We've gotta go back!

We've gotta go back! Or maybe we don't. Sometimes the compass direction changes. Sometimes the world asks you to be back east and when that happens, there's the potential for a shift. Instead of counting the miles up, maybe we start counting them down. It's almost as though we've been building up the adventure to a crescendo and maybe there's supposed to be some kind of climax before there's a bit of falling action and a conclusion. And, while maybe this was true in the past, it seems as though with growth and experience there is an accumulation of knowledge and maybe even some wisdom? Wise? Me? I doubt it. 

In order to make sense of this blog, I offer you another important piece to the puzzle that is life. We as human beings, are time travelers. You see unlike trees that are place holders, animals are free to move about through time. We can change our location and we have even invented ways to "improve" our ability to get to different places, except we always have to pay for it ... and the price is Time. 

But what is Time really?

We can look at it in several ways ... 1) As a period in time 2) As period of time, or 3) to confuse things even more, we can see that time is just a space holder similar to the trees. 

An example of a period in time could be the 1800's. A period of time could be 4 to 6 months. And if we realize that time is only a space holder we can use the power in this realization and make "Time" actually stand still. 

To continue on with this thread, let's see through the lense of a period in time that was less than 200 years ago. Using our imagination we could envision people riding across the country in covered wagons. We could see them with pots and pans clanging, clothing tattered and worn, eaten by mosquitoes, and probably caked in a layer of dusty dirt. We would see folks that were suffering from the loss of loved ones who may have died of dysentery, drowned in a river or maybe they'd been killed by an indigenous tribe. We could imagine their sunburnt skin, the broken wheels, the smelly oxen, the incessant bouncing, the icy cold nights with campfires to keep warm and worried husband's and father's sleeping with rifles on their laps. With danger, illness, and death lurking around every corner, they would navigate foreign terrain through grassy plains and over steep mountains.

Back in that time, folks traveled the Oregon Trail for about 5 months in search of a better life or maybe to run from a shittier one. They followed the ruts carved into the earth by other oxen drawn carts. Folks would literally pack up their lives, sell off their land, and buy or build some wagons so they could take the months long journey across the rugged terrain and Tribal lands. Often plagued by illness, injuries, and death, some would succumb to the perils and others would find peace in the movement and the chaos of it all. Sometimes folks would stumble upon an enterprising idea. For example, maybe someone should build a boat and start a ferry service, or maybe someone should stay and create an outpost for other folks to utilize as they made their way west. And in this way, a variety of communities were established along the "Trail." 

If we look at the idea of Time as a space holder, we might see that the folks who lived in the moment fared better in it and through it . To help paint a picture of time let's look again at one of those place holding trees. Outside of the Blue mountains there once stood a lone pine tree for many years. The fur traders, the indigenous people, and pioneers could recognize their location as the tree could be seen from miles around. Judging by its size in the distance across the vast prairie land, they would know how far they had traveled or how much farther they would have to go. Then one day, a human decided that he was going cut the lone pine down.

I don't tell this story to paint the picture of an outlaw with whom I do not agree, but to simply show that without the tree, there isn't any anticipation. And when anticipation of waiting or the counting of time is cut off, then only the moment is left.

Keeping with the idea of time travel, when one heads east, the clocks are pushed forward an hour every couple hundred miles or so. So in going back, it's as if you step into the future, but it's also headed toward the past in that the sun has already set over the land in front of you. The crazy thing is this...Time didn't change at all, since we are  always in the present. Right now, it's 24 different clock times on our planet. When does this happen in the movie? Now. We're actually always watching now, now. 

It's only in our minds that we can travel to other places and times. We can think of and imagine any past event or potential future happening. Our minds' powers of time travel are so strong that we can even grieve a loss that hasn't yet occured. We can literally be homesick for a home that we never had. We can imagine what it would be like to be married, or to have a home, or to win the Stanley Mug Championship. And if we don't get that house or the love of our life chooses someone else, or we don't have the happy marriage we dreamt up, or your team doesn't get to compete for the mug for which you yearned and cheered all season for, we can actually feel the pain of that loss! 

If we take a moment to think of our own inevitable death, we can even write our own obituary and if you do it seriously, you will probably shed some tears for the life and death that you imagined.

When the pain of loss is real and not only imagined, how do we get through such pain? We must use the real power of our minds! Meditation is a practice that enables us to quiet the egoic mind. The sometimes (often) incessant voice in our heads will keep blabbering if we don't take action and find something else to focus on.

Practice with me now. Take a moment and focus on your breathing. Don't try to control it, just let it happen subconsciously. Your task is to experience each breath fully. Feel the air rush in through your nostrils. Pay attention to the rising and falling of your chest and abdomen. Notice the sounds the air makes as it is exhaled. Count the breaths softly noting them as they come and go. Or you might just make a slight mental note of "in" and "out" with each passing breath.

Do it. 

Seriously. Take a minute. These words will still be here when you get back.

Feel better? 

Good. 

Another way to quiet the mind is to get yourself into a flow state. Flow is achieved when we engage in activities that we have efficacy for and in which we feel challenged. Surly you have heard an athlete say that they were in "the zone". If you ever participated in a sport you probably felt alive in the present moment in this way. With practice, even mundane tasks can be accomplished in a flow state. The background noise of the cheering fans, the opposition or even just the music being played in the background will disappear as you zone in and get into the flow.

