Thanks Joyce! Two things come to my mind. First, the idea of stopping to smell the roses. And, the notion of "auto-pilot." They are, of course, related, and your story reminds me to to stop and smell, especially on well-worn paths and to stay more present as live spins by! Thanks again.
Okay, you touched on a topic I know about. On a flight from Europe to Southern Africa, I holed up in one of the restrooms when the cabin map monitor showed we were about to cross the Equator. I filled and emptied the wash basin for at least 45 minutes as we crossed the Equator. The water always swirled in the same direction.
Thanks so much for sharing that experience! I've believed that myth for so long it's hard to let go of it. I appreciate your effort to find out for yourself!
But who knows, maybe there were other factors but I’m not interested in any more nine hour flights to do additional research. Plus, after about four hours into a flight, those bogs get pretty rancid.
I would enjoy that. Once you return from your Mexico trip, we can put some plans on the calendar. Also I'd like to plan my interview of you. Let me know what your plans are and your availability. 💜
Joyce thank you for this beautiful reminder of fresh beginnings. It is so easy to fall into that ‘been there done that’ trap. I loved your play by play of how this went down and will hold it in my heart when I’m looking around our beautiful valley for the millionth time!
I've only made one brief trip through that part of the world but remember it as a very beautiful place to live a Bright Life. I'd love to hear/read more about your place in the world.
BRAVA, Joyce! What a great post. "All who wander are not lost." The joy I think - at least in my few travels - was just the going itself, riding buses, looking out windows with fresh eyes - and not knowing where I was going except the next destination, feeling my way through. I'm excited that you have kind of dropped your self expectations and ideas, and just want to go and connect with your heart place - especially after this adventure, which seems to be preparation for exactly this decision, and how to approach, and see, and really be in the present moment no matter what.
I love the photo of the run down dance theater mural;. it's so beautiful. There is something about crumbling buildings, peeling paint, the ravages and mellowing of time on everything reminding us of impermanence and the preciousness of each moment. I keep running across that Mary Oliver line ; "tell me; what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" But maybe we can't really plan it. Plans are just the springboard. Thanks for helping me look at my own stick-in-the-mud life in a small place that may bore many folks, with fresh new eyes, where - like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz - the trick is seeing that there's No Place like Home, and Home can be wherever we are at any given moment. Always I learn something from your writes. Had to giggle, though... when you posed the question about which direction wisdom circling the drain goes, all I could think of is, down. - haha! - Observation skills are rusty.
You'll certainly expand your range of life experiences when you go on your trip to Mexico. You'll make it well worth your while - it's just the way you are. But I do hope you don't get lost.
I love the quote below about travel not being so much about a different landscape, but a different way of seeing.
Joyce, I’m lying here on my lounge chair in la peña with a clean dog lying between my legs while listening to the neighbor next door prepare fresh mangoes that he almost fell off his ladder to get for his kids. There’s rain somewhere around here; just not here but the 95 degree heat has moderated a great deal that’s why I’m taking advantage of the breeze now. Since this is my first year in Panamá, I’m not really sure quite how our seasons(all 2 of them)turn. I believe we’ll be going from Hell hot to just very hot with downpours; otherwise known as the rainy season.
I’ve had the opportunity to observe what flora and fauna are in my rather large back yard. Right now, the flora is exceedingly dry. The green stuff on the ground which I can only assume is grass, is gone. There is nothing but weeds which I try to keep pulled as best I can but with the winds we get here, I know it’s a losing battle. As for the fauna, I have feral(or neighbors’)cats. There is an abundance of large blackbirds that loves the large trees that would offer better shade had they been planted on the west side of the yard. I’ve seen doves, a kind of blue winged bird and another, smaller black bird with all red feathering down his front from beak to tail(black over red)if he were a car. I have hummingbirds here somewhere. One got lost in my living room temporarily just after I arrived and I saw one yesterday. Maybe they have a season here just as they do back home. It’s possible the extreme heat of the “summer” isn’t so much fun to deal with. A few weeks back, I decided that what birds I do have need water so I bought a couple different sized plastic basins and rigged up a large one for the big birds and a smaller one for the small birds. I’ve noticed that I’ve been getting “gifts” in the large tub. Usually it’s bottle caps; they’re shiny but today it was a small, round pebble. I’m keeping a collection. Everything is stressed so when I see even a small insect in need of water, they get it. My yard is full of spider holes. My son told me they belong to the tarantulas that are very close neighbors. You can be sure I keep water on the ground so they won’t venture into the house looking for it in the dog’s water bowl.
