Go Raibh Maith Agaibh

Bottle nose dolphins off the coast of Doolin Ireland

I'm up with the sunrise. Its always this way when I return to the states. It's nice, a quite time to reflect and gather my thoughts. We had an beautiful holiday, my mind is filled with lovely exceptional places. For me the above was one of the most special memories of my life. We were traveling back from an island on a very tiny ferry with a few other people. It was low tide and we couldn't dock so they brought out these little motorized row boats. We climbed in and headed for shore. Magically they appeared, bottle nose dolphins bounding out of the water from everywhere, no one said a word, but appreciation was 100% and our incredibly generous and wise little captain slowly turned the boat around and placed us in the middle of a playful large group, jumping, diving, playing, and swimming beside our little row boat. We drifted along for a while, feeling in sync with the universe. Finally, reluctantly our little captain turned the boat toward shore. Dear beautiful planet, great ocean, young captain, everyone, thank you, thank you ...... what a gift..... go raibh maith agaibh.

Time in the Sun

Going off on a hike for a bit, be back soon!

May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
And the rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.
An Irish Blessing

letting the sun shine in

Needing some peace and anxious free living I elected to take this Summer to get organized and get all the things done I've put off, temporarily forgotten, or haven't had time to do. My mantra: "Why put off tomorrow what can be done today." I collected all my to do lists and condensed them into one very long list which included some items which are couple of years old. One item on the list was six years old, yup six years! That one was growing up and becoming its own little entity.

One by one I have systematically attempted to complete, fix, file, de-clutter or follow up with a phone call each task no matter how small or mighty. At this point many will relate tales of how much easier it is once you get started, or how much better they now feel. For me its been the peeling an onion one layer at a time, with a progressively stronger urge to move away and tear up. Slowly, very slowly, I have been chipping away at this little monster and with each completion I am reclaiming myself but feeling a little shattered at the same time.

I am at a point in my life where my time and mental energy is limited and to maximize best results and keep sanity I need to set firm limits and boundaries. This means saying no more than yes. It goes back to something I reflect on from my yoga practice. "Do not engage in activity that doesn't serve you." I realize that saying yes to things when I really meant to say, "no!" have drained me of time, energy and collected a pile of stress which is harder to get rid of then the to do items I've been ticking off. Clearing away the material minutiae has given me a view of the mental pile up behind it, and there lies the anxiety.

Were leaving on holiday soon and I'm planning to dump some of this stack of mental toxic build up while traveling, hiking, exploring and just embracing the good things life has to offer. This will be wonderful and I'm looking forward to it, yet I can't help but think that perhaps we add clutter and disorganization as a curtain to avoid seeing or dealing with the real mess. You know like the wizard of oz, in this case, ignore the mental mass of shit behind the clutter!

Wishing everyone peace and relaxation.

Little Fishy

Tomorrow the little fish and I head off for our annual surf day. The waves will be quite small but in my mind they will be as gigantic as this. Little fish will glide along and wish for bigger waves while I pray for small little tiny ones. We will both giggle a lot and flop about in the water. It will be fun!

Domestic traveling woman

For many many years, probably a good portion of my adult life I split my time between two countries. Then a little over a year and half ago I made a promise, a decision, to stop. Life had become too full in one place and too confusing to forever be packing my bags and taking flight. Too many things to do, too many obligations, and my focus had evolved toward something that didn't include a red eye. This week alone I have made appointments for house necessities, hauled our shit out so the home can be internally repainted and discussed the possibility of building a rooftop deck for a sustainable urban garden. Very domestic, and to quote Edith Piaf, " I regret nothing" but I know that my travels helped balance me out, and slow me down. I need to find that balance on the home front. Life becomes quite complicated as an adult, personally more rewarding, but defiantly full, which leaves me with a propensity to overwork and become a neurotic bore. Not really what I was aiming for...... How to balance it out, the life, the obligations, the family , the profession, the ability to be at peace in one place, tricky, very tricky.......

Mid week pondering

Sometimes we all just need a little quiet time to recharge the batteries. It's easier said then found, but well worth it if you can steal away a little block of time for yourself. Just a nice little quiet thought for Wednesday.......

Bright Day

"That beautiful season the Summer!
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light;
and the landscape
Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood."
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow