I have spent a lot of time outdoors, riding in the sun lately. As a result, I’ve transformed into a richer shade of brown on my exposed body parts. Each day when I shower, I’m always in awe of the darker shade of brown that I’ve become in comparison to the paler shade from which I started. Both colors are side by side in places so that the contrast is, at times, startling. The first time I significantly changed color was when I went to Jamaica with some sunscreen that I picked up with an SPF of 15 (I thought 15 was the highest – it was 1998 and I knew nothing). It was like taking a knife to a gunfight – too little. One day on the beach in Negril turned into six months of watching my darker skin gradually return to the same color as the unexposed places. I’m just glad I didn’t burn.
Month: June 2013
Snakes, Snakes, Snakes
I am afraid of snakes. When I went to Sedona years ago, my biggest concern was disturbing a snake or snakes. The first time I went, it was too early in the year and they were still hibernating. I returned in the heat of June and managed to not see any snakes other than a dead one on the interstate between Sedona and LA. Dead snakes don’t frighten me.
Recently, I decided to take a ride on the nearby bicycle trail. It just so happens to run through or alongside the bayou. My concern when I began was for my safety, being a lone female on what, at that point, seemed a secluded area. However, as I continued to pedal, I felt intermittent large drops of rain falling on my arms. It was so intermittent that I thought the drops were more flukes than rain. As I continued, the drops fell a little more frequently (still intermittent) and I realized the secluded bicycle trail might not be the best place to be when a deluge fell and lightning began to strike. With that in mind, I turned around in a panic and was pulling a Lance Armstrong in order to get back to the shelter options of civilization. It was at that point when my senses were in a state of alarm, that I also saw a snake slithering its way across the bicycle path. I was already freaked out at the thought of being caught in the middle of nowhere outdoors in a thunderstorm and the snake just put me over the edge. I was already in Lance Armstrong mode but was struggling to figure out if the snake would/could potentially strike me as I blew past him. For me, this was a major quandary. Momentum cured the quandary because I just kept going, the snake stopped moving and I successfully passed him on my way to the safety of civilization and shelter.
The bicycle path is on indefinite hold. I decided it would be in my better interest from a safety standpoint to ride with others than to ride alone. I just need to put forth the effort to find a group that rides or find someone who would be willing to ride with me. In the meantime, I’ve meandered around in the general vicinity and each time, I’ve run across a snake (not literally). These other snakes have been dead, so, no fear there.
After seeing so many snakes, I decided to look up the symbolism for snakes and have been trying to incorporate that information in my current life situation. From what I’ve read, snakes symbolize healing and transformation. I recently decided to focus more on my Reiki self-practice so that I can work from a place of better clarity as to what I should be doing. After having seen the snakes, I feel confirmation that I’m on the right path. I had an ambitious idea regarding practicing Reiki on others but have not had the conversation that needs to happen – yet.
Years ago, I had a dream involving snakes. In that dream, the snakes were friendly and almost pet like. The dream was so surreal that I believed my fear of snakes was gone. It may in fact have diminished since then. The fear of the snake on the path may have been a product of my heightened sense of danger regarding being out in a potential thunderstorm mixed with the fact that I recognized the turmoil I was in could have been interpreted as aggression by the snake. Just as a dog can sense fear, so too do other animals – snakes especially – sense the state of mind we are in. Someday maybe I’ll see if my snake fear is gone. However, that someday will be a day when I am in a calm, centered state of mind…
Imagine 2013: Taksim Square
During my pointing and clicking online, I ran into this video – imagine that. Imagine is a powerful song although it is simple – a voice and a piano. Yet, the song resonates. Dissent always interests me, so, conceptually, the location of the performance immediately drew me in. For over two weeks, citizens in Istanbul have gathered together to protest Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s plans to tear up Gezi Park in order to make way for a commercial development (of all things, a mall). In addition, prior to the park demolition, Erdoğan already announced plans to curtail the sale and use of alcohol in this Muslim, but secular, society. Over time, the protest evolved from outrage over plans to destroy one of the last public green spaces in Istanbul to an outraged national response to the Prime Minister’s authoritarian policy changes as other cities protested in solidarity. As more and more citizens take to public spaces to demonstrate dissent with their government, the dissent is met with policing reminiscent of Birmingham under Bull Connor. Yet, despite the photos of police using overwhelming force against dissenters, there also exists the underlying stories of the dissenters’ solidarity and non-violent resistance. The establishment of a people’s library with free books. Dissenters cleaning up the park after leaving. The establishment of an orderly tent city. The “Standing Man”. And last, but not least, this musical performance. Music is a powerful tool whose use can range from hard-driving music that can cause a riot to peaceful music that can unite disparate people in solidarity. This, obviously, is the latter.
