I just wanted to be ALONE, damn it. But the Universe brought in a sledgehammer to bust down my walls
Category: Life Lessons
Love. A package deal.
We’re different people, the Wild Man and I. I mean, obviously. And I know this isn’t news. We have SO MUCH in common, but there’s significant differences too – even outside of the cultural things. I like to keep my clothes in a separate bag from my laptop, for example. He’s more a shove-it-wherever-it-fits kind…
Angels in Colombia
Yes, weird things happen to me. It isn’t news. In fact I have another book on the horizon detailing all my weird little adventures. Or at least the ones that are appropriate to publish. (Actually, no guarantees on that – some of the best stories are the slightly inappropriate ones). Anyway, I’m so excited about…
Thank you for the (poison ivy) pain.
I like to think of myself as, um, durable? You know, rugged, kind of… in a ‘put-your-head-down-and-get-through-it’ sort of way. But as I recover from one of my more difficult physical challenges I feel compelled to tell you that my perception of myself was somewhat shaken. Or, more accurately, rocked to the core. Last month…
Crazy. Messy. Beautiful.
It’s been a crazy couple of weeks in my world… this time of year in the Black Hills of South Dakota often is… especially for a motorcycle lover. I got to do several book signings throughout the event, met some incredible people, made some new contacts… all in all it was great. And there were…
Just wild.
It’s been a wild few weeks here in my little corner of the world. Well, more like a wild month. Actually, now that I think about it, it’s been a pretty wild year. Of course, I know I’m not the only person harboring that sentiment, but, since I can only really tell my story… I…
Weird Ones… Hands UP!
Not long ago, I had the chance to visit Phoenix, Arizona for the premier of a movie directed by a documentary film maker whose acquaintance I’d recently made. It was a great trip, overall, it really was. I had the chance to actually hang out with a friend of a friend of mine, with whom…
Squirrel Dreams
There are a lot of things I love about hiking with my pup, Rumi. The way her tail gets a kink in the end when she’s really, really excited, for example. The way her tongue falls out of the side of her mouth when she’s really tired. The way she runs and wags her tail…
Egg In My Hair
I stink. No, like I actually stink. A lot. It seems that no matter how much I scrub, shave, or employ my hippy-style deodorant, I always smell just a little bit like garlic and onion. Which is especially weird because I don’t eat many onions. I do eat a lot of garlic though. I know…
When “I was wrong” is right.
Years and years ago, after I’d made a particularly silly mistake… while driving… and talking on my cell phone…the driver I’d inadvertently cut off (because I didn’t see him, of course) followed me up the street screaming out his window until I pulled over and he could properly shame me on the side of the…
When shutting up isn’t enough
I’ve never taken criticism very well. It’s something I want to work on because I know that constructive criticism can be valuable. Not easy to hear, perhaps, but valuable. General criticism, on the other hand, is never valuable. Assuming we have any real understanding of others lives and how they should be lived is, in…
Playing God
Create. Messily. Badly. Just create and set your god-self free.
Be. Be still.
Last year about this time I took a little road trip. Just me and my dog, wandering around the Northwest Coast, looking for… well, I’m still not really sure what I was looking for, but something in me said I’d find it in the Redwoods or the ocean. So we headed west. I learned a…
Being a being, sometimes takes some doing.
I got older this weekend. I mean, of course I did – I get older every day – but this weekend the calendar marked the occasion. This fact by itself doesn’t bother me. In fact, for a couple of months now I’ve considered myself as old as the calendar just made me – and said…
Just a little more “out there”
A little while ago I came to the realization that I need to get out more. That’s one of the things about working as a writer / marketer / event planner… I end up spending a lot of time alone. And because I like to be alone, I spend a good bit of my personal…
Shine on, Stumpy.
It had been about a year or so, I suppose, of attending classes at my favorite yoga studio in town with some regularity; usually the same three or four classes on the same three or four days. It was inevitable then, really… despite my desire to remain somewhat anonymous, keep my focus on myself, and…
Lessons from a hobbit-hike.
I hiked like a hobbit on Sunday. Barefoot. There wasn’t really any one reason why… I’d heard many times about the benefits of direct contact with the earth, it was hot, my socks were itching me… it happened about 200 feet in or so, I guess. I stopped for a drink of water and noticed…
Just LOVE
“Church” today was incredible. As my loyal readers and dear friends know, I “get to God” differently than the term ‘Church’ would imply. I think of God differently than the term God would imply too, but it makes sense to people so I use it anyway. I won’t get in to what I think or…
HOPE, TRUST, & the PATH
Earlier this summer I took a lovely little trip, by myself, to wherever I happened to decide to go on any given day. I had a long term goal of landing somewhere on the Northwest Coast – Oregon-ish – but no real schedule and no commitments. I wanted to follow my heart. I needed to…
The Key to Happiness… in two (medium sized) words.
I overheard a conversation the other day that saddened my heart more than I can say. An attractive, apparently healthy and intelligent young man was lamenting to his friend the elusiveness of “happy”. To illustrate his point he mentioned he worked in a dead-end, entry level job, rented a home that wasn’t his, had no…
3 HUGE REASONS TO GO ON A DATE WITH YOURSELF:
Years and years ago a friend of mine asked me to go with her for a hike. After work. Way out of town. To watch the moon rise. Sounds great right? I didn’t want to go. I had things to do at home, I wanted to get my dogs out for a hike much closer…
PROPHESIZE:
“Come writers and critics who prophesize with your pen And keep your eyes wide The chance won’t come again…” ~Bob Dylan. I don’t know why but those lyrics have been in my mind and heart of late. I’m sure as we get to spend some more time together you’ll understand that I have a kind…
4 Ways You Are Killing Your Relationship
Why is it that we spend a good portion of our youth seeking out a person, a partner, that can tolerate us at least, and that we are in love with at best, and then decide we need to ‘fix’ them? There are a lot of reasons, I suspect, but understanding why isn’t why I’m…