Love never dies, but other things...

have endings... just as summer winds down and the earth prepares for hibernation... leaves fall, things change, but it is just a season.

A beautiful fall day off Deer Park Road, Port Angeles, WA

Although the trip to Victoria gets ranked as a high point in my relationship with Beloved, after ten months of being together and with his plans to move to Boise, Idaho, in a few months, it was clear our paths were diverging.

There was much about the journey together that has been a gift to me and hopefully for him, too. I cannot be sad about something that started so joyfully and had one final blast of fun as an ending.

I am intending my next adventure is a connection on more levels that just gets better and better... align with me?

What's your reality?

My son sent me a movie for Christmas.

It was "Inception," with Leonardo DiCaprio.

Have you ever heard of it? I had not, and so postponed actually getting around to watching it until this weekend.

Released in 2010, it's the story of a guy who has made his living stealing ideas from people's subconscious and, like any good script, there's a twist at the end.

But in a way it arrived at just the right time and waited until I had come to place where addressing the issue of reality, dreams and being positive reached a critical point.

In my life there has been a pattern of trying to control that which is uncontrollable. Thanks to the co-dependency created by childhood experiences, I was a life-long worrier and had unknown anxiety issues. Some of that came to light when two years ago I discovered that my 'battery' (adrenal glands) was failing.

All these decades of living off adrenaline and worrying had taken their toll.

Thanks to hypnosis/counseling, many of the issues of the past have been laid to rest, the positive shifts are having good results and I'm hopeful for the future on many levels.

We've had so much rain that the bluffs are
being eroded. Interesting to see, but a little
scary walking near them.

Hypnosis is all about getting down to the subconscious level and establishing new neural pathways to change behaviors for lifelong results. Not dissimilar from the movie... except that I don't think my counselor was stealing my ideas for monetary gain. Only planting new ideas about getting more exercise and drinking more water.

But the movie did stir up some anxiety... how easy it would be to get into a brain and create an individual with vastly different core beliefs and life objectives.

Only that wasn't really what the message was... when I go back to some 'interpretive' training about movies, it was clear that the woman (representing the church) felt there was betrayal since the main character, a man, strayed from religious structure by venturing into new, unapproved areas... and the man was challenging the concepts of life and death with this adventure.

This would indeed be scary for the church because if people believe that we create our own reality, that all we do is connect by our 'dreaming' our future, then the church must significantly change it's way of controlling the masses, because free-thinkers are not easily brought under the thumbs of those with restrictive thought.

And when I ponder the concepts I've been re-visiting, it is clear that I have less need of a structured church and more need for the exploration of ways of bringing my mind into focus so that I am creating my reality in a positive way.

That's really what I've been doing a lot of anyhow - intending, visualizing, dreaming, imagining. And it's the creative artist in me that then produces something... a meal, a picture, a dress. But it applies to everything else as well, I'm discovering.

Ahhhhh, well... tonight I am just enjoying a reality that does not include shoveling tons of snow and sending out warming thoughts to my friends and family who are deep into it.

Moving … and helping a friend

This is going to be a busy week as I finish packing up boxes and move myself into a slightly different place which will actually be closer to the part-time job, and has the environment I need for a more peaceful existence.

I won't go into the details, but sometimes the energy of a place can affect too many aspects of one's life to be enjoyable. When we are younger we seek out places where we can bounce about and have others with similar energies. But there is a reason why senior homes and assisted living are not necessarily bad.

That is NOT where I am heading yet, but I do want people around me who have a sense of their direction and balance and I found a location and a nice little home that I hope is going to fulfill my expectations, not far from where I have been living.

A brand new kitchen and a nicer view...

The outbuilding to the right is the studio…can be heated.

Best of all, it has a brand new kitchen, space for a dining room table and room in the back for a studio where I can have all my art activities. I am truly excited and by this time next week have the intention to be settled.

Another delightful aspect is the closeness to a park so I can go walking or biking without fearing for my life on the roads.

One of my Intender buddies is also looking to move things around in her life and she has a practically brand new camper in Yuma, AZ that she would like to sell.
It is one that has a queen bed, bath, and a nice kitchen with pop-outs for the living and dining area.

If you are looking for something like that as a winter retreat, contact me and I will forward the photos to you.

We've had a mild winter, according to the locals, but this place also has a pellet stove, which will help with heating should winter get nastier between now and April, and certainly will be more economical.

Work continues to challenge me and time will tell whether or not this racehorse can make it around the track.

So, dear readers, wherever you are in the world, I hold the intention that your life is coming together in this new year of 2014 and you are being inspired and excited by what is coming for you. And the weather isn't too cold….

Reflecting on the start of 2013

Cathedral de Barichara at night New Year's Eve 2013

It has been an interesting start to 2013, surrounded by hundreds of people and yet quite definitely very alone, but not lonely. Christmas and New Year's holiday in Barichara, Santander, Colombia, S.A. is usually pretty busy anyhow, but this year must have set some records. All the hotels were occupied, the streets were crowded with cars, and every day it was a challenge to navigate the sidewalks and streets with all the traffic and people.

