Journal - Thoughts & Creative Writing
Sometimes we all have thoughts and ideas that we think at the time are brilliant in some way or another and we feel compelled to write them down before the vaporize from our imagination. God knows how many journals I've filled with what I'm sure is mindless babel. But who is to say it's mindless and that it shouldn't be written down? I'm sure the world of critics will rush to answer that question and put us all in our place... thus keeping those nice white pages of the journal empty. So I say to you, if you do have thoughts, write them down. Who is to say their not worthy of words on the page? Get those thoughts out of your head, write them down, then decide if they are worthy of existence or not. I've decided to keep these types of writing out of my blog due to the fact that these are whispers more than of FB, Twitter
shouts. I sometimes will have a thought, but then not write it down because I didn't want to make a big fuss about it. With this page I can write without having to worry about. Much like having a pad of paper in front of you while holder a pen or pencil. When a though comes to you... you write and don't hold back until you're done.
2011-07-28 // Carpe Diem (Seize The Day)
Recently I read a Wikipedia description about an artist who had lived his life and died. After reading the biography I realized that our lives (which we think goes on forever) is summed up in a couple paragraphs of text. Or if you look at a tombstone, it's the "-" in between our birthday and the day (date) we die. All this got me to thinking how I thought everyone should live their own life... to the fullest. But what does that mean? To me, it means going to school so you can learn from your teachers and peers everything you can about the world. Being part of a family, finding someone you love to then have a family of your own. To practice and work hard so you can develop your talents/skills so that others can benefit from your positive actions. Traveling the world to see and experience other people (cultures) and places. Learn from your mistakes so you can come to be a better person. Inspire others to create and see the world around them in a positive light. Being able to look back on your life before dying and say, "I was a kind and loving son/father/husband/worker that made the most of my life by creating art that inspired and made other people happy"
2011-07-16 // Your Personal Aura
The other day I was having a conversation with my son about how people perceive other people. That everything we say and do makes up how people see us in life. To illustrate this point to him, I told him to imagine that you have a colorful aura that surrounds you like a sphere and that the color of this orb is effected by your attitude and emotions. So when you're friendly and happy your aura is full of bright colors like a rainbow. But when you're sad or angry, you're aura is filled with dark and and muted colors. And the more we feed these emotions with thoughts, words and action the bigger the aura gets. Wherever we go we're followed by this aura and if we like it or not, people "see" it and are effected by it. For example when you're in a bad mood, people can sense that even though you haven't said anything to them. They can read your body language... a frown, crossing your arms, etc. Same thing applies when you're in a good mood... a smile on your face, open arms and so on. I also went on to tell him about karma and how good acts and deeds beget other good acts and people. Same thing of course applies to negative actions. That by being angry and hateful to others, this brings on more negativity. I explained to him that these types of thoughts feed on us like a cancer and are always looking for ways to reinforce themselves. That hatred truly only hurts the hater. Yeah, yeah, yeah dad. OK, you believe what you want, but I can assure you that it's true. That positive minded people choose to surround themselves with other positive minded people and of course this same idea applies to negative minded people. So I told him to be mindful of the things he says and does, that these actions will ultimately effect the way people perceive him for the rest of his life.
2011-06-28 // Thoughts And Dreams Are Like Vapor
I don't know why it is, but whenever I wake up in the morning after having a dream, the memory of it seems to dissipate like vapor. Maybe that's our minds way of helping us differentiate from what is a dream and what is reality? But there are other thoughts that I have that I don't want to forget and I find myself wanting to write them down so I will never forget them. But just like vapor these thoughts quickly vanish from our minds only to become fragmented memories from the past. Sometime when I'm starring at a beautiful vista, I have this urge to get my camera to take a picture of it. But every time I do that, the picture, no matter how good it is, never lives up to what I was feeling at that exact moment. I had many of these moments on a recent trip to Montana. My family and I visited places that were so beautiful, that it gave me a sense of peace that would be difficult to describe in words. Places where the balances of nature were still unspoiled by the advances of the modern world. It is in these moments that I wish and pray that I will never forget... that life is truly a gift and it is up to us to live it to its fullest. It's as if god is speaking to us through these majestic place and reminding us that we are only guests and that we should leave these places as they are so that others after us can appreciate them as well.
2011-06-14 // Going Off The Grid
There have been times in my life where I have taken a trip to a beautiful place in the world that are still to what I refer to as "off the grid". For example the spot I like to camp in baja Mexico has no electrical power or cellular coverage. It is in these open out of the way place that I have been able to do some of my clearest thinking. Where the only sound around me is the wind flowing through the trees and the sound of animal noises in the distance. I believe it is in these places when we truly can "detach" from our normal daily routine and see life with a whole new perspective. And going on these types of vacations with your family and friends just makes the journey all that much better too. Being away from the internet and modern civilization helps remind us where our roots came from and helps us appreciate nature in it's purist form. I am thankful that I am able to do these types of trips and know I will return home to work hard so I can go there again.