Though I have found myself able to get in a flow state during many activities in my life from playing guitar to hiking, and from playing soccer to writing, or even just becoming absorbed in activities like driving, particularly when off-roading in intense driving conditions, we can also get there in our love making or even when cleaning the house. Imagine you have company coming over and only a few minutes to get the place clean. The added stress can help get you into the zone. If you don't get overwhelmed and frustrated, you might find that before long the place is clean and the party is already under way. 

Being immersed in an activity that has an element of potential danger can get us into a flow state as well. Climbing rocks or trees, surfing on ocean waves, hiking on extreme mountainous rocky terrain and cycling down steep grades at high speeds are some of my go-to flow state activities. I suggest you find something you are good at and immerse yourself in it. You might enjoy where it takes you. 

This brings us to the next piece of the puzzle. In September, we completed the coast to coast to coast trek by crossing through the eastern states from the midwest to the shores of North Carolina. The goal in mind was to  arrive in time to catch some killer waves. 

The forecast began to shape up and conditions became optimal for a couple of days after one of the many Hurricanes came through. As a novice surfer I was a bit intimidated by the 5-8 foot swells. I stood and stared out at the walls of water as they rose up, curled over and came crashing down again and again. I felt a wave of anxiety rise within me while I studied the breakers searching out patterns and wondering how I would be able to paddle out over or through them. I forced myself into the water. I waded out with my boogie board at first, just to get aquatinted with the shear power of nature and to hopefully ease my fears.

Photo credit L. Perry

After catching a couple of rides it became apparent that I might be in over my head, both literally and figuratively, but decided to give it my all and strapped the leash of the 8 foot foam rental to my leg. As I paddled out the anxious feelings swelled with each wave encountered. Then after each situation was successfully navigated, the anxiety slowly morphed into more of an excitement. I began to trust my training and when an 8 footer came crashing down and I rolled into the turtle position just before it did, I could feel the raw power of the wave as it passed me by. When I popped up a few moments later on the other side, I pulled myself back onto the board and paddled into the next one. There was a feeling of relief coupled with a growing confidence. With each passing wave, it seemed more and more likely that my abilities would be able to get me out beyond the breaking waves and more importantly, back to the shore.

Sitting on the middle of the board and working to keep my balance I felt the rising and falling of each passing ripple. Then, after fumbling a few times by paddling in and then popping up too soon allowing several waves to pass me by, I eventually caught one and rode it in. I could feel the push as the ocean propelled me forward. Rising up to my feet, I kept my balance for as long as I ever had. Being that it was near high tide, the wave carried me all the way to where the ocean meets the land. This was a new situation for me and I had no idea what the correct course of action should be. There wasn't any time to think! Only time to act. And when I ran out of real estate, I jumped off the front of the board and ran up the beach! I felt it was a dismount worthy of a full 10 points. 

This ride was one of my best ever, but the next one was even better but for different reasons. It was the second day of surfing and the conditions were now given a full 5 star rating. Smooth water with nice curling waves, a current that didn't push you up or down the beach and a slight off shore breeze. I had just paddled out through some of the most intimidating waves I have yet to encounter when I felt that I was for sure beyond the breakers and I had stopped to rest briefly. I felt the board rise and fall a few times as the passing waves swelled up and lowered me back down. Then all of a sudden, from closer to the shore a friend of mine who is a more accomplished surfer, shouted to me "Turn around and paddle out!" I turned to look over my shoulder and a giant wall of water was rising up so I did what I thought made the most sense. I just paddled faster! I felt the powerful wave come tumbling down but managed to stay afloat and realized that I had actually been propelled forward. The wave was pushing me toward the shore but I hadn't yet stood up. I hadn't even made my way to my knees. The realization that I was actually riding the biggest wave I have ever encountered was mind blowing. I convinced myself that I had to get to my feet or it just wouldn't count. So, I got to my knees quickly found my balance and brought my left foot between my hands. I stood there for an eternity. I found myself staring down at the top of the board, then I brought my eyes to focus on more of my surroundings. I glanced to the right, then to the left, then behind me and I saw the glorious white frothy water curling over to my right and I adjusted my feet a little and the board turned slightly, I adjusted and leaned a little and it turned the other way.  The board and I moved in unison and I was in control. Adrenaline was pumping through my arteries and my veins. I felt the rush. It was mesmerizing. There was absolutely nothing else on Earth. There I was, alone on this tiny blue object, floating on the frothy ocean water with the smell of salt and sea in the air and the sandy beach sparkling ahead. All of it bonded together in a connection made possible by Mother Nature and the ingenuity of man. And for that brief moment everything had become One. 

The oneness of it all... The Earth, the Moon, the Sun, everything in the solar system, the Galaxy and even every particle in this version of the multiverse... All of it, all of me, all of us, converged together in one moment. There are only a few quiet moments in life where I have felt this way. This one though, is one that I will continue to go back to. Like I said before we gotta go back, but maybe we gotta go back with the hope that we can continue to tap into the power of the present moment. It is in the moment that time ceases to exist and all is still. Namaste my friends