Showing posts with label Burning Man. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Burning Man. Show all posts
Friday, July 25, 2014
Intentions
Monday, June 16, 2014
Reflections on Father's Day
So it wasn't until yesterday, that it occurred to me that it was Father's Day.
We had spent the weekend at our first regional burning man event, Freeform. We had to return early so hubby could golf in a tournament with his dad. As we were making one of the final turns home, it hit me that it was Father's Day and I had not put a card in the mail for my stepfather. At first I was so upset with myself. How could I forget to put a card in the mail. Than I thought, well I'll send a text message to let him know I'm thinking about him and thanking him for being such an important person in my life. So I did just that.
The day goes on, I'm unpacking stuff from our weekend, doing laundry to get it hung on the line and reflecting upon Father's Day and what Father's Day means to me. You see I have a father. He was active in my life until at one point he decided that I did not need to be a part of his life any longer. Every once in a while, I reach out. Sometimes I'll get a response back, other times I get nothing. My most recent contact was to send a copy of a drawing that his mother (my grandmother) had done at some point. I don't know if the drawing ever made it to him as he never sent a thank you or a hey it made it here.
So as I reflected on Father's Day and read other's posts on facebook, I thought to myself, how can I turn a negative feeling into a positive one. I could have spent my time dwelling on the loss I feel at being cut out. As I am his only child & only daughter, one would think he would want to be a part of my life, even if only from a distance. Instead I chose to reflect upon the men in my life who have an impact on me. Who have touched my life in such positive ways. Who appreciate me and love me unconditionally and greet me with open arms every time I see them. Those thoughts brought such a happy smile to my face. I felt like the kisses from the sun were little blessings from these special men in my life. So I took a moment to sit down and send these special people in my life a simple text. Wishing them a happy father's day & thanking them for being such wonderful people & having such a special place in my life.
I than reflected upon the wonderful man that chose me to be his wife. I thought about all the ways that he is special to me and our fur babies. I thought how I would love to write him out a father's day card and thank him but knew he would think that was corny. So instead I decided to surprise him with a dinner from the fur babies and I. Turns out the fur babies and I picked just the right thing. As he arrived home from a long day of golfing (I guess 5 hours is long in golf timing), we surprised him with his favorite wings & pizza for a special Father's day dinner. He still thought it was corny when I wished him a Happy Father's Day from the fur babies & I and wanted to know why I was being so mushy...but his face lit up when he heard how much we appreciate him.
So to all the men out there who are father's by choice, I wish you a happy belated father's day. Wether you are a father to a fur baby, a human baby, a father to a child not yours, a father to a friend who needs a caring soul you are a blessed being. I wish you light & love.
-Cheers-
Monday, September 9, 2013
)'( Burning Man Thoughts 2013 )'(
Burning Man for us starts with a pilgrimage. A drive of approximately 2200 miles from Pennsylvania to Nevada. During our pilgrimage this year we learned of a much anticipated birth. Hubby became an uncle for a 3rd time to another beautiful nephew.
I am famous for saying with every death comes a birth and this held true. Upon coming off of the playa I learned of an uncle's passing. While not unexpected, it was still a sad event and sad to realize that I would not be able to make the viewing to support my aunt.
Our camp has a pretty famous motivational person in it. John "Halcyon" Styn. If you are not familiar with him doing a quick google search. "Halcyon" started Pink Heart Camp, which is where we camp at burning man. "Halcyon" has a saying...Crap or Cone (he did a Tedx talk on it that you may find on the google search). Basically you can look at any situation and determine if you want to focus on the crap or on the cone. Say your friendship with a person falls apart. You can focus on the crap: your friendship fell apart, your feelings are hurt, you are sad. Or you can focus on the cone: the friendship falling apart opened you to new experiences, to meeting new people, to new adventures and journeys.
Something that happened to us this year at BM was someone decided to use our truck tire to take a literal crap in our camp. Thankfully we discovered it & realized what it was. After I dealt with the disposal of said crap, I kept struggling trying to discover the cone side of the situation. I approached Halcyon to ask his advice. It took a bit, but he returned to tell me that the cone would be that by allowing that space for the incident to happen, we saved someone from dying of internal distress. (True story!)
Another crap or cone happened to our friend Sexy Situation. SS builds a beautiful art swing to provide a resting spot for thousands of people that pass by. You may recall I posted earlier this year about his fundraiser. The swing was a bright spot all week for thousands of people. A beacon of pink heart light that helped them find their way home. Sunday while breaking down, someone decided they needed the integral part of the swing more than SS. The box that holds the working parts & hook for the swing has disappeared. That is crap! The cone being that Sexy Situation will come back from this with a better working piece and many people will chip in to help him. Plus all the awesome stories people are sharing about the swing. And the couple that he got to meet who met and fell in love on his swing last year.
