Fun

It can't all be work and no play, right? I've been working really hard, to put my life on the right track and to make sure I get the most of the opportunities I have been given. I have made my education a top priority in my life. I have been a bit obsessive about keeping my GPA spotless and doing every project I am given to the absolute best of my ability. Only recently have I decided I have the time to get outside of myself a little bit and do some service work. Luckily, I love what I am studying and I am able to turn the projects I am given into enjoyable activities. I have been able to schedule my fun to coordinate with school projects. I go skating, rock climbing, hiking, etc. and I take pictures and shoot video that I use for my assignments. Still, sometimes you have to do things just for the pure enjoyment of them. There are times to be selfless and there are times to be selfish.

I remember sitting in my cell, a few months back, daydreaming about what I wanted to do when I got out. Tool has been my favorite band, for the last 20 years. Every time they come around (which isn't very often), I have been locked up. This time, I told myself, when Tool comes around, I am going to see them. I don't care what it takes. One of the other things I promised myself was that I would get to the Ocean, as soon as possible. I have always had an affinity for Mother Ocean.

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. I went to see Tool in Portland and then drove to the coast to spend the rest to the weekend at Ocean Shores. I really don't have the words to express to you, how much I enjoyed this trip, or what it meant to me. It was a spiritual cleansing, awakening, and strengthening experience that I have longed for and needed, for such a long time. I can't tell you how many times I have sat in a cell and daydreamed about all the things I was going to do when I got out. However, I never made the right choices and changes necessary to see any of these dreams through to completion. This time around, everything has been different.

I have not taken the easy path. I have not looked for instant gratification. I am working hard to prepare myself for the long haul. Still, like I said before, it can't all be work and no play... Because I had my finances, school work, and life in order, I was able to go on this adventure and enjoy it to the fullest.

Tool did not disappoint. They put on an amazing show. It was truly a visual, auditory, and spiritual awakening. The energy of the crowd was tangible and Maynard and crew seemed to feed of of it, to breath it in, and then breath it back out through the songs they performed. The creative energy in that Coliseum was soul quenching, to a man who had thirsted so long for an experience such as this. I recorded a few songs on my phone. They don't really do the performance justice, but they will always evoke the memory of being there and how alive I felt.

On the way back to the car, after the show, we came across this guy playing percussion using plastic containers. A very talented musician; this guy was making pretty good money, for a street performer.

After the show, we went to Voodoo Doughnuts. This place rocks! If you are in the neighborhood, I highly recommend it (but, not if you are on a diet).

Loaded up with delicious snacks for the road, we headed off for Ocean Shores. We didn't get there until after 4 o'clock in the morning. It was hard to stay awake, but we made it, safe and sound. Once again, it is hard for me to find the words to describe what it meant to me to hear the sound of waves, rolling into the shore. It felt like coming home, after a long hard journey. This video was shot of of our back porch, at the resort we stayed at. 

The underlying purpose of our trip to Ocean Shores was to attend an NA convention; "Clean and Free, by the Sea". I have not broached the subject of addiction yet, on this blog. It is a difficult topic, but this will be the next subject I blog about. 

Service

“I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.” 
― Rabindranath Tagore

I have been so blessed with opportunity lately. So many people have put forth effort to enable me to be successful. I have really been working hard on myself, for the last couple months. By necessity, this has been a really selfish time in my life. I realize that this is ok. I can't be there for anyone else, if I can't be there for myself, first.

I have really felt the desire to get outside of myself, as of late. I was cruising around on this volunteer website, http://www.volunteermatch.org/search/index.jsp?r=msa&l=99354,+, trying to find something that interested me, when I found an advertisement for Art at the Arch. They were asking for volunteers to help teach kids with developmental disabilities to paint. I have been volunteering on this project for two weeks now. It's only one day a week, for two and a half hours per session.

