You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour.
Now you must go back and tell the people that this is The Hour.

        Here are the things that must be considered:

                Where are you living?
                What are you doing?
                What are your relationships?
                Are you in right relation?
                Where is your water?
                Know our garden.
                It is time to speak your Truth.
                Create your community.
                Be good to each other.
                And do not look outside yourself for the leader.

This could be a good time!

There is a river flowing now very fast.
It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid.
They will try to hold on to the shore.
They will feel like they are being torn apart, and they will suffer greatly.

Know the river has its destination.
The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off toward the middle of
the river,
keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water.

See who is there with you and celebrate.

At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally,   least of all
ourselves!
For the moment we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.

The time of the lonely wolf is over.
Gather yourselves!

Banish the word struggle from your attitude and vocabulary.

All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.

We are the ones we have been waiting for.


Down stream.  Let go.  Keep your head above water.  Be attentive to who is around you.  

The message is a about flow.  To release our human desire to control the outcome and recognize that everything is fractal.  Patterns will be repeated, things will happen whether we want them too or not.  We in fact are not in control.  Except when it comes to our reactions.  

Everyday I am learning and re-learning that the importance is in letting go.  I am creating tension.  I am building up situations to be something that they are not.  And I am stressed.  Stressed that once I leave I will never see my dog Aspen again, that I may never see my mother and father again, that I will miss my friends and that they will not come to visit, that my car will not sell, and that once in Thailand everything will change........

And it is that change that we are afraid of because it is, in fact, the grey area that we fear.  
In a discussion with a girlfriend today about practicing rolling kayaks and how much fear there was behind the first roll.  The fear of the unknown and the feelings that will come with the unknown.  

So, in this grey space, however long we are there, we find a way to cope.  These days I am enjoying all the beer I can, smoking those amazing rolled cigarettes and swimming in water every chance I get.  I am afraid of this journey.  

Or is that fear really excitement?  Because aren't they the same feeling?  Just with different thoughts attached to them into them?

Simplicity

When you travel everything is amiable.  

An ever moving force that changes every second.  We forget the things back home; not intentionally, but because we are exploring ourselves and our new surroundings.  We have a mission to familiarize with our environment.


It is almost as if nothing matters.  And it is probably best that we forget some things.  After all if we are thinking about what we should be paying attention too in another part of the world then we are not fully present, are we?  Our minds our wandering to things that do not matter because what matters is what is sitting in front of us at that very second. 


Where ever we are in the world we should be content with whats around us.  Being secure enough in our lives that we know we are loved, supported and have everything that we need. 


In 29 years this is one of my most important lessons......  Be secure in who you are, take nothing personal (Thank you Don Miguel Ruiz), and love everyone openly with out the expectation of how they need to love you!

Stretch and Destroy

An idea that has been thrown around over the past couple of months....  do a yoga class and then smash some shit, (cars, tvs, microwaves), you get the idea.  It feels good to smash those things that we do not necessarily need or want in our lives.  And even beyond that it is fun to hear glass shatter!

In terms of wandering... we stretch beyond ourselves, and our comfort zone, and we destroy the things that keep us bound to our beliefs.  We leave our sheltered united states and watch people burn garbage and eat chickens that are running around in the street.  We see religion and culture.  We see women be smothered down to nothing, used, sexed, and abused.  We see children pulled into war at very young ages.  The list goes on and on.  And all of these things challenge us to see a different way of living.  In essence we are forced to question our reality and determine what resonates with the way we want to live our lives.  We define our morals and ethics off of challenges such as these.

In Darwin's theory of evolution there is discussion about the sociological aspects.Essentially questioning purpose to life.  Is there a purpose or is it just all one big accident?  Now, stretch beyond what we know about soul searches and purposeful living.... and instead imagine that this "purpose" idea is all the chitter chatter of the ego in its declaration.  Imagine it screaming "THIS IS WHY I AM HERE.... TO DO MY PURPOSE!'