Many beautiful memories were created and shared this year. One of them being breakfast on the playa. My body cannot stop being a morning person so every morning I would assemble my breakfast and stumble out to the Esplanade couches & settle in for some nourishment & people watching. Occasionally hopping up to provide a tired, weary traveller with some Iced Cucumber Water. I was joined by so many lovely people during my morning breakfasts. Many amazing conversations were had and new things discovered. I even had the pleasure of a foot massage & pedicure by a lovely soul who stopped into our camp. Some mornings would turn into early afternoon events and thoroughly enjoyed. I felt like I was basking in a beautiful light.
For those who encountered me on playa in the evening & heard a good morning uttered from my lips. Rest assured..this has carried to the default world. I can't seem to figure out what day it is, let alone what time of the day. So why not say "Good Morning". Good Morning makes it feel like you have the whole day ahead of you and new adventures await you. :)
Monday 9.9.13
Wow! to think that I wrote all of the above on Saturday & Sunday & decided to wait a day to post. And today, Monday 9.9.13 awaited me with such trauma and tragedy. I left a dr's appt with not the most hopeful news. Left with feelings of frustration, aggravation, defeat, loss and yet a small glimmer of hope. Maybe answers will lead to new paths. Upon leaving I saw I missed a call from hubby. Thought maybe he was calling to see how things were going. I was wrong...I never even uttered my news because he had news for me. A very near & dear friend, one I love as much as my burner family, had passed away in a tragic workplace accident. I have no idea how I kept my composure until the valet got my car, but I did. Than I bawled the entire ride home. I don't even know how I made it home. I am still in shock & still crying my heart out over this man that I loved dearly. Life just does not seem fair. I do not believe in prayer but am sending up thoughts of hope and positiveness that he passed without pain, without knowing what was happening to him. That his children will be able to cope with their pain, loss, tragedy & grief. I will hug them as closely & as deeply as I hug my burner family and I will tell everyone I know how much I love them & appreciate them.
How ironic that the temple this year did not bring as much sorrow to me as last years temple did. The only words I was moved to write this year was "tell those you love how important they are to you. you never know when it will be the last time".
I will truly miss my friend and the enthusiasm that he would greet me with when we would see each other. I am glad that I had an opportunity to photograph him doing the work that he loved so dearly. To honor him please check out my flickr set at Hotel Sterling Flickr Set
May you forever find peace John. You were loved & will continue to be loved by many.
I am famous for saying with every death comes a birth and this held true. Upon coming off of the playa I learned of an uncle's passing. While not unexpected, it was still a sad event and sad to realize that I would not be able to make the viewing to support my aunt.
Our camp has a pretty famous motivational person in it. John "Halcyon" Styn. If you are not familiar with him doing a quick google search. "Halcyon" started Pink Heart Camp, which is where we camp at burning man. "Halcyon" has a saying...Crap or Cone (he did a Tedx talk on it that you may find on the google search). Basically you can look at any situation and determine if you want to focus on the crap or on the cone. Say your friendship with a person falls apart. You can focus on the crap: your friendship fell apart, your feelings are hurt, you are sad. Or you can focus on the cone: the friendship falling apart opened you to new experiences, to meeting new people, to new adventures and journeys.
Something that happened to us this year at BM was someone decided to use our truck tire to take a literal crap in our camp. Thankfully we discovered it & realized what it was. After I dealt with the disposal of said crap, I kept struggling trying to discover the cone side of the situation. I approached Halcyon to ask his advice. It took a bit, but he returned to tell me that the cone would be that by allowing that space for the incident to happen, we saved someone from dying of internal distress. (True story!)
Another crap or cone happened to our friend Sexy Situation. SS builds a beautiful art swing to provide a resting spot for thousands of people that pass by. You may recall I posted earlier this year about his fundraiser. The swing was a bright spot all week for thousands of people. A beacon of pink heart light that helped them find their way home. Sunday while breaking down, someone decided they needed the integral part of the swing more than SS. The box that holds the working parts & hook for the swing has disappeared. That is crap! The cone being that Sexy Situation will come back from this with a better working piece and many people will chip in to help him. Plus all the awesome stories people are sharing about the swing. And the couple that he got to meet who met and fell in love on his swing last year.
Many beautiful memories were created and shared this year. One of them being breakfast on the playa. My body cannot stop being a morning person so every morning I would assemble my breakfast and stumble out to the Esplanade couches & settle in for some nourishment & people watching. Occasionally hopping up to provide a tired, weary traveller with some Iced Cucumber Water. I was joined by so many lovely people during my morning breakfasts. Many amazing conversations were had and new things discovered. I even had the pleasure of a foot massage & pedicure by a lovely soul who stopped into our camp. Some mornings would turn into early afternoon events and thoroughly enjoyed. I felt like I was basking in a beautiful light.
