Looking forward to more travel in 2012!

I ended 2011 celebrating with friends and my beloved (“husband” is just an inadequate word!), and began the new year with a 9:00am yoga class – perfect preparation for contemplating resolutions.

We’ve all heard the scary “end of the world” predictions for 12/12. I choose to interpret this as a positive thing.  If you believe, as Teilhard de Chardin, a French philosopher once said,  “we are not human beings seeking a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings immersed in a human experience”, then maybe the “end of the world” is a metaphor for mankind waking up to that “reality”?

I am looking at 2012 as a year of rebirth for myself, for our society, and for world leaders. A time to throw off the shackles of F.E.A.R. – (“false evidence appearing real”, thank Tony Robbins for that one), and embrace compassion instead as our driving force.

“The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself” (F.D.R.),  and making fear-based decisions can easily become a habit. The media bombards us with messages designed to play on our fears – of losing, of missing out, of someone taking from us, of not having “enough”.  I’d like to suggest we all share one collective New Year’s resolution – to tune out all fear-based messages, whether they come from within or outside sources.

The sunrise of a new era!

“Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself, and that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of it’s dream”. Paulo Coelho, one of my favorite authors.

My dream is for a world that lives up to it’s full potential, and I don’t think we have even scratched the surface yet!

Live Small, travel BIG, give BIG, fear not, and never let anyone, or anything, take your JOY away, it is only yours to give!

Julie

When you live in a resort town, everything revolves around the weather. In December, much energy is devoted to rituals encouraging mother nature to provide snow in time for a white (and ‘green’!) Christmas . When she doesn’t respond to our snow dances, well, people get anxious, and cranky. But, what are you gonna do? The weather is still something we cannot control. (Or, wait… do we control anything??)

As I took my lunch break today, I flipped on PBS and they had one of those pledge specials airing, you know, the ones we all love to hate, and would be loathe to admit ever watching… old John Denver concert footage. As I listened to “Sunshine on my Shoulder”, I looked outside at a glorious sunny day, and knew I needed to get outside.

Soaked up some vitamin D here for awhile

Off I went for a little attitude-adjustment hike around the neighborhood. I walked down to the lake and strolled the beach, end to end, stopping to try out every inviting spot to perch myself and enjoy the warm sun.

Nice of them to leave this chair out for me!

Merry Christmas from Lake Tahoe!

So, even though we have very little snow, and it doesn’t really feel like Christmas, I can’t complain. I have plenty to celebrate this holiday season.  And yes, John was a wise man, “sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy”!

The trampoline on a cat makes for a mighty relaxing perch!

“Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose”.

These Janis Joplin lyrics pop into my head all the time, (I have no idea why, I’m sure there is some deep subconscious meaning here) and they always launch me into a mental thrashing around of what freedom means to me.

Fire is a terribly frightening force.

A few weeks ago, I was woken up at midnight by pounding on my front door.  When I opened the door, there was no one there, but I saw flames shooting from the building 20 yards across the parking lot. As we all ran out into the street, the fire engulfed two condos, and before the fire fighters could put it out, 2 units were completely destroyed and a 3^rd badly damaged. Thankfully there was no loss of life. It was very frightening. I did not sleep very well for the next two weeks.

After a fire, we all automatically begin making mental lists of what we would take with us as we flee. What I found very interesting about my reaction was that I began looking at everything I own more critically. I am definitely not ready to suffer losing everything, but I suddenly felt that 95% of my possessions had little real value to me. I was overcome by an urge to purge. To get rid of all of that stuff that was cluttering up my closets and shelves. One of my neighbors, who had lost everything, said “oh well, most of it was crap anyway”.  I knew she had suffered a much deeper loss recently, and I admired the way she was handling a second tragedy.

Even when we know too much stuff is oppressive, it’s so hard to get rid of it.  Fire does it for you, it cleanses the clutter, leaving space for clarity. I would not wish the trauma of a fire on anyone, but, in a sense, it must be very liberating? How freeing to have “nothing left to lose”! I have a new perspective, and inspiration to pair down to what I really value, in order to better appreciate what truly matters.

I’ll let you know if I can actually DO IT!  It will not be easy…

Live Small, Travel BIG!

I certainly don’t have the credentials to be blogging about economics (I was a stockbroker for 10 years, so I have a decent grasp of how the financial system supposedly works), but listening to politicians talk about how to stimulate our economy, leaves me pondering… I feel like they are missing the primary issue.

Lots of laughter in Vietnam!

“America is a consumer driven economy”. True, but what if Americans are changing? (isn’t insanity doing the same thing over and expecting different results?) And our politicians, promoting the status quo system, fail to recognize this? Maybe I am in “la la land”, but it seems to me this economic crisis could actually have a very positive purpose, if we don’t allow the “powers that be” to distract us from the valuable lessons we can learn here.

We talk so much about “security” in our country, yet we promote the thing that leads to massive insecurity – consumption as the answer to everything. Maybe Americans are beginning to consider the possibility that consumption of “stuff” is not the path to a fulfilling life?  Maybe they want to pay down their debt, forgo that kitchen remodel, drive their old car for a few more years, and seek enriching experiences – like enjoying nature, community service, voluntourism, and travel – as the new normal? And maybe the reason corporate America is not hiring, is that they see this new reality? I have faith that America can figure out how to prosper in a more sensible culture. That we can toss off the shackles of our addiction to credit. This paradigm shift may cause a slower economic recovery, and patience, but in the LONG TERM, we would be building a better, stronger, more “secure” world.