You write about seeing with new eyes, it’s a wonderful world when you let yourself do just that. I look forward to your further adventures wherever they may take you.
Oh have to allow yourself to be a lazy butt Joyce. My girlfriend would never allow herself to spend the time I do just doing nothing. We’re the same age, 77, and she’s constantly doing something. She is obsessed with her weight even though she would blow away in the next stiff breeze. She’s constantly exercising and has had two face lifts. It’s almost as if he’s afraid that if she stops, something bad will happen. I almost feel sorry for her. She’s got so much in material “stuff” but somehow I feel so much richer.
The first lines of this made me think of a sort of spiritual teacher I had in my late teens (she was teaching me massage therapy but she had all kinds of nuggets of wisdom) who said, "the universe wants to teach you things gently, but if you ignore the gentle lessons, it will keep bringing out harder lessons until finally it hits you with the universal 2x4 and you can't ignore it"
You are fortunate to have traveled 395 so many times because now you were able to see new things. If it had been your first or second trip, you would have missed what you saw this time around. Who knows what awaits you in Mexico!
Thanks Joyce! Two things come to my mind. First, the idea of stopping to smell the roses. And, the notion of "auto-pilot." They are, of course, related, and your story reminds me to to stop and smell, especially on well-worn paths and to stay more present as live spins by! Thanks again.
Thanks, Ruth Ann ... life does seem to be spinning by ... glad we get to weave at least some of it together.
Okay, you touched on a topic I know about. On a flight from Europe to Southern Africa, I holed up in one of the restrooms when the cabin map monitor showed we were about to cross the Equator. I filled and emptied the wash basin for at least 45 minutes as we crossed the Equator. The water always swirled in the same direction.
I was never so devastated in my life.
Thanks so much for sharing that experience! I've believed that myth for so long it's hard to let go of it. I appreciate your effort to find out for yourself!
I ❤️science!
But who knows, maybe there were other factors but I’m not interested in any more nine hour flights to do additional research. Plus, after about four hours into a flight, those bogs get pretty rancid.
I so hear you on your story. Just when I think "oh, no.....not that again" I see something in a new way. Isn't life fun?!
Thanks, Karen ... indeed it is.
I really enjoyed this post, Joyce. It opened something for me inside. I'll keep this one close as a reminder to stay open. 💜
Thanks, Sue ... hope we can talk more about it in person some time.
I would enjoy that. Once you return from your Mexico trip, we can put some plans on the calendar. Also I'd like to plan my interview of you. Let me know what your plans are and your availability. 💜
Joyce thank you for this beautiful reminder of fresh beginnings. It is so easy to fall into that ‘been there done that’ trap. I loved your play by play of how this went down and will hold it in my heart when I’m looking around our beautiful valley for the millionth time!
Thanks, Donna. What valley are you in?
The Columbia Valley in southern British Columbia. Just over the mountains from Banff.
I've only made one brief trip through that part of the world but remember it as a very beautiful place to live a Bright Life. I'd love to hear/read more about your place in the world.
Or come visit😉
Sounds lovely but that's a rather long road trip ... hmmmm...
“This tiny, little road trip has reminded me of the wonder of this world we live in and this planet we live on. I want to experience more of it.”
And I, for one, want to experience it vicariously through your stories!
Have fun, Joyce❣️
BRAVA, Joyce! What a great post. "All who wander are not lost." The joy I think - at least in my few travels - was just the going itself, riding buses, looking out windows with fresh eyes - and not knowing where I was going except the next destination, feeling my way through. I'm excited that you have kind of dropped your self expectations and ideas, and just want to go and connect with your heart place - especially after this adventure, which seems to be preparation for exactly this decision, and how to approach, and see, and really be in the present moment no matter what.
I love the photo of the run down dance theater mural;. it's so beautiful. There is something about crumbling buildings, peeling paint, the ravages and mellowing of time on everything reminding us of impermanence and the preciousness of each moment. I keep running across that Mary Oliver line ; "tell me; what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" But maybe we can't really plan it. Plans are just the springboard. Thanks for helping me look at my own stick-in-the-mud life in a small place that may bore many folks, with fresh new eyes, where - like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz - the trick is seeing that there's No Place like Home, and Home can be wherever we are at any given moment. Always I learn something from your writes. Had to giggle, though... when you posed the question about which direction wisdom circling the drain goes, all I could think of is, down. - haha! - Observation skills are rusty.