For those who encountered me on playa in the evening & heard a good morning uttered from my lips. Rest assured..this has carried to the default world. I can't seem to figure out what day it is, let alone what time of the day. So why not say "Good Morning". Good Morning makes it feel like you have the whole day ahead of you and new adventures await you. :)
Monday 9.9.13Wow! to think that I wrote all of the above on Saturday & Sunday & decided to wait a day to post. And today, Monday 9.9.13 awaited me with such trauma and tragedy. I left a dr's appt with not the most hopeful news. Left with feelings of frustration, aggravation, defeat, loss and yet a small glimmer of hope. Maybe answers will lead to new paths. Upon leaving I saw I missed a call from hubby. Thought maybe he was calling to see how things were going. I was wrong...I never even uttered my news because he had news for me. A very near & dear friend, one I love as much as my burner family, had passed away in a tragic workplace accident. I have no idea how I kept my composure until the valet got my car, but I did. Than I bawled the entire ride home. I don't even know how I made it home. I am still in shock & still crying my heart out over this man that I loved dearly. Life just does not seem fair. I do not believe in prayer but am sending up thoughts of hope and positiveness that he passed without pain, without knowing what was happening to him. That his children will be able to cope with their pain, loss, tragedy & grief. I will hug them as closely & as deeply as I hug my burner family and I will tell everyone I know how much I love them & appreciate them.
How ironic that the temple this year did not bring as much sorrow to me as last years temple did. The only words I was moved to write this year was "tell those you love how important they are to you. you never know when it will be the last time".
I will truly miss my friend and the enthusiasm that he would greet me with when we would see each other. I am glad that I had an opportunity to photograph him doing the work that he loved so dearly. To honor him please check out my flickr set at Hotel Sterling Flickr Set
May you forever find peace John. You were loved & will continue to be loved by many.
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Returning home from Home
Another successful Burning Man is behind us. We are already prepping for next years return Home!
Pictures will follow later.
Home is a special place to be. I have often heard it said, Burning Man provides you what you need and takes away what you don't. I truly believe those words. 2013 was a year of personal growth, relationship growth, friendships tattered and friendships forged, bonded & strengthened.
I am thankful to all that participated in Burning Man 2013 with me and look forward to sharing with you in 2014.
There are plenty of pictures appearing on the internet-just google search "Burning Man 2013". A few of my favorites were: Truth is Beauty; Skate Camp; Red Lightning; the Man; Hug Deli; Cat Cargo Cult.
Want to know more about burning man? just ask me. I love to talk about it. I hope that everyone who would ever want to experience it will get the chance to do so. It is truly an adventure.
One side note: I loved being able to take a shower every day this year. As a result, my hair was down more often & now is a lovely, naturally, lightened blonde. And hubby totally rocked his tutu! That make become our christmas card pic!
Cheers!
Pictures will follow later.
Home is a special place to be. I have often heard it said, Burning Man provides you what you need and takes away what you don't. I truly believe those words. 2013 was a year of personal growth, relationship growth, friendships tattered and friendships forged, bonded & strengthened.
I am thankful to all that participated in Burning Man 2013 with me and look forward to sharing with you in 2014.
There are plenty of pictures appearing on the internet-just google search "Burning Man 2013". A few of my favorites were: Truth is Beauty; Skate Camp; Red Lightning; the Man; Hug Deli; Cat Cargo Cult.
Want to know more about burning man? just ask me. I love to talk about it. I hope that everyone who would ever want to experience it will get the chance to do so. It is truly an adventure.
One side note: I loved being able to take a shower every day this year. As a result, my hair was down more often & now is a lovely, naturally, lightened blonde. And hubby totally rocked his tutu! That make become our christmas card pic!
Cheers!
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
)'( Dream Swing 2013 )'(
)'( My friends....today I want to share a project with you that is near and dear to my heart. )'(
the dream swing 2013
Joe Beal from Bend, OR is an awesome friend of ours that we met during our journey to Burning Man in 2012. Not only was it our virgin journey to the Playa but it was Joe's as well. For a virgin going to Burning Man, he made quite an impression. You see, Joe built a 20 foot tall pink swing for people to play on on the playa. It had lights, it had a heart, it was PINK, it had a swing for you to play on. It became a beacon for travellers as they could view it from across the playa and know that if they followed the swing they would be close to 9:30 & Esplanade; close to PINK HEART camp and close to their destinations.