2011-05-13 // Exercise Your Mind and Body
The word "exercise" has been in my thoughts alot latey. I've been busy with work and trying to launch this website, that I seem to have slacked on my duties of getting some exercise everyday. I don't care if it's a walking, working out, dancing, mowing your lawn or going for a run, it's getting off you butt and exercising. You may have a healthy mind, but that mind has to live inside your body. I've always thought that by eating right and doing consistent exercise, your mind and body will be in tuned with each other and you will feel better and get sick less. Sometimes I will print out a monthly calendar that is dedicated to tracking how often I exercise. Sometime just by looking at the calendar motivates me to get out and exercise. Even if it's just for 30 minutes, it's better than nothing. I've also thought it's easier to stay fit if you involve another person. If you can afford a personal trainer, then plan to exercise with a family member or friend. By doing this you're less likely to fall off your exercise routine and that person can remind you that you want to stay fit and motivate you to keep going. Whatever system works best for you, I think the key word with exercise is consistency. Don't go overboard and burn out on it, just keep it interesting for you and you're more likely to stay at it. I know this can be done, because I see lots of people way older than me working out and staying fit, So no excuses, as Nike says, Just Do It
2011-05-07 // Don't Be Afraid Of Living Your Dreams
I was walking around the shopping mall with my daughter today and I had this thought. I was admiring a window display and thought to myself that the person(s) who designed the window did a really great job. I then started to notice all the people walking around the mall and thought each and every person has their own opinion of what does and doesn't look "good". Like they say, "the world is full of critics". So knowing this fact is a scary detail for any artist... to know that after they put their blood, sweat and tears into their creation, ultimately it will be judge by the public. I then started to think about all the people in the world who come up with truly great ideas, but never do anything about it because of the time, effort, and money involved to bring that idea to life. So in a way we are our own worst nightmares when it comes to making our dreams come true. I know I've come up with ideas, but quickly start to talk myself out of doing it for whatever reason.
2011-05-01 // Planting a Vegetable Garden is Good for Your Soul
For weeks I've been meaning to plant our summer garden in the backyard of our house. I always seem to procrastinate and find other things around the house that need attention more than the garden, but today I said, enough is enough, lets get thing planted. So on Saturday I spent a good portion of my day prepping the soil by clearing out all the weeds and turning the soil in the area where I would be planting the next day. The weather in San Diego for this weekend was predicted to be hot, so I did most of my work in the morning and afternoon hours. At the end of the day on Saturday my hands were dry and cracked from working with the shovel and pulling weeds and my back hurt a bit from all the bending. With the prep work out of the way, I was excited to wake up the following morning and hit the local framers market where I know I can find great seedlings from a nice husband and wife business. Well I'm glad I woke up early and got there before they opened, because I wasn't the only one with the idea of going to the farmers market on that day. As soon as they were open, I enjoyed selecting the vegetable and herb plants that I was going to plant in our new garden. By the time I got home, the sun was already pretty warm, so I decided to wait until the afternoon when the sun was so hot to plant the seedlings. So when the sun was lower in the sky I planned where all the plants were going to go and started to plant things in the ground. After it was all said and done, I stepped back and thought how great it felt to have the garden planted. That in just a couple months our family would be enjoying fresh veggies and herbs from our garden.
Now I know I can buy pretty much anything I need from the local grocery store and it's a lot less work... but it's not about the cost or the convience, it's about the self-satisfaction about nurturing, picking, cooking and serving vegetables and herbs grown in your own garden. At the end of the day having to pick the dirt out from under your finger nails and knowing that with a little love, patience and water you can grow wonderful food right in your own backyard. That it feels good deep inside your soul knowing that you planted and nutured something to life that in turn nutured someone elses life. What a beautiful thought... and this is why I was compelled to write... to share this realization here on this page. That hopefully someday someone might read this text and think to themselves, I want to grow something myself. There is something very rewarding about putting something into the ground... nurturing it.... havesting it... and then cooking and eat what you have just grown. It is one of those simple primal feelings that I think all of us should experience before we die. Think of it as therapy. Something you do to nuture your own soul. That life gives to those who know how give back. So I will keep an eye on my little seedlings, making sure that the bugs don't eat them and that the sun doesn't dry them out. I now feel responsible for their lives knowing that if I fail in my responsibility, I will never see the fruits of my labor. So I say to you, plant your our garden or at least some basil in the window sill. That the act of planting and nurturing that plant will bring you closer to the earth.
Photo caption: Title: Life Endures / Photographed at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, in Arizona with Holga 120N camera
2011-04-28 // A Tree Was A Seed At One Point In Time
I've said this many times to my friends and family, "achieving anything worthwhile in this life, takes a lot of practice and hard work". And When we look at these things that we can to accomplish from the bottom up, they look huge and scary. The look so mammoth that often times we don't know where and when to start and as a result we find ourselves making excuses why we can't achieve them along with procrastination. Self doubt, procrastination and a world of critics awaiting us, often times keep us from realizing our true potential as human beings. It's only when we tear these layers of negativity away when we begin to see what we are truly capable of achieving.
I often start the process by writing down what it is that I want to do. By doing this I can begin to see my thoughts take form and by seeing them take form, this motivates me to keep that thought process going. The more I create the more momentum I gain.
Even if you start by making a list an attacking the smaller more managable tasks. Once you complete these items, you'll start to feel as if the load that you're carrying is getting lighter and that the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter. Each step you take towards completing your objective gives you strength and courage to keep on going. It's like exercising and working out, the more time you spend getting healthly the stronger and more clean minded you become. It's a slow going process, but the rewards are worth the time and effort spent.
The book I just wrote was one of these monstorous undertakings that I'm referring to. When I was thinking about all that I needed to do to get the book written and completed enough to submit to the publisher, I started to feel sick to my stomach like it would never all happen in time. And if it did happen it would never live up to my expectations. I was my own worst enemy when I had thoughts like that. This website was another daunting job I wanted to accomplish. But when it came to doing something about it, I would make all sorts of excuses why I couldn't do something about it TODAY.
