new year's resolutions

today i am 59. i have completed 59 years, and go
waltzing into the 60th.
i don't have words to describe just how weird this is.
i never, ever expected to live this long. or wanted to.

be that as it may, things change. and so have i.

i decided that it is more fitting to give rather
than receive on my birthday. for all of you, infusions of light,
that awaken the highest and best in us all, on all levels,
that we may all prosper and grow, daily.
the local folks also get chocolate cupcakes!

this being a new year, i have some intentions.

as i refine my "seeing", i take lots of increasingly fine photos.
i get a better camera. (in the works as we speak.)
i tell the truth. to myself.
i travel to places that i haven't seen before.
i deepen my existing relationships, and create some new ones.
i write MUCH better poetry. (can't get much worse-no wait, i'm not rod mckuen bad yet.)
i learn to play the harmonica.
i continue to celebrate each day by asking, "what good comes my way today?"
and then i find it.
of course, i continue with yoga, as my guiding light.
maybe, just maybe, i'll do a dropback.
oh yes- i WILL rock and roll!

and then there's this:

i can say, i'm in much better shape than junior:

and some days are like this:

no matter. i'll take them all.

essence

the essence of life shall never be known by a human being
as long as that person seeks to observe life like viewer and object.
the absolutely essential nature of life can only be comprehended
by merging fully with the flow of life, so that one is utterly a part of it.
--365 tao, day 208

i don't know

a warrior accepts that we can never know what will happen to us next. we can try to control the uncontrollable by looking for security and predictability, always hoping to be comfortable and safe. but the truth is we can never avoid uncertainty. this not-knowing is part of the adventure.
it's also what makes us afraid.

--comfortable with uncertainty
pema chodron