Riding a motorcycle was really hazardous because the visitors were unaccustomed to the narrow streets and seldom looked before opening their doors to see if anyone was passing. I gave up riding altogether because I did not want to either be the cause or effect of this crowding.

Old Year is burned while rockets are launched.

There was another demonstration of this concentration of visitors in what is really quite a small area. After the fireworks on New Year's eve, apparently there was a confrontation between local young men and young men whose parents have vacation homes here. I don't know the details, so I won't say more than the issue of alcohol was clearly a contributing factor in the clash and that I sense the 'town and gown' problem is not going to go away as more and more families choose to have Barichara as their vacation get-away spot.

The over 30-minute firework display was impressive and very loud as rockets and display fireworks were set off near the Cathedral. The burning of the Old Year (in effigy) must have been watched by over 2,000 people around the square, young and old.

In previous years I have enjoyed the display from La Loma, but for various reasons that was not where I ended up. And after days of early morning explosions, late night booms and blasts, it was my fervent hope that this culmination of light and noise would bring some peace and quiet back to this Andean village.

An explosion of fireworks over the parque in Barichara.

Sadly on the same night as the fireworks, there was a fire in the Eco-forest which did a lot of damage. (The Eco-forest is a three-year old project to teach the youngsters about saving native trees and plants.) It  was not known for certain what the cause was, (at least not as of today) but with the lack of rain, the trees and bushes are tinder dry. So it was no surprise at the level of involvement and scary to think how a fire could have a devastating effect on this area if it got started and it was not controlled quickly. Since there are no local 'bomberos' (firefighters), it could definitely be a problem.

It still disturbs me that visitors think it is appropriate to damage our walls with their graffiti. I wish there was some kind of fine for this.

I am sure a lot of people really enjoyed their visit here (and were respectful of this national heritage), and the merchants most certainly benefitted from a vacation period where people were buying things, going to the restaurants and markets, using the taxis, enjoying the recreational resources and musicians were in great demand for all the nightly dances. This definitely was a happening place for the past three weeks, but it is also clear that many of the locals are burned out with the pressure to provide services, often from very early in the day until quite late at night.

Why bring this up? Because it means that the popularity of Barichara may be its undoing unless the mayor and other civic leaders address the challenges of growth. In the past year I can see lots of new houses being constructed and while this does bring employment to many, it also creates enormous dissatisfaction among those who were promised a chance to have a small casa in the proposed barrio to the south, but after two years the development seems to have stalled.

No one wants this colonial village to maintain its quaintness and specialness more than I do. And a couple of ideas I have I think will help to do that. Here they are:

1) During holiday weekends and special events like Feria, eliminate parking in the central park area  and provide small bussettas to transport people from the designated parking areas into the central part of town.
2) Establish a fine for defacing any building or walls anywhere in the village and post notices which warn people of the consequences if they are caught. Enforce those fines and after a few serious enforcements including posting a notice of the names of people who were fined in a public place, it may have the desired effect of causing people to at least think twice before gouging their messages into the walls.
3) Limit use of fireworks to specific days and times so that people can be sure of having good sleep.
4) Make the public toilets available, post information about where they are and keep them maintained.
5) Put out more trash containers and post requests for people to use them; if possible have recyclable and paper trash division.

Central parque of Barichara during Navidad 2012.

I have passed this information on to the local leadership and I hope some of these ideas will be implemented. I know progress is inevitable, I just hope it will be managed.

For me, no resolutions this year - just continuing to offer intentional support where it is needed.

Changing the Energy

 Yesterday I received this story in an e-mail, asking me to send it on. As an Intender, one who attempts to change the world through energy, I ask you to join me in the intention that follows this story, if you align/agree. And I also intend you are seeing the value in sharing this intention with others.

Mientras los periódicos y las televisiones hablan de la vida de los famosos, el jefe de la tribu Kayapo recibía la peor noticia de su vida:

While newspapers and TV talk about the life of the famous, the head of the Kayapo tribe received the worst news of his life:

Dilma, la presidenta del Brasil, ha dado el visto bueno a la construcción de una planta hidroeléctrica enorme (la tercera más grande del Mundo).

Dilma, the president of Brazil, has given approval to build a huge hydroelectric plant (the third largest in the world).
Es la sentencia de muerte a todos los pueblos cercanos al río, ya que la presa inundará 400.000 hectáreas de bosque.

Más de 40.000 indígenas no tendrán donde vivir.

La destrucción del hábitat natural, deforestación y la desaparición de multitud de especies es un hecho.

It is the death sentence to all river towns, as the dam will flood 400,000 hectares of forest.
More than 40,000 indigenous people have no place to live.
The destruction of natural habitat, deforestation and the disappearance of many species is a fact.
¡40.000 seres humanos!...

¿Y nos preocupamos por 6 o 7 o 10 que llenan las revistas?

¿Qué llevan puesto?

¿Con quién se casan?

¿De quién se divorcian?...

