SUBLIME TRAVEL
  • Home
  • Photography
    • Snow Day
    • Panama
    • Live Yoga/Drumming event
    • Sample Photos
    • In My Own Backyard
  • Articles & Books
    • Tour de Cliff Dwellings
    • Travel & a Paradigm Shift on the Concept of Retirement
    • Superstition Mountains
    • Pismo Beach
    • Health on the Road
    • Dog-Friendly San Diego
    • Books
  • Follow Me!
  • Contact

Courage

4/29/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
“…Sometimes the only alternative to cringing before a parched collective is to commit an act drenched in courage.”  ~ Clarissa Pinkola Estes from Women who Run with the Wolves
 
The French and Latin root of the word courage is heart (Coeur and Cor.)  

Courage means to follow your heart.  
 
In light of the tragic bombings at the Boston Marathon, I am calling out to all women – no, all parents, all people who impact children, all who are standing aghast at the recent events, to make a new choice as a parent, as the guiding force in our children’s lives. 
I am asking all of us to be courageous. 
 
The act drenched in courage I am imploring us to consider is to take the violent, life devaluing, gory video games and movies away from our children.  Remove them from your home entirely. Studies repeatedly affirm that exposure to such violence in games and media causes children to act out in aggressive ways.  The research is voluminous, do a Google search “the impact of gory video games on kids”.  Here’s one study.  
http://www.psychology.iastate.edu/~caa/abstracts/2005-2009/05GA2.pdf.  The events at Sandy Hook in Connecticut affirm the theory and support this call to courageous parenting.  It’s time we say a decisive “No!” to the parched collective, to the marketing of violence, and to fear and disaster. 
 
I want you to consider that violent, desensitized people are not born that way.  They are not born feral beasts killing for fear of starvation. We culturally provide the petri dish of tolerance to violence, tolerance of abandoning our children to the public school playground, to daycare, to “the system” in our aimless pursuit of “more”, a nicer home, car, vacation etc...These are all fine things, but at what cost? 
 
Change doesn’t start “out there” somewhere; it starts within; first within oneself, within our relationships, our families, and our homes.  We must be balanced, confident; trusting earnestly in what we know is right in our own intimate sphere before we can call out to “them” (our neighbors, our communities, our governments) to help us, to protect us. 
We must teach our children to be the kind of people we want them to be; not the kind of people who have the stuff we want to have. 
 
Gun control, increased “security”, metal detectors in schools, taking our shoes off at airports, border patrol etc…are emotionally driven visible responses to our fear, our pain and sadness.  Unfortunately, they are like a band-aid upon a festering wound.  The
infection is deeper than what we see on the surface. I’m not arguing against gun control or background checks; I’m arguing that they don’t begin to stop the problem. They provide a fatuous sense of security.  The problem is systemic, endemic, it’s cultural. 
Let’s respond to the core issue instead of expecting external laws to protect us.
Our highest form of protection is to nurture a culture of people who sustain a high regard for the life of every other being, every living thing, including the earth and all of its inhabitants. 
 
Will you join me in committing an act drenched in courage today?  Will you follow your heart?  Will you teach your children something different?
0 Comments

Observations on Chasing Mavericks

4/7/2013

2 Comments

 
Picture
I am a voracious reader; don’t watch a lot of movies because I prefer the intellectual and creative process of visualizing what I read. I do love the artistic expression of cinematography and often find music that I appreciate from movie scores.  Last night was an exception.  I watched Chasing Mavericks. (watch the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh09vEGNrXc) I loved the movie soundtrack –it was compelling, creative and begged depth…could be due to the subject matter: learning to survive (in the pursuit of surfing it) the power and enormity of a record breaking, earth pounding wave and the possibility of being forcefully drug to the depth of the ocean. I’m a beginner surfer.  Being a lifetime athlete who struggles little to become better than average at virtually every sport, I have found it humbling to say the least.  Believing surfing to be a  visceral experience, the base lessons about surfing presented in this film were eye opening.  That’s not what I intended to blog about however. Concomitant to the plot of surfing this legendary wave, the movie inspired review of the depth of the human condition.  This is what touched me.  On a different day, state of being or life circumstances, the way it was presented may have just glanced the surface of my emotions and I would have walked away thinking “cool surfing movie.”   

