Changes

I feel a big change coming soon. Things are all up in the air in my mind, but on the surface life rolls along just as it always has. I think this idea of something new on the forefront has been on my mind for a long time, but now it appears to be a burning desire to move.

Move in a different direction.

Walk along a different path.

I feel it will all come to fruition....

soon.

We don't make things change in nature, they just do.

What I find is that when I'm resistant or fear the change and try to continue along the same road that no longer fits me, the desire to change course burns even stronger in me. It won't leave me alone.

So I decided to go out with my husband today and witness the inevitable changes in nature. We hopped in the car after breakfast and headed out to Discovery Park.

Along the path, through a tunnel of greenery, we saw that the salmon berries had decided to ripen a bit earlier than usual. All the way down to the ocean we picked these juicy gems and popped them into our mouths. It was our own garden of Eden.

When we got down to the ocean, wild roses greeted us along with daisies and lupus. Behind them, the Olympic Mountains stood majestically in the background. I felt the warm sun on my shoulders and back and realized I had forgotten suntan lotion. It's rarely needed in these parts.

The tide was way out due to fact that the moon is currently full. We walked out where clams were squirting and half-devoured crabs lay mangled on the sand. The seagulls had obviously had their lunch.

Yoon plopped down in the dry sand near a pile of driftwood and I followed. I sunk my bare feet deep into the warm grains and rested my head on a log. I felt light and happy and assured that I didn't need to push things.

Change will come, whether I like it or not. Nature is evidence of that. I just need to fully feel each day, each sight, sound smell, taste, touch...pay attention to the bees working their way from flower to flower. Watch the kids on the beach joyfully searching for sea creatures.

All in due time.
All in due time.

I feel it will happen sooner rather than later, but I'm not going to wait for it. I am not going to wonder about it anymore. I'm just going to enjoy my day.

Are there any big changes or shifts you are also currently experiencing?

365 Inspirations—114: The End

"One always has to know when a stage comes to an end. If we insist on staying longer than the necessary time, we lose the happiness and the meaning of the other stages we have to go through."—Paulo Coelho

I made it to the end of the week. It's only Wednesday, but that's my last teaching day until Monday. I teach a full schedule Monday to Wednesday. Not only is it the end of the week, but it's pay day tomorrow!

How am I celebrating? I stopped by the grocery store and picked up a Kombucha (Gingerberry) and Saya Snow Pea Crisps and went straight home to type up this post. I put my hands on the keyboard and nothing was coming to me except the words THE END.

There's more meaning in those words than meets the eye. It's not the end of a life I'm speaking of, but perhaps the end of a chapter in my life. I've been getting signs that something is going to change.

I don't fear endings so much, because they also signal the start of something fresh and NEW. I think we  humans are so afraid of endings. We want to hold on to things until the bitter end, even if those things aren't serving us anymore.

For now, I'll take the end of the week. Off I go to sip my Kombucha and eat some Snow Pea Crisps in celebration of THE END of another day, another week (my week anyway) and another BLOG POST!

Are you afraid of endings? What endings have you experienced recently?

365 Lessons-Lesson 34: Nirvana is in the Mailbox

Getting the mail may seem like an everyday task for most people. Bills, bills, junk, bills, junk....oh, look! Nirvana!

 I'm a believer in signs...call me superstitious. Yes, I'm the one who saves my fortunes from the fortune cookies and pins them to my bulletin board, remember?

A few hours ago, my husband went out on this fearful rainy day to get the mail. I didn't even raise my eyes from the computer. He came back in shaking the rain off his jacket. In his hands he held a square box. I glanced up at him and said, "What's that?"

"I don't know?" he said and proceeded to rip the box opened.

He stood there staring with amusement at what was in his hands.

 I said again, "What is it?" He said, "Ummm...it's nirvana."

 I was a little puzzled. For a minute I thought maybe my husband was having one of those instant enlightenment experiences that I've read about in books. You know, the monk goes out and sits on a rock and a raindrop touches his head and that's it, he's enlightened. I've read about it, so I suppose it could happen to anyone. But that's not what he was talking about.

He looked up at me smiling and then showed me what was in his hands and said again, "Look, Nirvana!"
I just started laughing. I immediately thought, "Everything you're looking for is inside your mailbox!"

There's more to this story. When we first moved into our house, we were told that a recording engineer, by the name of Jack Endino, used to live in our house. We were also told that he recorded Nirvana (the group) in our basement before they were popular. I wasn't sure I believed this story. We had been getting mail for Jack on and off. Letters from Hollywood, LA, and other parts of the US. We'd pop them back in the box and write, "wrong address."

This time, we received this rare vinyl record of Nirvana's old songs. My husband didn't want to pop this one back in the mailbox. He found it very amusing. So amusing that he ran off to a thrift store to see if he could locate an old record player! In the meantime, the postman came back. He came to the front door and said, "Did you get a square box in the mail?" I said, "Why, yes!" (I'm not good at hiding the truth) He continued, "Does that person live here?" I said, "No, but he used to and we get mail for him from time to time."

Sadly, I gave him the package and he drove off in the rain in his mail truck. Now my husband is out in the rain trying to find a device to access his nirvana....but it's gone...it's so fleeting!

For a moment he held it in his hands. It wasn't anywhere exciting..it wasn't on top of the a mountain or in a cave or at a holy shrine. It was right there in the mailbox.

Yes, I believe in signs.....however fleeting they are!