Life Is Perfect Just As It Is

Today’s run in the country was as horrible as it was magnificent. Ninety degrees farenheight with 90% humidity. The sun threw down it’s blistering rays, browning my skin. Sweat oozed from every pore and I looked as though I’d fallen into the drink rather than having run past it. Ominous clouds rolled across the sky. A fierce battle ensued; the sun scorching the earth, the clouds thwarting its efforts. In a moment it was dark, quiet, still.

I ran until I could run no longer-my face flushed, burning from the heat, red as Old Glory’s stripes. My stomach ached; the protein bar I ate not long enough before sat like a lead weight at the bottom, unforgiving and uncomfortable. A river of words danced through my mind in rhythmic meditation and I thought of Spain. Though the city has been of little notice since I returned from Camino, I long for the countryside when I am in it. It stirs my emotions and inspires me. Here, I am free of distraction. Here, I am connected to Mother Nature. Here, I can think, feel, write. Here my spirit is alive, free. 

Once again it’s just me and my rucksack. Everything I need here with me, surrounding me, within me. I want for nothing and need even less. Life is perfect just as it is in this moment and I am truly happy. I am blessed. I am grateful. Life is good.

Imagine Peace and Love Along the Way

Spain

California Casey on My Mind

Is there anything so grand as planning your next adventure, aside from doing it? And when I say planning, I mean buying the tickets or making the commitment to do it, I don't mean "planning" it.

Free-spirited adventurers appreciate spontaneity and forgotten details. "If I don't do the research, I won't know what I'm missing."And that's how I go about it. With so many grand adventures on my horizon, it's hard to contain my excitement, so I won't even try.

In less than a week I will be in California; it's been nearly 10 years since I've been back, since I've seen my younger sister, a visit shamefully overdue. Through the years our lives have been eerily similar, going through identical challenges and accomplishing the same feats-marriage, divorce, foreclose, recovery. But a few years ago she broke away from our parallel paths and walked down a path all her own. I admire her courage and fortitude; she's been through the ringer and remains one of the funniest, happiest, and most compassionate people on the planet. A few years ago she married and last year-the day I watched Jordan Zimmermann pitch a No-hitter at Nationals Stadium-she gave birth to her first child-a boy named Casey. Just this morning I was told about a baseball poem, Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic Sung in 1888 by Ernest Thayer, which was later made into a silent film in 1927. There are just too many coincidences here to dismiss...I imagine Casey a great baseball player someday, even if only in pictures.

Casey

My adventures with Casey and family will no doubt be fun, but the escapades don't stop there. On Sunday afternoon I will be attending the wedding of a wonderful friend, who is one of the most gifted women I know. And I will be accompanied by my long lost and since found friend, Jason. 23 years ago Jason and I lived together in a group house in Cupertino. Roommates and friends, we fell out of touch in 1992 when our lives took separate paths. Then, about two years ago, I received an out-of-the-blue phone call from him. Going through changes of his own, he had discovered an old phone number belonging to "Dani's mom." He called. She, having had the same land-line number for over 35 years, answered. She passed him my number and it's like we never missed a beat. It's amazing how the universe brings things full circle in their own time.

Life really is a gift that I have no intention of missing out on or wasting. There are more adventures on the horizon...but this one is going to be epic!!!

Collective Soul

It was French philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin who said, "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience."

In a recent encounter with a happy-go-lucky Brit, I was reminded of this very truth; that we are each part of a collective soul, the sum of which is greater than our parts. It's an optimistic paradigm in a challenging world. Our interconnectedness can feel elusive at times-conflict, disagreements, alternative perspectives, busyness-can be distractions from our shared experience. No matter where we come from, what we believe or what we do for a living, there is one thing we have in common: we are all members of the human race having a shared, albeit temporary experience here on Mother Earth. 

On a daily basis, most of us are just trying to get through; we want to go to work everyday, put a roof over our heads, have food in our bellies, be of service to others and experience joy and happiness on a regular basis. Who among us does not want to be happy? But these simple and most basic desires can be subverted by the world we live in. Distractions and stimulus pull us to the left and to the right, skew our perspectives and turn our priorities upside down. Simplicity is profound, and it's profoundly difficult to keep things simple. 

It is so easy to become distracted and self-absorbed, buying into our own bullshit, believing we are the most important-and certainly most interesting-people on the planet. When, in reality, our own next door neighbors probably don't know who we are, much less care. Take it a few steps further out, say to Spain, where nothing we do on a daily basis impacts shit. How's that for perspective? It comes back full circle and begs the questions: Am I making a difference and for whom? And how does what I do matter? 

Life is about relationships. How I treat myself, my loved ones and my fellow beings-animal and plant variety included-speaks to my spiritual well-being. As a member of the collective soul, it is my responsibility to treat others with lovingkindness, honesty and respect. Being mindful, compassionate and honest and coming from a place of love is the best way I can make this world a little bit better. 

We are each one small part of the whole; a grain of sand on an enormous beach. And on this beach of humility, every grain of sand counts; no one more or less important and necessary than the other. Sometimes, the sun will hit just right and for a moment we will sparkle and glisten before we return to our natural state, just one in a zillion grains of sand. Each of us has our moment in the sun, but most of the time, we are no different than the grain of sand right next to us.

Take a moment today to honor yourself as a member of the collective soul- that one grain of sand among a zillion that is shining bright. You are important and necessary. Fill today and everyday with lovingkindness and compassion and happiness will find you.

-Namaste

Off Kilter and Okay

I went on Camino to change my life and it's changing. NOW!

At the end of June I landed my dream job working as a writer... at least that's what my job title says. I know a few writers, published authors whose prose drips like poetry from your lips when you read their words. I am not in their league. Not even close. I am humbled and honored to have "writer" in my signature line but it's a title that should be earned, not given, and I haven't earned it yet. I have a lot to learn and hope I can live up to the expectations that anyone should have of a good writer. I have to trust I'm doing exactly what I'm supposed to be and everything will work out as it's meant to.

New jobs mean learning new things, having new experiences, working with new people, having a new commute, etcetera. I like change; it's an opportunity to do life differently. But change isn't easy, even for me, and nothing that's worth it, is easy. Right now, my life is completely discombobulated-as it should be. Transitioning into a new life rhythm takes work, time and energy and sometimes, old norms cannot be maintained.

Time is my most precious commodity and right now I seem to have little of it. It's all about balance and right now I have none. Sometimes that's how life is: unbalanced, off kilter, crazy-making. All I can do is suit up, show up, and keep walking. I once heard someone say, "I know what balance is, it's that thing I pass by when I'm going from one extreme to another." I can relate to that right now.

Life is messy and brilliant. It's progress not perfection, one day at a time. I have to remember that everyday. My German friend Thomas reminded me repeatedly on the Camino, "Slowly." He's right. I need to slow down, be gentle with myself and breathe. Don't forget to breathe...