Vantage Climbing

Joy

I have been walking my butt off lately...I have no car, so I rely on those long and lovely legs of mine to keep in shape and carry me to my obligations. Since the arbitrary time change last month, I have been walking myself, walking Nora, walking with boyfriend and friends in the glow of the evenings. I like to be a creep and peer in lit windows against the gray orange background of dusk and make up stories of the people that I think live in these houses. It's become quite fun, like a bedtime fairy tale or daytime nightmare. Entertaining and imaginative... The house on 25th and Charles has well manicured bushes, hummel figurines in the front window, and has monogrammed shutters so they have lived their since the 1950s and are a retired couple; one a high school teacher, the other a clock maker. They house on 27th and Cheery has an unruly amount of dandelions and peeling paint so they like to watch 30 Rock taped on TiVo because they work two jobs.

Lately I have been rock climbing and getting back into hiking as the snow melts ever so slowly from the tops of the Cascade mountains. I have cameras, but they are all film, and those dozens of rolls need to be developed and then delicately and laboriously transferred to digital for our era. I work at the Photo Center Northwest in Seattle, so you'd think that would be easy to do. But we never set aside time to do the things that bring us the greatest joy.

That is what these evening walks have been for me. Joyful.

Years ago I had a boyfriend and a group of friends who made lists of things that made them happy, or things they were grateful for. Things that were small, things that smelled, things that were yellow or things that were irritating but hysterical. I have not made this list yet, but the lines are forming, and I continue to write letters to my friends, because THAT would be top ten things that make me happy in a list of probably hundreds.

Although I find Seattle fascinating, I miss my friends in Illinois.

Crazy Birthday Love

I was in Chicago last week for my Mom's 50th birthday party. 60 of our families closest friends packed our house last Saturday and brought wonderful food, drinks, and stories of the past and present. The night began with a champagne toast and culminated with a dance party, during which we nearly "cut the rug", or carpet rather. Needless to say it was amazing. I was too busy drinking and conversing to take pictures, but at some point there were bag pipes being played in the dining room. This is a picture that my man Matthew Williams took, but doesn't like, from new years eve, which was a similar party but not as exciting as this past birthday extravaganza.

How Do You Speak with Love to a Thief?

Part of my new years resolution is to practice calm and relaxation in both my mind and body. In January I began going to a local yoga class and have been attempting a routine of stretching and meditating. Yesterday I decided to revisit the book, The Four Agreements by Miguel Ruiz. I want to adopt these words to live by, which I have been told is a tough challenge, but one with great rewards. The four agreements are:

Be Impeccable With Your Word
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the Word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your Word in the direction of truth and love.

Don’t Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.

Don’t Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama.

Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.

And then last night while I was out for dinner and drinks after class, my wallet was stolen.

Fuckers.

There were charges attempted in cities across Western Washington in a matter of ninety minutes. After I am done going through all of the swear words, hateful is the next that comes to mind. So how do I keep my speech impeccable when all I want to do is be loud and angry?

I want to teach them a lesson, but I feel I am the one that is learning a really shit stink of a lesson in calmness, in forgiveness, and in deep breathing.

22 States Total and 16 Different Ones

It's been too long since I've seen you. I said I would post in December during our epic road trip, but honestly I didn't even have time to see all the people I wanted to, let alone spend time in front of the computer writing to an anonymous audience.

So, I miss you, whoever you are, and I miss being able to look back at life and see what it may look like to some one else. Even if that is just reflecting on something that happened but six weeks ago. I guess this is what they call the 'curatorial me', and a generation of youth with an insatiable thirst for information.

We started out in Washington, drove through Oregon, Idaho, Utah, paused in Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, and arrived at our first destination in Tennessee. Ten days later, set out again. Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, and unpacked for our second destination. Two weeks later, headed back west from Illinois to Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, and eight more hours of Washington until Seattle and we arrived at what we call home.

These are the images that we gathered from our friends, family, mountains of Utah, uninterrupted fields of Kansas, and everything that lies between.

12.08.10 Beginning Road Trip

Matthew and I left Thursday for a cross country road trip. Stayed in Boise, ID, went through Salt Lake City, UT and are now in Laramie, WY, the state called Forever West. Some of the most beautiful skies I have ever seen. I will post some pictures tomorrow.

What Does A Sustainable Future Look Like?

This post is prompted by an article in the New York Times last Sunday on the imminent (possibility) of developing a vast industrial zone with coal-burning power plants, oil refineries, and steel mills, on dozens of miles of lush, nurturing coastline in the city of Dawei, Myanmar (Burma).
The article broke my heart. Because this is undeniably who we are today.
Thailand needs the power, and Myanmar needs the jobs. Everything is expanding, and our population is proliferating. It seems in order to sustain the lifestyles that we currently enjoy, we need to keep building and burning. Building and burning.
What was once the 'American Dream' is now the 'Universal Dream'. We all want a family to love with, a house to live in, nourishment, and health. And we should desire these things. Everyone deserves comfort and warmth, not just the wealthy or the developed. But how can it not makes me sad and uncomfortable when I am the culprit of my environment too? These things keep us alive longer but deplete our resources faster. So maybe there is another way to dream, so that we can live life with joy, and the Earth can grow and replenish it's skin.
Do I want to have babies that grow up into children, teenagers, and then adults that will then want to have more babies? Some day my children will not have this gorgeous Earth that we have now. I wish I was smart enough to live without the things we are told that we need. I wish we had created something that was sustainable, because this currently is not. But wishing is not going to make a difference when it comes to this. Change is going to take the effort of every one on this planet.

Here is a link the the article... http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/27/world/asia/27iht-myanmar.html?_r=2&pagewanted=3&sq=myanmar&st=cse&scp=2
I hope it makes you sad, inspired, and motivated.