So I hope that you will check out Joe's Indiegogo fundraiser and video (link above) and consider helping Joe bring the PINK DREAM SWING to Burning Man 2013 in it's new & improved form. Taller, More Seating, More Lighting, More places to stop along the intergalatic journey of life.
the dream swing 2013
Joe Beal from Bend, OR is an awesome friend of ours that we met during our journey to Burning Man in 2012. Not only was it our virgin journey to the Playa but it was Joe's as well. For a virgin going to Burning Man, he made quite an impression. You see, Joe built a 20 foot tall pink swing for people to play on on the playa. It had lights, it had a heart, it was PINK, it had a swing for you to play on. It became a beacon for travellers as they could view it from across the playa and know that if they followed the swing they would be close to 9:30 & Esplanade; close to PINK HEART camp and close to their destinations.
So I hope that you will check out Joe's Indiegogo fundraiser and video (link above) and consider helping Joe bring the PINK DREAM SWING to Burning Man 2013 in it's new & improved form. Taller, More Seating, More Lighting, More places to stop along the intergalatic journey of life.
)'( Many, Many Cheers & Much Love to you ALL! )'(
Friday, September 7, 2012
Life....
I have thought for days, even weeks, how I wanted to start my message to you. I know I have not written in some time, but yet I do not feel the need to apologize either.
Life got crazy, Life got hectic, Life got busy.
Life was happy, Life was sad
Life was EXPERIENCED!
To bring you up to date. Miss Winnie ended her earthly journey with us. It still brings me to tears to talk/write about it. Miss Winnie was a bright spot in my day and even more so as I became her caregiver towards the end. I can rest assured knowing she was very loved and that she knew we did everything possible for her. She had a few more seizures toward the end and we believed they robbed her of some mental capacities. Her quality of life was no longer. RIP Miss Winnie.
In July we celebrated hubby's milestone birthday w/ a small party in which we debuted our home-built monkey hut. The monkey hut was built for our (at that time) upcoming journey to Burning Man. (I'll make a seperate post w/ pictures of the Monkey Hut)
August brought about crazy, hectic weekends. Busy work loads. Than packing up the truck for the 2400 mile drive (each way) to Burning Man in Black Rock City, Nevada. Never heard of Burning Man? Don't worry, I hadn't either until hubby started showing me videos & playing a song called "Home". Want to know more about Burning Man...google it. You'll be pulled in...I promise!
We returned only this week from Burning Man and words cannot describe for you what an experience it was. Life changing, a journey, a pilgramage. New friendships were formed, love rekindled, uniqueness appreciated. Hubby and I managed the cross country drive in approximately 52 hours each way. Sleeping at rest stops, experiencing truck stop showers and lots of giggles.
I don't know what the next few days or weeks hold in store for me but I welcome whatever it is with open arms. I met so many wonderful people in the last few months and feel my life is graced to have felt their presence.
I look forward to the future with love and open awareness. No longer fearful. Not nearly as anxious. Open to new experiences. Open to new possibilities. Finding the expressive side of myself, once again.
Cheers!
 |
| Jessica in contemplation |
Life got crazy, Life got hectic, Life got busy.
Life was happy, Life was sad
Life was EXPERIENCED!
To bring you up to date. Miss Winnie ended her earthly journey with us. It still brings me to tears to talk/write about it. Miss Winnie was a bright spot in my day and even more so as I became her caregiver towards the end. I can rest assured knowing she was very loved and that she knew we did everything possible for her. She had a few more seizures toward the end and we believed they robbed her of some mental capacities. Her quality of life was no longer. RIP Miss Winnie.In July we celebrated hubby's milestone birthday w/ a small party in which we debuted our home-built monkey hut. The monkey hut was built for our (at that time) upcoming journey to Burning Man. (I'll make a seperate post w/ pictures of the Monkey Hut)
August brought about crazy, hectic weekends. Busy work loads. Than packing up the truck for the 2400 mile drive (each way) to Burning Man in Black Rock City, Nevada. Never heard of Burning Man? Don't worry, I hadn't either until hubby started showing me videos & playing a song called "Home". Want to know more about Burning Man...google it. You'll be pulled in...I promise!
 |
| Burning Man |
We returned only this week from Burning Man and words cannot describe for you what an experience it was. Life changing, a journey, a pilgramage. New friendships were formed, love rekindled, uniqueness appreciated. Hubby and I managed the cross country drive in approximately 52 hours each way. Sleeping at rest stops, experiencing truck stop showers and lots of giggles.
 |
| a Hubby Original |
I don't know what the next few days or weeks hold in store for me but I welcome whatever it is with open arms. I met so many wonderful people in the last few months and feel my life is graced to have felt their presence.
I look forward to the future with love and open awareness. No longer fearful. Not nearly as anxious. Open to new experiences. Open to new possibilities. Finding the expressive side of myself, once again.
Cheers!
 |
| a Hubby Original |
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