on the journey...

This came to me via Facebook.  Oh how I relate..  I've had a lot of friends come and go as our paths merge then diverge...and sometimes merge again.   I can't spend too much time looking back.

More and more, I feel a sense of urgency, of time running out.  I don't know if it's because I'm now 49 and I am aware that I could well be over the half-way mark of this time here.  I feel the need to do "something more".  Why?  Do I need to leave a mark?  No, I've done that with my children and the people I've touched.  Do I think I will be held accountable if I don't do "more" with my life?  Like I'll get to the Pearly Gates and get in trouble for fart-arsing around, not always taking this life seriously, for not being more 'normal'.

What is my "sacred purpose" if it is not to Be Love?  

...In whatever way that manifests in the moment?  

People may look at me strangely, and judge me behind my back.  That's their deal.  

Sometimes I can be with a group of people and not relate to any of their stories.  It can be like they are speaking a foreign language, but it's one that maybe I used to know.  I have at times felt alone when surrounded by other people.  But I am very comfortable being by myself.


..... I found the above post in my drafts from about six months ago and decided to go ahead and post it with just a little addition:

 I now do not feel the need to explain myself, which is something I used to do long ago.  I guess you could say that I am pretty comfortable with who I am, where I've been and where I'm going.  

I do not currently feel the sense of urgency, but I do work on ensuring that at most times, I am doing exactly what I want to be doing.  I easily speak up and say what I need or want.  I have some really lovely friends.  The weather is warm and wonderful, I'm busy doing fun and interesting things...I guess you could say that I'm happily and deeply content.

Archery....

"ONE of the most significant features we notice in the practice of archery, and in fact of all the arts as they are studied in Japan and probably also in other Far Eastern countries, is that they are not intended for utilitarian purposes only or for purely aesthetic enjoyments, but are meant to train the mind; indeed, to bring it into contact with the ultimate reality.

Archery is, therefore, not practiced solely for hitting the target; the swordsman does not wield the sword just for the sake of outdoing his opponent; the dancer does not dance just to perform certain rhythmical movements of the body. The mind has first to be attuned to the Unconscious.

If one really wishes to be master of an art, technical knowledge of it is not enough. One has to transcend technique so that the art becomes an "artless art" growing out of the Unconscious.

In the case of archery, the hitter and the hit are no longer two opposing objects, but are one reality. The archer ceases to be conscious of himself as the one who is engaged in hitting the bull's-eye which confronts him.

This state of unconsciousness is realized only when, completely empty and rid of the self, he becomes one with the perfecting of his technical skill, though there is in it something of a quite different order which cannot be attained by any progressive study of the art."

~D.T. Suzuki~
Introduction "Zen and the Art of Archery"

Spring is here!!!!

I woke up at 4am today, the first official day of Spring.  So excited for Spring!  Really!  The weather has been spring-like lately, and Nicholas and I have been swimming in the pool.  We've been spring-cleaning and de-cluttering and the house is feeling light and the energy is flowing and feeling positive.

I love Spring (couldn't you tell?!).  I love the warmth, the colours, wearing light clothes, the sun shining on my skin, the flowers blooming, more tropical fruits coming in to season, lazy days at the beach, longer daylight hours...ahhhhhhhhh...

I felt like a kid at Christmas when I woke up today!  I lay in bed meditating for a while and sending love to some people.  After I got up and dressed, Nicholas and I went for a bike ride along the creek.  Home for breakfast of a delicious green smoothie...water, dates, bananas, baby spinach, kale, parsley, and vanilla stevia drops.  I've been enjoying green smoothies almost daily for at least 10 years and I always look forward to that part of my day.

We had to go out to an appointment but we left an hour early so I suggested we stop at the beach for a while....

...we ran and splashed and played, and watched the whales play out at sea...

Oh yeah!  Spring is here and I am so ready!