People, Passion, & a Purpose

When I see somebody who is passionate about something in their life, it inspires me. It countinuously gives me a sparking urge when I see how happy other people are to have that one thing in their life that makes it worth living.

When I see a genuine smile and laugh, it makes me smile and laugh. When I see someone who is appreciating the life they have, it makes me want to do the same with mine. When I see somebody putting time and effort into something they are overjoyed about, I feel like I would be losing the time I have left if I wasn't doing the same. So I choose to spend the time I have doing what I want, and not focusing on what it is that others would want out of me.

{Me Playing Outside King Street Station, Thanks Colors!}

{These two were carrying more instruments with them then anything else. HERE is a short clip of them jamming out. My guitar gets a lot of uses out it.}

I am so inspired by other peoples passion so much that it makes me want to become something more than whatever I thought was possible for myself. 

When I see somebody that has that passion in them, whatever it is that makes them thrive, I take great pleasure watching them bloom into the best person they were meant to be. In that action alone, it shows the world that anybody else can do it as well.

I remember when I wanted to just "figure it out". Only for the sake of everybody else pestering me about it. It was during that weird time, right before graduation, when it seemed like around every corner there was somebody asking me "So what's next?", "What are you going to school for?" (As if it wasn't an option to not go to school). It was like I needed to give such a grand explanation to a frightening question. I spent the last 18 years of my life knowing what was next. It was all mapped out for me even sense I came out of the womb. Kindergarten, Gradeschool, Middle school, High school... and now.... College? possibly? I didn't know, but I was pressured to know. 

{The Band Gaea, sharing their music with hempfest gathers.}

{Video Here. My Version, super crappy. Real life version. Amazing. Their Story here ----> Gaeasoul.com}

I didn't want to purse college, but when I gave that anwser out to a lot of "grown adults", they looked at me in a stern way, and proceeded to tell me "That's not a good idea. You have a bright future ahead of yourself, get your head on straight". I had, and still do have a bright future ahead. I have one every second of the day. Right now is bright. Hopefully in 5 minutes ill still be in a positive mood. I can do that without school.

In all of my reality, I had not a clue what I really wanted to do. Did I want a career? Sure. What could I see myself doing? Well… what made good money? Naively I picked nursing, which I knew nothing about, only that it made good money and I didn’t have to dress up. 

Fortunately, I had picked up on my inner being, and it was telling me that I wasn’t going to be happy with this choice. It wasn’t going to be worth it. The money would be good, but money isn’t even close to what makes me happy. I was looking into going to school because I was taught that school is what you have to do to become successful. Sure, I can still go to school, but sitting in a classroom reading from books isn’t going to be purposeful for me. 

{Fishbowl Bandmates. Geoff Left, singing his heart out, loud and proud. To The right is Sean, making my guitar sound like reggae angels.}

{Videos Here, and Here, again...quality....I know. Bear with me until I get a step up)

I think every person has a right to define success in their lives. To some, havin a family would be called success, to another person, becoming a CEO may be defined as a success, but to me, none of those are what would make me feel successful. I can find the beauty in individuality. I can see something indifferent about somebody, and I can share what I experience I have had for that person, or that place I was in.

All I want out of my life is to be happy. I want others to feed off of my happiness and create some of their own. I want to do something with my life because I LOVE IT, not because it’s something somebody else wants me to do. I have come to find that having a passion for something, also brings on a new skill set. If I didn’t have much of a knack for selling something, I sure do now, and I’m not even trying.  Every day I have infinite opportunity’s awaiting me. I just had to step outside my door, and look for them.

{Olympic Scultpure Park. Sailboats sailing home after Sunset. It was a nice moment}

Those Certain Moments

The first part of 2013 has been filled with a lot of good things that I needed in my life. I feel a loosening of the reigns, but as soon as they become a little too loose, I seem to pull back. I don't have the basic answers I am looking for, and that scares the hell out of me. I just have to trust myself in knowing everything is going to be taken care of. The Universe is going to take care of me.

A friend recently told me

"We can all learn something from somebody, even from a fool" 

And when I started to think about that I got a lot of more questions. Everyone has some sort of an influence on somebody. Even when you think nobody is watching, somebody is standing in the shadows.

One part of me doesn't care what people think, because I do what I want to make myself happy. I am living this life for ME. On the other hand, its nice to know that by the choices I make for myself, I am influencing somebody along the way. If it be a friend, family, co worker, or a stranger.

