Beautiful Things (1)

I thought I'd follow twitter fashion and use Friday to share some things I've seen around the Internet this week and enjoyed.  And maybe some other things too...

                A beautiful music video and song by a local band

                                 A new magazine that is excited to eat and be merry

                                                                                    A hidden bookstore in NYC

And a few photos from our camping trip last weekend on the McKenzie River outside of Eugene...

 Happy weekend to you.

For You, Whoever You Are...

I've spent a lot time today between sessions working on the world of In This World.  This fixing and fiddling inevitably takes me on a roaming exotic journey around the bloggosphere.  I really have to admit it, I love blogs!

Working to create a better, prettier, blog is fun.  And it is fun because a blog is something implicitly shared.  I may only have 5 page views in a day, but there is always the potential of what I am writing being seen and shared and (hopefully) enjoyed.  And that means connection.

This put in my mind something that the great Ursula K. LeGuin said during an interview I saw recorded live for Think Out Loud  last year.  Someone asked her about whether all writers write for an audience.  Her refreshingly honest response, "Real writers do!"

Creation is a gift to be shared.  Whether it is a blog post, photo, meal, song, or idea, creations are meant to be shared with others.  And the experience of that is so thrilling, fun, and magical.

A lot of the people who come to see me in my therapy practice are creatively frustrated, sometimes consciously, sometimes not.  And with that they have not found, or have lost, a medium for connecting.  That lack of connecting leads them to feel stifled, inauthentic, and bored.  (Read: depressed.)

Therapy is all about developing the ability to find authentic connection, beginning with: yourself.

What are you not creating today?  Where are you not connecting?  Look for one and you may find the other...

Finding a Good Guidebook

When K and I know the weather is going to be clear (not necessarily warm), and that we are going to be home over the weekend, we almost always plan to "go out", our phrase for going hiking, generally in the Columbia River Gorge.

As soon as we know that, a few hiking books inevitably find their way onto the coffee table as Kjell ponders and reads and thinks about what would be the perfect hike for our Saturday.

Kjell is a hiking and hiking guidebook aficionado. We have no fewer than ten hiking/backpacking/camping guidebooks, most of which are specifically for the Pacific Northwest.  I used to not understand this passion of his, and thought that finding the perfect hike spontaneously was the true dream.  But, in reality, this never happened.  With Kjell's love of finding great hikes, the world of well-planned, wonderful experiences opened up for me as well.

As Kjell reads and plans a hike, he takes into account things like what flowers and plants will be blooming, what will be in view, whether we will be in sun or shade. He has an uncanny sense of the land that mystifies and impresses me all at the same time. As we hike, he narrates our route, pointing to ridges, benches, washes, boulder fields, berms. When we arrive at views he breathes a sigh and says, "I was waiting for this."

Kjell's love of hiking is one of the many bonuses of being married to him. He has taken me to so many beautiful places I would never have seen otherwise, and has expanded my own love of exploring and adventuring outside.

 We owe many of our great adventures to great guidebooks. I have come to respect them highly.  They provide the opportunity to plan, anticipate, and enjoy.  Spontaneity comes in taking that side trail, or finding a perfect spot for lunch, rather than gambling your day on a hunch.

And there's nothing like the reward of that big beautiful view, and having got there on your own two feet.

With a little help, of course, from our friend, The Guidebook.

Hope adventure finds you soon as well.  Happy Summer!