My observations…
 
Early in the movie we see the two main characters in their own life experiences.  Their shared bond is that what hurts us in life often does so deeply and running from it does not lessen the pain.  The pain comes out in other forms.  It leaks out of our beingness and impacts every decision and behavior we choose.   It can cause us to do things we don’t begin to understand why we are doing.  This happened to me precipitating this travel journey in the RV.  I really had no clue about the depth of why I was doing it. I had a sense deep inside that there was a form of running occurring.   What I said to friends over and over was that I was unsure if I was running from or to something.  The answer is both. The awareness that I was running and my willingness to pay attention as I went, has gifted me with growth.  I discovered what I was running from, know what I am reaching for, and am healing the pain of the hurts that ignited both.  Awareness is powerful.  In the movie the teacher invites the student to begin facing his fears by acknowledging the root.  He digs but doesn’t go very deep.  I did that. It felt safe.  I even did what the student does and screamed “I don’t know!” I ran confusion when I knew and believed that naming it could break me.  In his deep commitment to his passion, he did the work.  He named the fear.  In giving it life, he ultimately gave himself freedom.  The same thing happened for me.  A deep wound that held my heart in a dark grip has been named.  The grip has been detached.  My heart opened and with that comes the possibility of it “breaking again”.  I feel the sweetness and the common human bond this state illicits. I am excited because while, prior to it re-opening, breakage was impossible…so was fulfillment. 
There was a scene during which the boy gets the girl in classic Hollywood style…I
don’t like that part, the over-romanticizing of relationship.  She essentially shares with him some negative observations of herself. He replies to her “not from where I sit.”  She tells him that’s because he only sees the good in people.  This is a huge lesson.  The way he behaves (as this person, who he intuitively knows loves him and who comes and goes and cannot due to her own fears, choose him in the way he wants) is inspiring. He is kind, he continues to love her, and he cares for himself by stepping away and focusing upon his own life, his own passionate pursuits. He trusts his inner
voice.  Much of this is my personal interpretation of the presented story.  He continues, though not getting his desired result, to see the good in her.  He also sees the good in himself by caring for himself. The balance of these renders him strong, integrous, caring, empathetic, and ultimately authentic.  The lesson I see is that we can see only the good in others and still care for ourselves without compromising, becoming co-dependent, and without being hurt and taking things personally.  It is critical to human relationship that we learn to trust that everyone is doing the very best they can, that everyone has the inner voice that they need to listen to in order to be the best possible being for the rest of the world, and that most of what others think, do, feel, and say has little to nothing to do with us…it’s about them and that’s the good news!  While we may be attached to an outcome that includes another (as is the case when we hope for romantic relationship with someone), being in the moment and continuing to live aligned with our own personal choices, expression and state of being is what ultimately shines the greatest truth to any circumstance and affords everyone in it the opportunity to respond authentically.  

My last takeaway was that we have inherent, unstoppable capacity when we are
passionate about something.
  In the movie, it was his passionate desire to surf that wave - translated into action by intention – that catapulted him in life.  It evolved into his intention to love his mother, to heal the pain and limitation attached to his father’s departure, to love what was present and before him in the moment, to forgive, to appreciate and accept.  He was an amazing example of someone discovering at a very young age, the power of intention.  In the closing scene he gets beaten down by Mavericks.  This happens to us in life every day in small and big ways.  He was ready because he trained.  He practiced. He intended to succeed.  He behaved in ways in life that supported his intention. He could have surfaced in a state of great fear.  Instead, he got back on his board and rode the wave. I don’t believe this was an example of stupidity or willfulness.  He was equipped.  He accepted the possibility of being taken down by the wave, he trained for it with intention, and he was prepared to succeed given the chance.  This young man did not try at life.  He lived life.  He didn’t just think about what he wanted and hope he would get there.  He passionately chose, aligned his life with his choice through action, he accepted the possible outcomes, he lived fully…albeit briefly.  He died at a very young age doing something he loved.  I honor him for that.  He accomplished what many of us only wish for…to live passionately. 
Picture
I believe that living authentically, passionately, and harmoniously with others is
the lesson that god, the creator, spirit etc… wants us to learn.  Each of us has a quiet voice inside that is the access portal to our passions, to our authenticity, to living fully and freely.  In my new endeavor as an author, life coach, pubic speaker and “free
spirit” as I travel in my RV, it is my intention to live passionately and to inspire, encourage and teach others to do the same. It is my intention to heal through the recognition of the divine within each of us.  I intend to share myself vulnerably and desire to know you in the process.  

Namasté 
  
I honor the place in you in which spirit dwells ♥ I honor the place in you which is of love, of truth, of light and peace ♥
When you are in that place in you and I am in that place in me, we are one


 
2 Comments

    Carin G. Aichele

    Carin Aichele

    Create Your Badge

    Archives

    May 2014
    April 2014
    October 2013
    September 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012

    Categories

    All
    28 Days Of
    Community
    Courage
    Creativity
    Discipline
    Dolce Far Niente
    Freedom
    Friendship
    Gandhi Inspired
    Healing
    Joy
    Leadership
    Love
    Prelude To A Journey
    The Journey

    RSS Feed


Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.