it is goodness

It is very important that we make a conscious effort to fill ourselves up with goodness. So whether it be, new trail hiking, horseback riding, deep sea fishing, good friend sharing, red wine pouring, new adventure seeking, rock wall climbing, under water exploring, car seat dancing, new baby laughing, child playing, loud voice singing, good book reading, relax and sunbathing, whiskey glass toasting, sandy beach sitting, pool time swimming, dog walking or deep breath meditating we have our goodness tank filled. Because that way when things go bad, and they most probably will, we will have our reserves of happy moments and good feelings and that will help us get through the mess we may find ourselves in.

 

                       My Goodness

it is color and light

If anyone takes 5 minutes and runs through some of my posts you'll notice my blogs are about searching for oneself. I envy the people who know who they are. They get comfortable easily, find their career quickly, select a mate who fits nicely into their life. That, in a nutshell, is not me. I am the ever searching. I do hope to find at least a couple answers as I move through life. Hopefully enough to satisfy my spirit so I can set root. Anyhow...

Tonight I was watching TV and a few commercials stuck out to me.

 Ad 1) Attempts to remind us how we are all one and we are all connected and somehow the same.

 Ad 2) Asks the question what does color feel like, begging us to be immersed in the pictures displayed on our screens.

 Ad 3) Challenging us to take a firm hand on our steering wheel and really drive the car, implying our lives.

I want to feel connected to the world around me. I want to be imersed in the colors of the world, drink in the light of the sun and the stars, plunge into humanity and build connections and grow love. 

As we live in this age of technology often we find more connection, color, light and, although it be superficial, love on a screen. If the commercials from this evening tell me anything it is that we have lost tangibility. We see the buzz feed videos begging us to unplug and the medical review articles about brain waves and techno multi-tasking. In this vast world we have managed to shrink travel time and space all with the promise of being more connected but what we have done is actually lost true friendships. True loves, true family. 

A couple of weeks ago I wanted to play some board games and invited some friends over. What surprised me was the number of people who wanted to sit and talk and drink and play my 1980's version of trivial pursuit. I remember as a kid having family game night, reading books aloud and never being plugged in to anything other than each other. 

I challenged myself this year to build connections. To make the effort to stay in people's lives who matter to me. It's my greatest flaw. I have so many amazing people in my life and I often lose track of them. It's always my own fault. I'm too busy, is always my excuse. But I'm too busy doing what? Watching TV surfing the web and getting sucked into Facebook. I know why. It's easy. It's easy to not make the effort. It's far less scary to talk to someone on-line than it is to make a real connection. But at the end of the day I feel lonely. Because in fact I am alone. I have done an excellent job of whittling people out of my life. I have cut much of the world out of my life. When I lived on the beach my days off were spent people watching, soaking in the sun and listening to the waves. All last year I don't think I spent a single day outside unplugged and just absorbing. That's sad and wrong. 

So in addition to my challenge to make efforts into keeping relationships alive I am going to challenge myself to unplug from technology and plug into the universe. If I spend an hour watching TV I have to spend an hour doing yoga, meditating, walking, reading, playing with a dog. Hopefully, eventually I will start building the connections with the world that I want to, and need to have. So that the next time someone asks what does color feel like I will know, green feels like the rustle in the trees, blue feels like freedom and yellow the heart and warmth that keeps us alive.