Tag Archives: relaxation

Weekly Photo Recap

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My online photo class is over and I thought I’d put up the weekly photo recap today to celebrate! It has been a challenge to keep up with Nablopomo and Photo101 this month, and I feel proud and a little fatigued.  And strangely, a little bored.

I’m curious about the relationship between fatigue, boredom, and the ending of a chapter in one’s work life. I feel it with this month’s ending, a sense of relaxation and relief, mixed with a “what now” feeling.  It’s a microcosm of the ending of my teaching career. For the last year or so, I’ve been working at not working, and strange as it sounds, it’s not easy. I have to learn to be free.

What if there is no “they” out there telling me what to do? Telling me the “shoulds” and “have tos” of life?  Sometimes, it’s easy as pie.  Relax, do some crafts, read, watch tv, go for a walk, visit with friends, do chores. But sometimes, it’s hard, like, “how do I do nothing?” “Am I allowed to do nothing?” “What do I want to do?” How to we get so accustomed to just following directions, coloring within the lines, buying our lives off the shelf?

The Beautiful Paradox of Alone: Not Alone

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This photo was taken at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania on a trip a couple of years ago.  For me it conjures feelings of satisfaction, deep breathing, and connecting with nature.  There’s a sense that in meditation (formal or informal) we are one with everything, it’s a solitude, and yet the very opposite of solitude.  The beautiful paradox of alone: not alone.  Inside and outside, alone and not alone.  Kinda hurts my brain.

 

Calming Trips to the Beach

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cropped-img_0590.jpgThis year I was lucky to go on two beach vacations. I’m a Pacific Ocean Girl by birth and in my heart, but the Sea of Cortez and the Atlantic Ocean were both magical to visit. All the oceans are one, so me, loving the Pacific Ocean, I love all the Oceans. Is the sea between Baja and Mexico proper part of that? Oh yeah, everything is a part of everything (!).

Being near natural bodies of water is so calming and soothing to me. I feel like the tide going in and out, the sound of the waves crashing, the wind, all of it is so healing. Imagine the sound of the waves right now…don’t you feel calmer? We all rush around and feel so stressed in our culture.  The wild water of nature reminds us that that is all illusion. There’s nowhere to go, nothing to do. Maybe look at some shells,  go for a swim, read a book, put your feet in the water, watch the sun set.  OR just do nothing.

These were taken in April 2014, Near San Felipe, Mexico on the Sea of Cortez. The tide goes out miles every morning. The first shot is in the early morning. The second two, later in the day, as the water crept up the beach. It’s the same place in all three photos, the water magically pulled in by the moon.

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In September we went to a wedding in Cape May, New Jersey. Before I met FH I had never been to New Jersey and had no idea how beautiful it is. FH has lots of relatives in Cape May, and it’s a wonderful place to visit. This was taken with my iphone on my birthday in September 2014.

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After Cape May, we did a little road trip to see friends in Virginia. Along the way we visited Chincoteague Island, Virginia, home of the famous wild ponies. Another really magical place on the Atlantic.

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