As this blog is titled Travelbeing, I shall mention a few travels since my last post, although that isn’t what this is about.
A cross-country road trip in June with my delightful 18 year-old niece, Roxi, proved enlightening. Driving in a coupe automobile from California to Florida, one learns interesting things about the other (I’ve also learned and forgotten all about Snapchat.)
On a July trip to Mendocino I communed with dear old friends. Further north in one of the most sacred places on God’s green earth, I communed with giant redwoods in Rockefeller Forest; I consider them friends, too.
In August, I crashed the Bush family summer vacation in Cabo San Lucas; muy bueno!
Weekly, I ‘travel’ on Morro (Estero) Bay in my Hobie pedal-kayak to work my body-mind.
Of course, every day is a maelstrom of mind-travel…
Which leads to my latest brain firework:
Last Sunday, while on the phone with Joanna, my one and only faithful reader, I mentioned that I missed her insightful comments in our online communications but that I didn’t think anything happening in my life warranted me to blog – a far outdated form of social media anyway. “Who cares?” she said, and she reminded me that this whole endeavor was intended as writing practice. Joanna the Younger, you’re right. Thank you, sister.
Writing, like music, is therapy for me. And with the condition of the planet and its peoples — questions of “What’s it all about?” and “What am I doing here?” have been seeping into my brain again. Again. You know, meaning of life stuff. The existential crazies.
Then yesterday at the gym, a fellow (happily married) member I see frequently, stood in front of the leg machine that was working me. Everyone wears headsets so communication is mostly nonverbal. He purposely opened his mouth to show all his teeth. I grinned, he stretched even further. I burst into a big ol’ blessed smile. He said, “Now that’s what I needed,” and walked on. Then hand to god, this song shuffled to play on my nano that I hadn’t heard in how long, giving words and meaning to what just happened. And answering an unrelenting question of the week:
“What are we here to do?”
Well…
We’re here to Be kind. To nurture friendships. To plant trees. To save animals (not some insects, sorry roach and mosquito). To say hello to a stranger. To Lift each other up. To smile.
I wonder, isn’t that enough? The betterment of humanity. Isn’t that EVOLution?
Take It Up
I got an extra glimpse of the truth today
Staring at my breakfast when I thought I heard it say
Fighting is no good, success an empty lie
The treasure hunt is lonely until you realize
We came to take it up We came to take it up We came to take it up
We came to raise it up Came to take it up Came to move it up.
I promise you this I will do my best today
But somebody keeps trying to make me Trying to make me lose my way
But I believe oh my darling I believe in you
And I hope when you hear this you’ll remember what we were sent to do
We came to take it up Came to take it up Came to take it up
We came to move it up Came to raise it up Came to praise it up
I came to take you up You came to take me up We came to take it up
……….. We can really put this world to right Or sit and watch the end
You know
We gonna take it up We gonna move it up We gonna take it up
To the very very top To the very very very very very very top.
– World Party
(Thank you, World :)
Ahem……..2 faithful readers. Nice to see You back ;)
Thank You for your support, as always, J.
I’m going to pretend that the whole world reads these little ditties,
but only a few choose to comment!
So while I’m procrastinating getting to some art making….I remembered last we spoke that you were doing the blog again! Just what I needed to inspire me so Thank you Miz Heidi!!!
Big Love Back at ya!
Thanks for reading, Jules! There is no time, so there is no timeline! You groove when the inspiration touches you…xox
Travelling shall always surprise you with the lessons you learn and the wisdom you gain drop by drop with each experience….. understanding people in different corners of the world is the best school one can ever ask for.
Gaurav! Delightful to have met you, poet, even for a brief moment. Thank you for reading and for sharing your insightful comment. “And what a person thinks on his own without being stimulated by the thoughts and experiences of other people is even in the best case rather paltry and monotonous.” – Albert Einstein
Good to have you back at it Heidi! I am good at planting trees and Lifting others up (being kind to strangers) – need to work on lifting myself up and quit the negative talk…
Eckhart Tolle defines Radical Acceptance when he writes ‘Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it. Make it your friend and ally, not your enemy. This will miraculously transform your whole life.’ Struggling against things we cannot control, even within our own mind, is pointless and exhausting. Acceptance disengages us from our desire and aversion, allowing us to act powerfully in the areas of our life where we can make a real difference.
Here’s to making a difference in this world! Cheers my friend…
Joanna!
I gotta check your comments earlier than at the next blog due date; I could have applied your above comment to my days…Thank you, sister.