Makes Me Wanna…
Swim!
I saw this documentary years ago on PBS and was in awe and enchanted with the cinematography. I had already wanted to swim with dolphins prior to watching this, however, after having watched this documentary, I wanted more than ever to be able to explore the depths of the ocean and be at one with “wet” nature. The sequences that show Umberto Pelizzari swimming with the dolphins (:20.30 mark) is and was one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen in a long time. He truly moves as if he is a part of the ocean. He has captured the hydrodynamics (if there is such a word) of moving in the ocean to the point where his movements do not look too much different than that of the dolphins and other animals. In addition, Pippin Ferreras and his wife, Audrey, synchronizing their swimming is beautiful as an ethereal underwater dance (:23.54).
My last name is neither Siskel nor Ebert so I will stop here and allow the documentary to be experienced firsthand.
Enjoy!
Pedaling The Stress Away
I recently got my bike after a several month separation with it in Alabama and me in Louisiana. Last night I wanted to go a short distance up the street and decided to test it out. Unfortunately, the tires were low on air and I already knew the rear brakes were not functioning. After checking two gas stations with non-functioning air pumps, I was able to find a mechanic shop that was still open and the mechanic put air in the tires. After that, off down the (busy) street I went, mindful of relying on one set of brakes. Tonight I REALLY wanted to get a ride in and decided to take a meandering path through the neighborhood and to wherever the streets led me. It felt good to be back on the bike in 12th gear cruising around, feeling the slight wind I created as I pedaled. It was even scentsational as I smelled something nice that I could not identify – bonus. One hour later, I’m at home, showered and ready to go to sleep. Below, a supermodel shot of the bike in Saint Louis at the park…
Fresh Old Stuff
One day I was searching for something on my computer when, lo and behold, I stumbled across a document that I created when I was closing my MySpace account. The document is a copy of all the blogs I posted on MySpace from 2005 to 2008. On one hand, it’s interesting to see the consistency of my thoughts over the years reflected through my writing. On the other hand, the posts remind me of the struggles that I went through during the time I lived in Saint Louis – and there were many. The time in Saint Louis was a roller-coaster ride of ups and downs that I tried to weather alone as best I could. Many of the posts refer to hopes for an improvement in my situation, others refer to my desire for a relationship and even others refer to my valiant attempts to find some degree of happiness in the midst of the monumental changes I was going through. Honestly, the latter posts were me trying to latch onto anything that would pull me from the spiral of depression that was ever present. Despite the heavy nature of many of the posts, there are lighthearted moments as well. Those usually involve my sojourns in nature or some random observation that I felt obliged to share. It’s a mixed bag of posts covering a three-year period in the life of moi.
Of course, I will post those as well. Stay tuned for some whimsical and wistful posts from the past…
* Special note: Employment plays a pivotal role during this three-year period. I went from being employed for almost five years with the same company, to moving out of state for a new job, to being laid-off from that job, to working a temporary assignment that went permanent, to resigning from that position, to working a temporary assignment again, to being offered a permanent position, to the permanent position (thus the permanent employment offer) being eliminated. After my last post began the stock-market dive and mass layoffs that signaled the beginning of the Economic Crisis of 2008.