I have been helping a five year old Autistic boy, named Markus, learn to paint. To tell you the truth, he has been teaching me a lot more than I have been teaching him. This project has been a lot of fun, for both of us. Markus is aways chomping at the bit. He's not one for listening to instructions (something I can identify with), he just wants to paint/draw. What ever we are doing, he is into it, 100%.

At first, he had some doubts. "What do you want to paint?", I asked him.  "I don't know how to paint", he responded".  "That's ok", I told him. "We are going to learn".  We started out by drawing some sketches. When I asked him what he wanted to draw, he replied "A dinosaur", without hesitation. "But, I don't know how to draw a dinosaur", he told me. Once again, I responded "That's ok, we are going to learn". We found a picture of a dinosaur he liked and I started to sketch it out myself. I told him to just do what I was doing. "First we draw the body, then the head, then the tail, then maybe some spikes" a very rudimentary sketch. Markus started to sketch his own dinosaur and quickly forgot all about what I was doing. He definitely had a vision of what he wanted, immediately. He didn't want to listen to any advice. He was doing it his way and that was awesome! I just let him go to town and asked him to explain to me what he was doing. He told me a story about the dinosaur, while he was drawing it. One dinosaur quickly turned into a family of dinosaurs. The next step was turning the drawing into a painting, I told him.

After some initial hesitation, he once again dove head first into the creative process. Once again, he didn't want any help, or instructions. He knew what he wanted and he was full-on committed to the process. It was awesome to see how quickly he changed from the self doubt we all experience, into the master of his own domain. We pretty much had to drag him away from the painting, when it was time to clean up. When we finally got the painting put away, Markus totally got into helping me clean up. He not only wanted to clean his table, he wanted to clean the whole room! He kept finding places that needed cleaning and would point them out to me. "Right here", he would say. I would spray it and he would wipe it up. Then, on to the next spot. I've never seen a kid have so much fun cleaning!

I didn't feel like I was really giving my time away. I felt like I was being blessed with a great experience. I would highly recommend getting involved in some sort of volunteer work. Not only will you be doing some good for society and helping others, you will soon discover that the joy and reward you receive is like no other. I begin to understand what Gandhi meant, when he said "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others."

Cultural Blog

This weekend, I went to a belly dancing Hafla, sponsored by the Sultana Dancers. It was an all day cultural event, held at the Clover Island Inn. Belly dancing troupes from all over the country preformed, employing a wide variety of belly dancing styles and methods. It was a very interesting and intriguing affair. I had no idea what to expect, when my friend (who preforms in one of the troupes) invited me to attend. Of course, we all have our preconceived notion about what belly dancing entails...the sexy, sultry, undulating maneuvers associated with middle eastern dancing. Truth be told, this is what peaked my interest and what I most looked forward to observing. I was shocked and surprised by how eclectic the various types of dances preformed were. I was also surprised by the diversity of the dancers, themselves.

Of course, there was the classic belly dancing performances, such as the example displayed in the short video clip above. There were also performances of tribal infusion belly dancing, as well as some more modern dance infusions. The dancers performed to a wide variety of music. They danced with swords balanced on there heads. They performed choreographed dances, as well as some amazing free form dances. They performed singularly and in a variety of numbers. There were also live drummers that were amazing to watch and listen to. What was most interesting, to me, was the different types of dancers themselves. Of course, there were the classic beauties, with society's current definition of what the female form should look like; but, there were also every type of size, shape, age, color, and yes... even gender. One of the best performances, I felt, was by a troupe led, directed, and choreographed by a male belly dancer.

 At first, I focused most of my photos on the classic beauties. After a little while, I started to pay more attention to the more diverse population of dancers. I observed the passion and joy that ALL of these dancers performed with. These dancers felt sexy and alive. It didn't matter if they were big, small, old, young, talented, or maybe not so talented... These dancers really loved what they were doing and it showed in the joy and enthusiasm that they performed with. Everyone in the audience seemed to be enthralled and thoroughly entertained; I know that I was. I would highly recommend attendance at the next belly dancing Hafla, held by the Sultana Dancers, to anyone who enjoys the world of dance.