A friend writes, “Too often on the spiritual path I isolate to the extent that I get caught in my own head and I lose my ability to relate to people.  I begin to think I am superior to them in an intellectual or spiritual way.  I say I keep away because I don’t want to “be in their vibe” but the truth I feel unable to resist it when I’m near.  I say I’m just going with the flow, but I really feel adrift in an open sea, unable to navigate.  I isolate to find an anchor yet all that happens is I get caught up in my own head trips which makes me isolate even more. Only later when I read my daily journal do I realize my ego had complete control over me and it was all mental masturbation. Why do I keep doing this?”   Janell writes in Your Feeling Alone Is An Illusion  “You are cut from the divine cloth of the universe. You are carved out of that beautiful oblivion.“

The question was “What’s one action that people can take right now to help move them forward towards their goal of changing the world?” Here is Seth Godin’s answer:  “Write down what you’re afraid of. Be vulnerable about it. Confront your shame and to be aware of the fact that if you’re not finding it difficult to write down, it’s probably not what you’re afraid of. That act leads to you taking responsibility for the next set of choices as opposed to blaming the outside world that is stacked against you because of what you look like, who your parents are, where you were born, how you speak, how old you are, who you know, who you don’t know and what cards you were dealt.  That’s all a given, right? But if we take that and put it right next to what are you afraid of, then I think you can chart a course that isn’t filled with excuses and deniability. Well of course it didn’t work because I have this whole list, which I used to carry around on a piece of paper in the back of my head before I finally got rid of it. This whole list of why it wasn’t fair. You say all right that’s all a given but given that, I chose to make this, what do you think? And the act of doing that is really, really difficult. No other creature on earth knows how to do it. Most humans are afraid to do it and if you can figure out what part of that process you are afraid of, I think you are going to discover your life changes.” —Seth Godin

Walked outside about 9:00am and saw that the bamboo grew about 6 foot since yesterday. I cut and freed some branches of the orchid tree that the new bamboo shoots were crowding and I got a bunch of those itchy little black bamboo hairs on my arms in the process. That’s okay, they take my mind off all the misquito bites I got on my legs. I topped my night blooming jasmine and rooted the cuttings in the moist ground beneath the mother plant in the courtyard outside the main suite.  At mid afternoon, it’s 87 degrees, 61% humidity and a breezy 78 degrees inside.  The doors and windows are all open to the outside air for the first time in months and it feels invigorating.  I walked a friend around the yard checking all the new growth: mulberries beginning to fruit, loquats beginning to blossom.   The jasmines are all in bloom: night blooming, confederate and star jasmines. They root so easily, I have lots of it.  Fall is on the way!

It’s interesting how people choose to talk to their coworkers, striving for clever quips rather than seeking to get the job done. I watched part of Bravo’s reality show Below Deck, which follows the doings of crew members aboard a charter yacht. In real life, the upstarts would be canned at first back talk, but that would not make for a good tv show… It appears one star might be the jealous and conniving Sam Orme. At least in the episode I saw, she wins the prize for vocalizing the most insecurity. Perhaps this is her first “real” job and she just doesn’t know how to act. MeOW!

I’m a writer, I enjoy writing down my thoughts.  Writing is also my process for personal growth.  Writing is my wind down, my trigger for relaxation.  Putting my thoughts to paper is for me to write more than for anyone else to read. When the words are flowing, they will stay in my head until I type them.  They won’t wait until morning. It’s easier to jump up and type them down so I can go back to bed or back to work or whatever else I was doing.  That can be a curiosity for new people. When we spend extended time together, I take a computer break every few hours to jot a few notes down.  I don’t share everything I write and I don’t write everything I think. But what I do write and what I do share is for the sole purpose of learning who I am and bringing myself to wholeness.  For me, alone time for contemplation and typing into the computer every few hours helps me do that.

Today is the birthday of my childhood friend, Wally (Walter Clarence Smith.)  He and his family lived down the street from us during our childhood years.  We were the best of friends.  We attended school together from elementary through graduation at Hialeah High in 1970.  We kept in touch as we grew older and moved apart.  Our last visit was a month before he passed on March 12, 2013.  I join with his loving sister, my dear beloved Linda, in celebrating his being-ness today.  Always one to chose his own destiny, it was Wally’s choice when to drop his earthly robes for his final walk.  You’ll be missed, my brother.  There will never be another like you. We’ll meet again.

The tide recedes but leaves behind bright seashells on the sand.
The sun goes down, but gentle warmth still lingers on the land.
The music stops, and yet it echoes on in sweet refrains…..
For every joy that passes, something beautiful remains.
~Unknown