Living with Eyes: outdoors

Showing posts with label outdoors. Show all posts

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Peace

Today... A simple post for a simple concept. I think most people are in search of some kind of contentment. But what brings people the capacity to be content? I think it's different for everyone. For me, the majority of what I am searching for to enhance my life is peace. Peace, to me, literally means to be happy and content with life regardless of the situations you are put in. I've actually felt pretty successful in my efforts so far, but yesterday I had a moment that reminded me and reconnected me to this idea.
I find that I sometimes have difficulty relating to strangers, or feeling connected to most humans. I think, when we start to think like this is when we feel disconnected, discontent, and alone. I've decided that I'd like to see things from a more empathetic, understood, and relatable perspective.
Yesterday I took a random trip to Jackson Hole with my friend, Talmage. The trip was quick and simple basically consisting of a lift to the top of ski resort mountain "Snow King", tromping around for a bit until we got hungry, Mexican food, and a quick drive home.
The whole thing was great, but there was definitely a moment that stands above the rest. As we sat above the earth, looking at it, we stayed silent.
After a decent amount of time, the silence was broken by a stranger approaching only to stop, stare down, and gasp. We then sat, looking down in thought from different perspectives. I , personally, entered a meditative type state. Thinking of personal matters, relationships, philosophies, goals, fears, imagining, dreaming, and visualizing. I became conscious to the sound of the man walking away. My mind was then led to wander on the man's circumstance, thoughts, and basically everything I occupy my own mind with. I wondered if he had been daydreaming and searching for answers, as I had been. I wondered if we had similar problems, or if we both put ourselves on top of mountains for the same reasons. Relatable or not, I learned something. I need to be more loving, compassionate, and aware of those I consider "strangers". I think it's a huge part of living the beautiful life that I aspire to live.
This weekend was so short, but so well spent. I've felt so much peace and been able to revisit my goals. Yep. That's pretty much it for today.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Leaving the Past for a Better Future

Wow, so this has been a long time coming. Two full-time jobs sometimes leaves little time for inspiration and writing. Maybe once I acquire a laptop I can be more regular with my posts, so I apologize for my inconsistency.

Enough excuses though... the past couple months have been full of self-discovery and confusion; sometimes being busy has it's perks, sometimes it's an accomplice for ignorance. I haven't really had many opportunities to think of what is going on inside of me, what's best for me, or what I should be doing. But over the past couple weeks, I've tried to make room for internal focus and, in doing so, I think I realized that there were some things I hadn't gotten over from my past. There were grudges held, pains unhealed, and people unforgiven. Consequently, emotional reconstruction becomes my blueprint, and there is a lot of work to be done.

So without being dramatic or overly descriptive, the most damaging event in my life this far has been my divorce. Divorce is such an unexpected, horrible, painful thing for anyone to experience, and I empathize with anyone who has had the misfortune of it. But wow, that gets depressing fast so ... I read a quote this morning shared by a Photographer out of Salt Lake City, named Dave Brewer; "May the bridges that have been burned light the way." I found the quote really insightful... There are so many things you can't undo or go back on, but it seems we tend to dwell on those things to the point of letting them hold us back when we really should let those things be a lesson learned in moving a better direction.

Entertaining this idea first made me feel very lonely and hopeless. When it comes to things like love, it's hard to believe there is possibility of it again, however I know that is my misconception. I believe it was destiny that led me to a music video that not only entertains this idea, but seems like something that could have been written by my soul during the hardest point of my divorce... however, it was written by Mike Skinner of British Rap group The Streets. This man is a poet, and I feel that some of his emotions and experiences mirror mine. As wussy as it might sound, I cried for hours after I heard this song but I grew greatly from it's message and I still get an amazing emotional relief even when I see this still.

Besides making me really want a dog, the video alone, without the music, helped me realize there is an great amount of growth to be made during these lonely stages of life. I've seen this firsthand during the times when I'm riding my bike, on a walk, or even lying awake in bed. I think I've realized how important it is to think about your trials and how they have effected you, and then to grow from them and move on, instead of just ignoring them or becoming preoccupied. So that's where I am, and my new goal is to search for the inspiration more regularly, rather than being too busy for it. How hypocritical could I be to my Blog title "Living with Eyes" if I didn't alter my behavior? So cross your fingers for more posts to come... and I know I don't have a lot of readers, which is nice, but know that those of you who are all a great support and inspiration to me. I love, appreciate, and look up to all of you and your concern and love mean the world to me. Thank you.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

LOVE

So, my original post was meant to be written last week, but the music video I wanted to put up was erased from the entire internet for some reason. It was a live video of Portugal. The Man playing "All Your Light" in Germany. I had a good idea of what I wanted to write, but without the video, it was not near as powerful and clear. If you dare, beg them to put the video back online... it's amazing, and I am having withdrawals without it.

So, without that, my mind has been overwhelmed with a HEAVY, HEAVY topic... LOVE. It's such a hard thing to understand, and I think it is different for each person. Being divorced has made me really confused on how it all works, what it involves, how to nurture it properly, and how to feel it again. I have heard a lot of divorced people feel like they will never find it again, and I can relate. It's a scary thought, and deep down, I know it's not true, but it's hard to kick out the negative thoughts. Honestly, I really don't want to get too deep into it, but the idea of love makes me excited to live. It's definitely a driving force to living a beautiful life. I think most people agree. One of my favorite films "Into the Wild"(based on a true story) portrays college graduate who leaves civilization, burns his money and identification, and abandons his car to leave a corrupt, shallow society, as he views it. He finds beauty in the peace that comes from living off the land, and being completely independent and free from the system. But at his more desperate state, he carves into a piece of wood the following: "HAPPINESS IS NOT REAL UNLESS SHARED." I think this is a profound, perfect statement. If you haven't seen the movie, I HIGHLY recommend it, and if not that, read the book. It definitely makes you see the world in a different light.

Anyways, I feel like this post is a little off beat from my past two, but what I really wanted to share in this post is a video that was shared with me. When I saw it the first time, I nearly cried. To me, this is love. And I love what they have done in this video to evoke such a strong, beautiful connection. This is what I want. This is the love that I am committed to one day creating. (I couldn't attatch the video so please click the link, make it full screen, turn up your volume, and enjoy)

Go Do by IRIS AND LIGHT

The cool thing about these videos is that they are actual couples' engagement videos. SUCH AN AWESOME IDEA! Way better than a few photos. You are committing to love a person for the rest of your life, why not make it insanely artistic media piece that reminds you of how awesome you are for each other. THIS IS TRUE BEAUTY.