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The Trails

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I can see why the ancients believed the stars guide destiny. Night after night the lights in the firmament of night follow their course, sure of their path. We are more like the wandering planets picking our way along a starry path sometimes so certain of our course; other times hopelessly lost.

It’s ok to be wandering.

Reflection

Night after night, the stars follow their paths but we don’t do that. With our metacognition and mindfulness, we can choose a more wandering path. I have a distinctly different style of gameplay than my son. His is fast and designed to win. I wander around the board looking to fulfill quests and find new treasures. I think it’s OK to choose to wander or play fast and furious. But we should do so without judgment.

Support

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This fence has seen some weather; high winds, hail, snow and countless sunny days. And it’s needed help from time to time. Times like these we should stand by for folks. Just be there for someone; just in case.

Reflection

When I took the picture of this fencepost being supported by another it seemed a good metaphor for the times. We should stand by folks. Maybe not to support but to offer a place to lean when needed. To just be there, just in case.

Joys of Sky

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Looking for meteors should never get old. It’s that rush of feeling being rewarded for waiting. And though your messages are important I’d rather wish in a shooting star any day.

Wish on a star this week?

Reflection

I’ve heard many folks complain about boredom while watching for shooting stars. And how exhilarating it was to see one. It reminded me of our addiction with social media, technology and email. We are willing to wait for those messages from our special friends and yet rarely do I hear of my friends sitting out in the grass waiting for the heavens to offer something amazing. We look to often to technology to fulfill us when the natural world almost never disappoints.

#embodiedcognition #patience #oxytocin #seratonin #wonder #awe

Throwback

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This picture puts me into the middle of this day. The warmth of the late afternoon sun, the way the clouds moved slowly across the landscape just like our progress. It had been a long day of hiking. Muscles sore. It was also the end of the trail for me. I look back at this picture not with sadness but with expectation of another day. It won’t ever be the same but it will be special.

What makes your days special?

Reflection

Another post on embodied cognition. The smell of the willows in a warm afternoon sun while we were moving through this landscape is so strong in my memory. This particular day was the end of a weeklong hike with my son. He continued on for several more weeks. But we both were chatting recently about how this particular day felt and how visually appealing it was. A near perfect “special” day.

#embodiedcognition #memory

The Tweak

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I smell these leaves. Every experience and encounter carries some emotional memory. Some call it baggage but that seems too easy to shrug off or leave behind. That memory is part of the experience. The smell, the warmth of the day, the little sights and sounds.

Today get comfortable with a memory for a moment. How did it smell?

Reflection

A post really on embodied cognition. While I love the lensball in this setting with fall leaves, I had been talking with my brother about how we built leaf forts and how those smelled wondrous. Amazing how smell and sound can take you right back to a place in your life. 
 
#embodiedcognition #senses #memory

Stars upon stars

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We are made of starstuff.
I cannot dream without the motes of night
They are engines of creation
Stars upon stars
Their twinkling inspires
What do they whisper?
A colorful band of adventurers on my journey
Pointing all the ways
Such perfect companions

Sit quiet with the stars tonight.

Reflection

A friend of mine husband died this week. I wrote this for her so she would find some peace maybe. I hope it worked.
 
#mindfulness #contemplation

Flow

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Every airport has a pattern; a way of entering the area to land on a certain runway. And when the airport becomes busy, everything works well. Sometimes for me, routines like this help bring intense times of heightened awareness or flow. It’s something I have to cultivate. I have to be ready.

What routines do you have in place today to encourage flow? Are you ready?

This has become a series caller Planetrails. This pic is a timelapse of the air traffic over Denver November 5, 2020.

Reflection

I’ve been taking a series of photos I call “Planetrails.” Sometimes over DIA, the patterns are apparent. I got to wondering how the patterns in my life really get me in flow sometimes. And I wondered if instead of disruption to create flow whether flow is an offshoot of a working pattern. I’m not in favor of doing something the same way over and over expecting a different outcome. I was more thinking of using my workflow in more intense ways to achieve flow. Can I take what I know and make it better. This goes back to a thought I have often while coding where I spend time looking for answers and clues in Google when I have the skills myself to get it done. It’s a matter of confidence and shirking the “imposter syndrome.”
 
#impostersyndrome #mindfulness #flow

Imagine Differently

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We know that these hills are connected to the Earth but for just a second imagine that they are floating mountains. What are the implications? Everything we think we know would be wrong? Something incredible is possible? Certainly the laws of physics would have to work differently. It becomes a fun and freeing imagining.

Imagine floating mountains today. What does that mean for your creativity?

Reflection

This post was really designed to explore the floating appearance of the mountains in the clouds; how things are not always as they appear. Or in a more fantastic sense, wouldn’t it be neat if these mountains were really floating. I’m not sure we spend enough time in this daydream “what if” mode. I find it energizing and I probably should visit more often.

#mindfulness #neuralplasticity #adjacentpossible

Noting the Small

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When sitting under these trees I was amazed at their fractal nature; from the big to small. Trees to sky. I always have been. I follow the branches out to the smallest leaves. My dad used to ask if I could see the ants. I wish I could for then my explorations could go farther. I’m content to notice the slight quaking of the wind and hearing a slight swoosh of wind.

Today, be still for a moment or two and Listen for the smallest things.

Reflection

Something Annie said during class; about tiny noticing, brought me to this. I think in nature, we are often caught looking at the forest and forgetting the differences in the trees…especially using senses beyond sight. I remember places by the way they sound and smell more than the way they look.

#mindfulness #nature

Around the Bend

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Every trail is an adventure. You can walk 100 steps and the whole world will change, scenes drift, colors shift. Nature affects us in profound ways. The aura of a forest can brighten moods, calm a stressed twenty first century mind. This path is centering.

What’s around that bend? Tell me about the paths you choose this weekend.

Reflection

I have an idea of a series called 100 Steps; to get people to realize that they don’t have to travel far distances for true beauty in nature. A journey of 100 steps can bring you to the perfect place you never knew was so close.

#mindfulness #nature #embodiedcognition

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