Awake to the dawn

Amid the world, there is but one place that each of us holds. Among the masses we are but one, individually wrapped soul bouncing off the others. What of this wrapping? I look through the wasteful packaging walking down the isles of the local grocery store, is the body such to the Divine as they shop the cosmic shop for a planet to create? Silly thought. But I do revel in this packaging, and I do see it as such for a time like today clearly shows the contents within are not the same as the image of the container.

To the wearer of make-up: Wake Up, shine the inner beauty and find the complementary container your seek with your contents. The put on make-up if you so desire to express the soul. And to myself and those like me: Let the confidence catch up, stick with something; any of the beautiful things/ideas you've been ahead of for so long.

(concludes the fortune cookie portion of this post)

I"ve put my boat, the Nita Jacqueline, on "the hard" as they say. She sits floating in the air, sturdy still resting upon her keel and stands. So concludes my inaugural year of being a sailor, and to my credit (toot-toot), I didn't sink or suffer any serious damage due to negligence.

I did more than just jump off the deep end, a practice I've been working on for a few years now, but I pioneered, or, cleared the over-growth from an old path rather.

The arts of the sailor are many, and the skills I've collected as a carpenter, mechanic, climber, rigger and even artist have all helped to provide me with a good head start. I chose to get rid of my motor in favor of continuing a morally sound baseline lifestyle. There is no way around it, purchasing and burning gas for "fun" is bullshit (whom ever find offence, talk to your conscience, I speak the truth the truth). This presents a few challenges, especially to the novice seaman, namely docking/navigating in tight spots in calms -or- high winds.

At the dock, rarely will you see a sailboat softly sailing into or out of her slip, or being boat-hooked to a point where sails can be hoisted. There is no reason to motor a sailboat except that all-American condition of "Aversion to Discomfort". I am proof that, it is not a difficult thing to dock and shuv-off under sail, or skull with the rudder for I am a novice and have been doing motor less sailing for 6 months.

I was a little (a lot) nervous at first, well, for a while actually. But each time I mad good decisions in the beginning and despite my perception I always ended up with a nice smooth approach and docking. There were times I was frantic, bystanders must of been confused; to see a sailboat gracefully and without a sound drift up to the dock, with her captain running about with dock lines and fenders falling about. I still remember the motor, how on two occasions: I one fell in the water trying to stop her at the slip, and two, stalled the motor before I could put it in revers to slow the boat at the dock, having no choice but to jump ashore and cleat her, slamming her bow into the dock.

Under way, she was kind to me, and sailed as the wind itself. She is a fine boat and a finer home still. I spend this winter on projects to return her to a fully worthy bluewater boat. And I look to the southern waters of a new experience and the continuation of my living adventure.

There goes the last moment in a string of moments past, and yet still more to come; chances for change come and go. I, among the thoughtless crowds of the Fells Point Festival, one of many displaced by the type of materialistic riff raff the congregate at such events. I was threatened by someone claiming to be part of the Living Classrooms Foundation to move my boat. In my place was 60 foot catamaran named "Executive". True poetry: Small, humble boat ousted by "big business". My love prevailed; I left the aged crew to their bubble.

I haul out the famous nameless blue Bristol 27, which will have a name come april. I set out to spend the winter working towards a few things: returning my boat into a fully seaworthy condition, record a album, travel to the mountains and play in the snow and to grow closer and to support my mother in her living while she deals with cancer.

I will be living once again in the home that I grew up in. I've been away from my family for some time, even having been back in Maryland for six months of so. I will live under the same roof as my mother and step father. It will be difficult but due to my nature, may be the last time I will have to spend with my mother. At least, it will be a chance to know her as she has become, as we all grow until we die. she has been growing too, and I have either forgotten or need to she her in her present light to grow the relationship between a mother and her son.

I will like to once and for all, celebrate all the gifts I have; all the people who are present in my life who do let me drift away to the sea of dispare. I'm a needy person, this is no secret. I walk these days with the words from a friend: "You deserve love". I continue the opening of my heart

In the wind

Three days in the bay, vague breezes to blow you over bursts, cool nights and beautiful sunsets. The life written about, I find it each day and see the breath taking scenery when I depart modern life.