I have gotten ecclectic reactions to this idea of stretch and destroy yoga.... "How is destroying and smashing things zen"?  Well, how often do you do it?  Do you ever take and ax to a car (one that is meant to be totaled, not one out of revenge or hate)?  Or do you have a bad day or in this case a frustrating practice and go home and pick fights with the ones you love?  This question has always been met with silence....


We do all these things that are "the right thing to do".  Because having a 40 hour a week job where someone tells you what to do is comfortable, it leaves little room for surprise.  We have these control mechanisms that keep us tucked inside our zone.  The place that we operate the best.  It is not proper in our culture to bash in windows and blow things up, but when does proper always matter?

Was it proper for Clinton to get a b;low job under his desk?  Or for Monsanto to take over Agriculture in the shittiest way possible?  No!  So lets destroy what we know about proper and re-define!

The concept of stretching beyond what one thinks is capable, to destroy the routine of our lives...  moving back to this yoga thing.  I want people to get peaceful with there breath, to find some silence in their lives to listen to who THEY are, and then smash the hell out of some junk that controls there lives because it is "unnatural".  Because then you see another way to handle frustration.  And you absolutely cannot have the dark with out the light!  It is impossible.  One has to exist for he other too.

So here it is... stretch beyond yourself, get uncomfortable and see how you respond.  Embrace love and embrace rage!  They are the same thing.... passion.... with different thoughts attached to them.  You can do this.  You can grow!

This world that we are living in has to change because other wise we are all F'ed!  And change only comes when be/come uncomfortable!

Roughin it

I think about the times that I have traveled more comfortably.  Taxis, vacation rentals, buffets, chain bars and restaurants, shopping malls, and so on....

Once a planned vacation suited me.  A trip to Cancun, jet skiing, sitting in the pool at the resort and swimming with dolphins, snorkeling with a guide, and paying obscene amount of money to zip line over the ocean.  It was amazing and beautiful.  But it was America in another country, there was nothing different.  Everyone still spoke English and served the food I was used to.  I ate at Senor Frogs and went to the coolest clubs.  I was comfortable.

My desires have changed.  I crave to be uncomfortable.  To be in a place that I sleep in a tent in a small town, if even in a town.  I want to be forced to learn the language and to get involved with these other countries.  To really see how they live.  To eat at places that look sketchy, to go to where the locals are and to get in a car or on a bike and get into the depth of where I am.  No taxis, no chains, no comforts..... okay maybe a bed that consists of a sleeping pad and some warmth, but even that is negotiable.

What do we do in the world when we travel to places that are exactly like where we came from?  Does it bridge gaps between worlds or further the gap?

There is no right or wrong answer here, it is just a thought to question why we travel and what we want?  To expose ourselves to the world in all of its different lights, climates, foods, languages, rituals, spirits!

I can hardly wait to experience that feeling again.  Even more so than I did last year on a trip to Mexico with my dude.  Though we drove 26 hours into Mexico and slept on the beach for 3 weeks and ate at places that most would cringe at I still had his help with Spanish.  Though I was left on my own every now and again to communicate with someone who just stares as blankly at me as I do them when talking, it helped to have him there.

What it did teach me is that when someone doesn't understand English it doesn't mean that you speak louder and slower to them...  It won't help :)

Movement vs Presence

If I am not moving, I am uncomfortable. 

And everything is everything!

So, what this really comes down to is that I am preparing for my next movement or I am moving.  However big or small that may be.  A day trip to the mountains or a move across the world.  

Currently I am still, I am planning, and waiting.  My sister said to me that good things come to those who hustle while they wait.  I am still trying to figure out what the hell that actually means so if you can shed any light on that please do!

In this phase of the movement I have receded from much social contact.  I am determining the placement of my energy carefully.  Noting the pains and joys that will occur on the way and taking them into consideration as I extend myself out there into the world.  Selfish in some ways.  but, how do you connect fully if you know you will be leaving soon.  Or maybe you connect fully because you know you will be leaving soon.  I am still exploring all of this.  

It started with a romantic idea to move across the world.  And the disconnection (we will call it that for now, until I have a better word) began with the physical stuff.  Sell a mountain bike, a flute, snowboarding gear, furniture, clothes, jewelry, etc.  AND no buying new stuff.  Great checklist checked.  