You'll certainly expand your range of life experiences when you go on your trip to Mexico. You'll make it well worth your while - it's just the way you are. But I do hope you don't get lost.
I love the quote below about travel not being so much about a different landscape, but a different way of seeing.
Joyce, I’m lying here on my lounge chair in la peña with a clean dog lying between my legs while listening to the neighbor next door prepare fresh mangoes that he almost fell off his ladder to get for his kids. There’s rain somewhere around here; just not here but the 95 degree heat has moderated a great deal that’s why I’m taking advantage of the breeze now. Since this is my first year in Panamá, I’m not really sure quite how our seasons(all 2 of them)turn. I believe we’ll be going from Hell hot to just very hot with downpours; otherwise known as the rainy season.
I’ve had the opportunity to observe what flora and fauna are in my rather large back yard. Right now, the flora is exceedingly dry. The green stuff on the ground which I can only assume is grass, is gone. There is nothing but weeds which I try to keep pulled as best I can but with the winds we get here, I know it’s a losing battle. As for the fauna, I have feral(or neighbors’)cats. There is an abundance of large blackbirds that loves the large trees that would offer better shade had they been planted on the west side of the yard. I’ve seen doves, a kind of blue winged bird and another, smaller black bird with all red feathering down his front from beak to tail(black over red)if he were a car. I have hummingbirds here somewhere. One got lost in my living room temporarily just after I arrived and I saw one yesterday. Maybe they have a season here just as they do back home. It’s possible the extreme heat of the “summer” isn’t so much fun to deal with. A few weeks back, I decided that what birds I do have need water so I bought a couple different sized plastic basins and rigged up a large one for the big birds and a smaller one for the small birds. I’ve noticed that I’ve been getting “gifts” in the large tub. Usually it’s bottle caps; they’re shiny but today it was a small, round pebble. I’m keeping a collection. Everything is stressed so when I see even a small insect in need of water, they get it. My yard is full of spider holes. My son told me they belong to the tarantulas that are very close neighbors. You can be sure I keep water on the ground so they won’t venture into the house looking for it in the dog’s water bowl.
You write about seeing with new eyes, it’s a wonderful world when you let yourself do just that. I look forward to your further adventures wherever they may take you.
I loved reading every detail of your observations, @SPW.
Thank you so much for such a glorious recounting of your seeing. I'm going to keep it as a reminder for me to slow down and see more.
Oh have to allow yourself to be a lazy butt Joyce. My girlfriend would never allow herself to spend the time I do just doing nothing. We’re the same age, 77, and she’s constantly doing something. She is obsessed with her weight even though she would blow away in the next stiff breeze. She’s constantly exercising and has had two face lifts. It’s almost as if he’s afraid that if she stops, something bad will happen. I almost feel sorry for her. She’s got so much in material “stuff” but somehow I feel so much richer.
Just dropped by, tried to read but having one of those moments I just couldn't stay focus so gave up
And now I'll bet this quote by Marcel Proust truly resonates:
"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes."
Stay curious, Joyce!
Great wisdom there.
Outward bound! Mexico will be there whenever you arrive Joyce. I'm sure your timing will be just right b/c it just Will Be!
I so agree!
The first lines of this made me think of a sort of spiritual teacher I had in my late teens (she was teaching me massage therapy but she had all kinds of nuggets of wisdom) who said, "the universe wants to teach you things gently, but if you ignore the gentle lessons, it will keep bringing out harder lessons until finally it hits you with the universal 2x4 and you can't ignore it"
Love "gentle lessons" ... all of these were gentle ... but repeating so I hope I'm getting it.
I look forward to seeing what happens in Mexico for you with this openness.
me,too. thanks!
Your reflections on this short trip are like a Mind Map come to life!
Thanks! Sounds like a possible story line. Will be home this afternoon. Just sent you flowers.
You are fortunate to have traveled 395 so many times because now you were able to see new things. If it had been your first or second trip, you would have missed what you saw this time around. Who knows what awaits you in Mexico!