My boat, even with all its problems has yet to show any signs of weakness. It inspires me to go further beyond the line drawn by our anti-adventure mainstream ethic; I like not knowing whats going to happen. My guitar does too as the songs I write continue to span the full gamut of genre. If I had a studio I could actually product the songs I hear. I will whole heartily settle for six strings aboard a crudely outfitted sailboat. My molodica also provides the sound.

I practicing my breathing I find always it works to make something happen. Strange; fantastic, I know, but I can't ignore that at times when the winds quits, and I gain presents of mind and begin to breathe, the wind starts, not once but yesterday, every time within two or three breaths. Other times the effect is internal, which is a funny concept when everything is one thing; forever and always connected through shear energy, but it releases a feeling a peace and without trying, I smile. So breathing is my yoga, my connection to, ultimately, the sun from which I come.

Evolve light, to shine through any medium, and be seen by any measure. What other than light, what other than energy can claim to be, always it is every was. Cosmic furniture of the antique variety.

To the Trees

Wana know what this life is for? Go for a walk: Thats IT! Yes, simple really, life is for you to live. It gets complicated when you begin to need things and worse, want. After a while we begin to confuse needs and wants and fins ourselves in a real pickle. War is a product not of the militairy, but of the wants and needs of us (we). There is no excuse to kill for something we want. And as far as needs, we've gone so far over-board on wants that we need so much more to cover our needs that we must take more from others.

Enough of that. If you were intreged by the title 'Gandhi Flower' you must have a pretty good idea of the roots of war. This is about celebration; "To the Trees".

Air is one of the needs I would like to focus on here. It is the co-title holder of the most important needs of us (we), water being the other. The first step in "change" is bringing an end to the current ways we do things, like using public transit instead of privatly owned cars. It will take YOUR BEST EFFORT, no one else. When a country changes it happens from the gorund up, meaning , people in their individual lives and communities will do things differently.

Television is an esy one, get rid of it. spend more time outside; thinking; meditating; exercising; conversing; playing games; cooking; creating; etc. You must seek out the ways in which you can do more of the work currently being done by consuming energy, or, by abandoning practices that undermine the philosophy of conservation, peace, and sustainablilty. The short of it is, you must lessen your consumption of energy. You, no one else.

The Plan: for the positive

For those who have stepped back and have begun to see the reality of this system, here is my humble "Plan" to continue:

Step one: Do Not Make Any Plans. Simply go to where ever it is you want to go. Don't worry if you don't know if you'll like it; thats rational and should not prevent you from having an adventure. Many people never realize the truth of who they are. They spend a lifetime toiling away, maintaining who they think they are. The most comforting thing is mortality, you don't have to worry about being wrong, just be a good person and follow the first dream that pops up.

Know Money: This stuff is like a rain jacket: When you have it you can go out in the rain whenever you want, when you don;t you can go out in the rain whenever you want. You need food and water and sleep and sex according to the primordial needs. Money is a means to these ends. With a wise lifestyle, the amount of money you'll need is easily maintained by seasonal work. Seasonal work is like a vacation where you do lots of chors, and get paid. Ask a river guide, camp consular, etc. If you got no car, you got more money than you'd know what to do with.

Know yourself: The only advice here is, don't fool yourself. You will not learn who you are at college; work; a foreign country. You will only learn who you can be under specific pressure, but you will not learn about who you are. You must go somewhere quiet and pure. For me, the deserts and mountains of the western US have help me begin the discovery of myself/the world (the same thing really)

Be humble: Don't think I'm not, that would be presumptuous and self righteous. I'm 'sharing' my experience of travel and adventure and one fact is that we are all the same before we "create ourselves". by the same, I mean when you are hungry, someone else is hungry too; when you are sad, someone else is sad too. The difference is the reason why. We're lucky, many are not and it is only those like us who can make this world a better place, and we can't do it by over indulging. They lifestyle you live is the only way you can effect the world, voting, buying "green", no impact. Lifestyle.

To suffer is to know the depths of love. The balance is welcoming both suffering and love into your heart. Whit balance you will have all you ever need. When you have all you need you must go on an adventure or you will go crazy and end up with more pointless material than you can imagine.

Peace, Peace, Peace: Live for this, its simple. We live for war, or, we work for it. Peace is achievable only if you believe it is, and then set out to speak it, walk it, live it.

One suffers, many flourish.