¡Por Dios... qué vergüenza, sentimos los que valoramos cada VIDA COMO ÚNICA!

40,000 people! ...
What we care about 6 or 7 or 10 that fill the magazines?
What are they wearing?
Whom do they marry?
Who gets divorced? ...
My God ... what a shame, we feel that we value each LIFE AS ONE! But do we?
¡NO hay vidas "MAS DIGNAS" que otras!... todas estamos en este mundo para vivir con la misma dignidad... y no habrá una "guerra justa"(si alguna lo es...), simplemente ante este imperdonable, habrá un silencio:

¡el de los fuertes!
Lo que conmueve y hace que algo se retuerza por dentro, lo que genera vergüenza de nuestra cultura...
NO lives are "more worthy" than others! All of us in this world are entitled to live with the same dignity ... and there will be a "just war" (if there is ...), just before this unforgivable, there will be silence:
That of the strong!
What makes something touching and twisting on the inside, creating shame in our culture ...
La "impresión" que tuvo el jefe de la comunidad Kayapo al enterarse de esa decisión, su gesto de dignidad y de impotencia, bajando la cabeza, llorando... ante el avance de "nuestro progreso", hipercapitalista, la modernidad depredadora, la civilización que no respeta la diferencia ...
The "impression" that had the chief of the Kayapo community to learn of this decision, the gesture of dignity and impotence, lowering his head, crying ... before the advance of "our progress", a hypercapitalist, modern (??) predatory civilization that does not respect the difference ...
¿Hasta cuándo aún?...

¿Y qué va a ser ahora mismo tambien de los Dongria Kondh? en la misma situación, y tantos y tantos seres humanos oprimidos...
¿A nadie le importan....?
How long still? ...
What will happen now also the Dongria Kondh? in the same situation, and so many human beings oppressed ...
What… no one cares ....?
Sólo podemos cambiarlo nosotros, cada uno de nosotros, no ellos...

Por favor haz que esto circule

y sintamos vergüenza...

 We can only change ourselves, each one of us, not them ...
Please send this story to as many as you can

and feel ashamed ...

I intend there is enough reaction to this news that the President of Brazil sees the value in changing/reversing his permitting decision and that other solutions are found for electrical energy so these indigenous peoples and other native peoples are continuing to live and love and feed their families on their lands and the animals and birds and insects continue to do their destiny work on these lands and this is for the highest and best good of all concerned, so be it and so it is! Whoooooooooo!

Around the Lake

This is little Gwen Lake. I have no idea why or how it got
that name, unless an early settler named it after his wife or
daughter or maybe his mother. Who knows?

In order to keep up my commitment-to-exercise plan, I took a little walk around one of the many lakes that are the reason for this location in Florida to be called "Lake City." This one is very close to my home, but I am not blessed with a view. Maybe that's better because it forces me to walk to see it. Anyhow, along the way I noticed that the azaleas are starting to bust out, which means I may miss the Azalea Festival.

The azaleas are starting show their lovely colors already.

And as I was walking, this cat came up to greet me. That in itself is sort of amazing, since most cats tend to be somewhat standoffish. But then look what happened (See photos). This cat dropped right down in the middle of the road, and although this is not a very busy street, nevertheless, I would take this as somewhat risky behavior. While flipping over from side to side, obviously hoping for some tummy scratching, it finally simply just settled down and watched the approaching car without even flinching.

No, this is NOT a dead cat in the
middle of the road. This is a cat in the
 middle of the road with a death wish,
or possibly just showing off
how brave it is.

I watched, too, and in the end it was the car and driver who veered off to avoid the cat. The cat never moved! I saw a smile on the driver's face, and thus concluded that he was accustomed to dealing with this fearless feline as I saw him turning into a nearby driveway. But what about those drivers who are not cat-conscious?

Maybe this is the clue that we are coming to the End of Times - when dogs acts more like cats and cats do more dog-like things, when the weather is upside-down with snow falling in places it normally doesn't and isn't coming down in places where it usually does. We are rushing toward the December 21 deadline for Something To Happen, but I am unsure that there is anyone who really has a clue.

The cat just stayed in the road watching the car approach.
It was the car that took evasive action, not the cat.

Suddenly it is nearing the end of January and, according to one of the astrological blogs I follow, the next seven days are critical for World Peace. The writer asks for us to pray until February 4 and hope/intend that no rogue nation does something foolish to upset the delicate balance in place at present.

I see no harm in promoting seven days of conscious prayer and/or intending the world's people can put aside their prejudices and imagine being peaceful. 

The biggest obstacle I have is that most people cannot stop arguing for a day, never mind seven of them, and that seems like an important mental and emotional shift when it comes to political beliefs - and those appear to be the elements of conflict both locally and globally. At any rate, I am willing to suspend my disbelief in this matter for seven days.

Will you join me in this intention? "Intending that everyone, everywhere is having a moment of imagining a world at peace and this imagining is growing every day until peace is the only acceptable solution, for the highest and best good of all concerned, so be it and so it is.... Whooooooo!"