Then came the thought of leaving my family and friends.... suddenly it became far more powerful of a decision.  I am about to exit this life I know and step into new territory and begin that with one person...  

Who the fuck am I going to drink wine and smoke cigarettes with when I am sitting on my front porch feeling fiesty??????

I love the my friends, and I love my family.  And to think about the inside jokes and the smart ass remarks, and the tears, and the disagreements not being a part of my daily community is unreal..... biut soon to be real and soon to evolve with a new set of friends.

What I love about wanderlust is that you can constantly re-create yourself with each new person you meet.  But what I love about community is the people that know you so well that they do not even have to hear from you to know what is going on in your life.  Bittersweet. 

So, how do I stay present with those I love, and I mean fully present up until the day I leave?  I have no idea.

What I do know is that we could do this everyday in our lives, we could connect as deeply as possible and absorb ourselves in the world that we live in because as cliche as it may sound.... anyone can disappear at any time. 

Split between two worlds... to move when it is time and to settle where I am.  

The hustle while I wait....

Tapas, Austerity, Quality

Tapas in Yoga translates to the above listed words.  It represents the idea that we choose our quality of life.  It is also known as fiery discipline.  Through commitment and practice we create a path that works through our obstacles. 

Discipline is often confused with difficult, though they are very different things.  Discipline is the about determining your intention and it is the actions that it takes to accomplish that intention.  Commitment and obstacles.  Your intention is your commitment and your path is the obstacle.  And we all know, that it is about the journey not the destination!  Unless of course you are taking 4 flights to get from Hawaii to home for 15 total hours, and  return to the car.......  ha!  Or maybe even then it is about the journey, always the journey.


Now, how do you ask does this pertain to wandering the planet with a deep love of that travel......

I guess it is good to know why you travel.  It is good to have a clear mind on ALL things in our life so that we can act presently.  Travel is included in this.  I travel to run, to run from whatever it is that my home town holds.  I also travel because more than anything I love community and finding a community that spreads across the world is how I want to connect the world. 

What if each time we connected with another person on the other side of the globe, we were one person closer to peace.  To being able to witness and acknowledge what another culture is like..... to learn to RESPECT  those cultures and people for who they are with out pushing our own personal desires on them?

It is the act of communication and storytelling that people learn and grow interest from, share your stories, travel light, and be clear on why you do what you do!

Love!!

Story telling

It is more often than I can count that I find myself in conversations about travel.  My friends are the ones that love adventure, that desire to travel and share as well.  Our discussions range from "Remember when we went to...." and "Oh you have been to ... so have I, have you eaten at ....".  Explaining our travels and what we bore witness to while we were there, as well as what we did there and how it led us to want to go somewhere else.  It has built our community; our ability to share and experience and express our desires to be out there in the world.

On my recent travels i found myself eating amazing Thai food with a group of well traveled people.  Sharing our story with them of how we will soon be traveling to Thailand for an indefinite amount of time; they began to tell us of their trip to Vietnam, Cambodia, and others places in Asia.  Teaching us a little about what to expect in the area, the cautions and the beauty all in one.  Offering to connect us with a friend of theirs in Phuket that is a successful and well established businessman.  And BOOM!  There it is, a bond, and community with these people.  They were looking out, they were sharing, they were offering something to us that is thousands and thousands of miles away.   But there was that connection, that establishment, and it brought a little bit of home to our Wanderlust.

As much as travel takes you away from your "home" it also bonds you to what is there.  You are able to determine by witnessing and watching the patterns of people in different places.  You learn your likes and dislikes when you are away.  You remember why you love or why you hate specific places.  And in turn the bonds with those you love is deepened.  There is a divine appreciation created within you when you travel.  One that sticks with you because discomfort is a promise as you travel.  And that discomfort is what keeps you growing and searching for more.

Next time you sit among those you love, look back on some of your travels, share the stories you have, and share the connections you made. What if that was your act of peace; to create a connection between people in far away places?!