Sunday, January 15, 2012

15 years... how time flies

15 years ago today i landed on Vancouver island.
i fell in love with a magical place and boy
i slept with whimsy and dined on dreams
i met friends that would last my lifetime...
i grew with the cedars and listen to the raven
i got tangled in sea kelp and silly games that often come with love
i learned how to be alone and how to play music from my heart
i walked through places that seemed to be ripped from pages of storybooks
i fell and i hurt, but i got up again.
i watched whales playing in the wake of the ferry and i was waking from my childhood life
i painted canvas, fingers, and skin
i believed in romance, fairies, and in people others thought i was wasting time with.
i watched the fog dress the springtime blossoms in mystery with my dear friday friend at the top of the city
.
.
at times, i wish i could go back again... but am grateful for where i am now.
15 years ago ...
i tasted salt air for the first time, kissed a memory, started a new chapter that would last for 6 years.
and it changed me forever.

thankful for all that has happen.
and all that will.



www.weareseastar.com

Thursday, January 12, 2012

. perspective .

"We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."
~Anaïs Nin

perceptions are a funny thing.

when I was 19, near the Board of Trade and the Starbucks on Clark St. in Chicago, I was hit by a taxicab while crossing the street. I had just finished my shift,I had the light, and crossed the street. The taxi, as most taxicabs in Chicago, was making some interesting maneuvers as it came down the street. I noticed about halfway in the crosswalk that the taxi wasn't stopping. My highly caffeinated 19 year old body ran and arched my body forward in hopes of missing the oncoming vehicle. Thankfully, I wasn't killed or hurt. All that was hit was my book bag. The taxi never stopped.

when I got to the curb, 4 people came running up, including a police officer. The older woman said, "Oh my, he hit your leg and back! Call an ambulance! you should sue!" The drunk guy holding a sign said that I ran in front of the car on purpose. The business man said that the taxi sped up and that I never was touched then continued to bantered with lady that too many people sue over anything. And the police officer said, after he wrote down the license plate, "you were walking with the crosswalk light, the cab was in the wrong" and that I was lucky.

from my point of view, what I felt and lived, yes, I was walking with the crosswalk light. yes, I did run away when I saw the car speeding up. And yes, he didn't physically hit my body parts, but did hit my book bag which later I found that the impact had 2 cracked cassette tapes; not to mention the crazy guy never stopped!

I suppose what I am getting at is that we can be involved in something and people can see things from many points of view. Depending on how we are feeling, where we come from, how we are wired, what our day has been like, etc.; we may not see or experience the same thing as the next person.

this memory came flooding back this morning as i am dealing with a situation that has been weighing on my heart. personal relationships can have very different perceptions and expectations. What one thinks is perfectly acceptable may be completely ludicrous to the other. A heated conversation can start in one world and end up in two different worlds with 2 very different views of how things went down.

due to all the variables, is the result of this perception equation is truly solvable?

No clue. If we are fortunate to have a footing on the same thought wave, or compassion to see the flip of the coin, perhaps.

I think it's important to keep crossing that street. And, while the taxicab is speeding up, act with your gut, trust your heart, and do the very best you can. Hopefully, at the curb, there will be a common ground to exist in.

"What we see depends mainly on what we look for."
~John Lubbock