weather but with my amazing AWD Toyota Highlander (aka the "Love-mobile") we plowed through snow drifts, splashed through muddy puddles and had good traction on sheets of ice making it home safely and happily. I'm looking forward to many more adventures up into Canada and beyond. Next adventure starts this weekend with Sailing around Shaw Island in the beautiful Salish Sea.
Happy 2017!
It's already the 2nd week of January, 2017 and it's been almost a month since my last blog post. Time flies when you're having fun. I had high expectations for myself last fall in regard to certain projects I wanted to have finished by now. Instead of buckling down and doing the nitty gritty work I have been saying yes to adventures and playing instead. Life is too short to work all the time right? We never know how long we have and the most important things in life aren't things. They are experiences and in that sense I feel I have not wasted a moment of my time. Maybe I set my expectations too high but I'm not disappointed in myself, I've just had to re-adjust my perspective and perceptions. The Eagle has been one of my key spirit animals assisting me on my path. Eagles are symbolic of great strength along with the ability to see the big picture and I have been blessed with many reminders by my physical encounters with them. I'm also very grateful to be aware of my connection with them and with the spirit in all that is. As I learn to give in and let go, I want to be like the water following the path of least resistance, going with the flow as I trust in the universe to continue to guide and support me along the way.
So far this year has been amazing. I've had the chance to see many of my wonderful friends I haven't seen in a long time. And I've had the freedom to choose how my days go. I feel so incredibly thankful to find myself here and now. The earth and this life is so beautiful and I keep trying to capture the beauty that I see so that I can share it with all of you. I'm constantly amazed at what I'm continuing to see and to learn every day. I'm still working on writing my books, painting and music too. I have canvas & sewing jobs in process and soon I will be using my Captains license again as I get the opportunity to take people out on sailing adventures in the amazing San Juan Islands. More information and links coming on that soon too. In the meantime, Thank you for your patience and understanding with me and with yourselves. This life is an ever unfolding adventure with many unexpected twists and turns. In the words of Bob Ross, "There are no mistakes, only happy accidents"... lets enjoy the ride as we paint the canvas's of our lives.