What I Did on My Summer Vacation: Yosemite National Park
I typically post an entry every month, but due to technical difficulties courtesy of my good ole domain name keeper Startlogic and July being rather jam-packed with summer activity, it couldn’t be helped that I had to skip a month.
I know no one wants summer to end, but I sense in no time, that of course it will. This transitional period between summer and autumn is my ultimate favorite, I told a friend on Facebook today. It’s as though the direction of the wind has changed. Like clockwork, I’m getting my second wind once again. It’s only appropriate that it should come after a very close friend had come to visit me in San Francisco. The last time she was here was apparently 14 years ago, so she was due and so was I. Quite frankly, I really hadn’t been myself the first half of the year. I felt rushed and hurried most of the time, perhaps even lost, simply winging it.
Blowing in the Wind: A friendship that’s stronger than ever.
Carmen has a way of centering me that no one else can. In that breath, that moment, the past just falls away, and I begin to understand how it’s about passing to the other side and seeing things as they are. This sounds oddly Buddhist, and we even had a long debate about whether Buddhism should be considered a religion (par for the course during our college days and thereafter). Whatever the case may be, her visit was not only heartfelt, but also soul-replenishing.
Our day trip to Yosemite National Park, in my opinion one of the most spiritual places on the planet, was a perfect tableau of our seven-day journey together. We weren’t always so cordial to one another 24-7, but it was all part of the odyssey. Happiness is discovered in our travels not the destination.
When I wrote this entry, I was at lunch before returning to work for a performance review. My mind was clear, in spite of the cacophony of sounds and car horns and the murmur of the lunchtime crowd in the city. The bamboo plant next to me was telling me so.
Lunchtime Rumination: Bamboo speaking and I’m listening.
I am thinking lately where I was same time last year and remember feeling fair–that at least I was still intact, moving forward and finishing strong. I would say the same is true for this year but so much more. As 2015 progressed, I was growing more into my authentic self. It is indeed a liberating experience. Once there is acceptance, the pace picks up, and life is a rolling stone going downhill. I feel the power of the present with the notion that my life is also just ahead of me. I think of my young nephews and how fearless, rambunctious and magical they are–so much hope living inside of them. I see the goodness of this existence, and I don’t want to miss it anymore because quite frankly it’s much too short to be feeling otherwise. Here’s hoping 2016 is another adventure, whether it’s crossing a long desert or wide ocean, let it be one more journey to the center of my soul.
Bookends 