Celebrating

I'm home from New York with a full heart after spending some much needed time with my Tribe. These women each so uniquely different come together to make something incredible. I'm so thankful that 7 of us could make that trip on relatively short notice. Despite the shadow of events that took place last Friday we were able to grieve together and then made a conscious effort to celebrate each other during the weekend.

My very first trip to the city was magic. I spent a lot of time just observing it all. I took very few photos because I was just too busy immersing myself in the experience. It really lived up to the iconic expectations I had created in my head. The sounds, the people and the sparkle all were really something spectacular.

Of course the only reason I ever made it to the city in the first place was to celebrate my photo making it onto the wall at The Impossible Project space. It isn't something I can so much put into words. I will say that I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to share my work as it is something that brings me great joy.

I feel like pictures sum up this journey far better than words so I'll let them do the talking. You can see more photos from the trip here.

To experience the wonder of great mysteries

One of the things I most wanted to experience when going to Kauai was to see the Hindu Monastery. Mostly I to see the very large crystal that inhabits the temple. I am a rock hound after all! Ken and I found we were a little ill-prepared and under-dressed on our arrival as I will never claim to be well versed in Hinduism. Thankfully a kindly elder took care to see us properly fit to enter the temple. I had absolutely no idea we would be able to participate in the puja. But we were welcomed and gently instructed on what to do.



The temple is a fire temple thought to break up old patterns and help seekers begin anew. It was an incredible experience. One I am still searching for words to describe. I was so awestruck that I struggled to stay in the moment during meditation. I literally kept saying to myself: "This is amazing!" As we re-entered the grounds after the ritual I realized it had started pouring rain while we were inside. I thought it to be a fitting way to start anew.

I walked away with a new appreciation for all the mysteries of life and was so incredibly happy I got to experience this in my lifetime. The bindi on my forehead? To those of Hindu faith it represents the third eye of spiritual insight. Something this past year has been a huge focus on for me.

~Namaste

Glass Beach

 

Last week my husband and I escaped happily away to Kauai, Hawaii for a vacation to celebrate our upcoming 10 year anniversary. It was incredible! I am never disappointed with Hawaii, ever. This was our first time to the Garden Island and probably my most memorable trip to the islands yet. I have so much I want to share about our time but will break up the posts as to not overwhelm you all with too many photos.

First, I have a confession. I am an obsessive beach comber. If I get started it is very hard to stop! So when I did a preliminary search on the web for sea glass beaches on Kauai I was so ecstatic to learn there was in fact one. Most of the stock photos I saw were taken years ago so I didn't' allow my hopes to get too high but still was going to check it out no matter what.

I didn't let a local shop owner deter me when she said that she had heard there was no longer any sea glass at the beach (later we wondered if she was trying to deter tourists from the area). When we set out to find the beach in an old industrial area it looked rather unimpressive from afar. We opted to leave the rental car on paved road and walk the very gnarly dirt road to the beach.

This is what we found:

Yes, this mama was very happy! We hadn't expected to find much so we came only with an empty water bottle to fill. Local courtesy is to take only a gallon of glass a day. I had no idea that it would be possible to even get that much. To say this was a very happy place for me was a huge understatement. We were able to take home enough to mostly fill my collection jar at home. Which means I get to check this one off on the Life List!

I also feel the need to mention the WHY here. Why is this beach such a hot spot for glass? Litter. Plain and simple. The industrial area surrounding this area is full of factories and this beautiful black sand beach was previously used as a dump. It hurts to think about how much trash was dumped into our beautiful mother ocean to create this much glass washing up on the beach year after year. The truth of the matter is that yes, it is an absolutely beautiful and fun hobby to hunt for sea glass but we must remember why it is there in the first place. We haven't always nor still do respect our Mother Earth but she is resilient. She grinds down our trash and spits it right back up for us as a reminder that time is stronger than anything we can do to her. She will survive but we may not if we keep doing this to our planet.