Getting together with a bunch of strangers seems scary to a ton of people among me. When I was a kid, all i remember hearing from adults, teachers, neighbors.. practically everyone I knew as an adults was "Don't talk to strangers". I get that kids don't have much working for them, so that alert of raising a human being can be stressful. I imagine it being like wanting this person to grow up in one piece, and feeling great about what kind of life I had helped build for someone. As I was a kid, that saying was anxiety ridden for me. This made me think about why so many people are struck by fathom when I make a comment, or observation their way. Isolation from the world looks like it can get depressing. Getting out of my comfort zone gives me a spike of the good anxiety, just the dose I need to feel alive again. I choose to respect, share, and to understand another person that crosses my path. I would rather people think that I am a good person, and not some creepy "stranger". It also helps that I'm a girl. I feel for the men traveling out there, and how many judgments get thrown upon them, with only a glance from the eye of a passing stranger.  

I have the ability to manifest whatever I want. If I want something, nobody is stopping me, only I am stopping myself.

I owe the universe so much. It has given me life, it has given me love, and it has given me much more then I could ever possibly grasp

Some great quotes from the most amazing people that I have had a chance to share a conversation with. These people, in those moments, gave me insight. Those kind of moments made me jump into my mind, my body and my soul. These moments make me feel most alive. These are quotes I have taken in, really relished that moment, and had a chance to think further into these words.

"The grass should be green on both sides. If its green on the other side, you gotta water your own"

"14.2 billion years in the making, You and I, right here, right now, in this moment"

"I feel more like I do right now, then I did when I first got here"

"Any day without any pain, is a good day"

Chris Djämber

I met Chris, short for Christian, at the Intersection of Pike Place Market at the end of July. I noticed him when he had walked out of the hostel on the same block. Chris is a 25 year old German explorer from Stuttgart, Germany. I knew he was from out of town because I had seen the wonder in his eyes. I sensed he was just looking to tour the town, and to my avail he was. I was able to meet with Chris a few times before his trip was over.

Chris is the kind of guy that has his dreams in his hands and won’t let them escape. He traveled on his own from Germany, to Vancouver, B.C. While looking for some work he had the opportunity to spend some time on a vineyard, working for a homegrown all natural family, where there were farm animals of all kinds, (except goats, which apparently eat the grapes!) and most of the food was grown on the land and consumed by the family and their guests. This was a time I am sure he will never forget in his life.

 After his time on the vineyard, he decided to come to Seattle for a trip. He was so close to such a city with a great musical background, he couldn't pass it up. Growing up in Germany, Chris had grown up to love what our generation would call ‘Oldies but Goodies”, or maybe just “Classics”. The kind of music that came out on vinyl is what Chris had grown to love and, highly appreciate. His favorite record from the Beatles is abbey road, which is his most prized possession in his record collection. Seattle has much to offer him in his personal life for music. Jimmy Hendricks was and still is a legend in this town. While Chris doesn't play an instrument of any kind, he feels nostalgic to be around someone who can play. Out of the numerous people I have met, Chris is definitely been the one person that I can agree with when it comes to being born in the wrong decade.

Reading is another thing In Chris’s life that he does frequently. Getting into the mind of another, by paper, is a form of understanding. Just like his love for classic music, Chris has a love for classics books. There are mostly no favorites in his life because he says “There are too many things to appreciate, it’s almost impossible to pick only one and call it the best” But when it comes to books, he has an ultimate favorite, On the Road by Jack Kerouac. This book made Chris want to travel, to become something more than a garden Salesmen in Germany. Chris wanted to get out, and after reading this book, he did.

Chris is the kind of guy who is subtle, and sweet. His love for music and travel are not the only things that make him “alive”. He has a sense of a fairy tale to him. Chris appreciates the little things in life. He talked about how much he appreciated and loved his parents for understanding his commitment to his own travels in life, his connection to his father because of the music that he introduced to him as a younger boy. I can only imagine if I had an older brother traveling the world, I would be in astonished by his accomplishments, which I am sure his two younger brothers are.

I had such a good time getting to know Chris and his life story. When I had asked Chris about how he felt about traveling and his own travels in general, he simply replied “I feel free”. I felt inspired in that one moment. I felt the urge myself to take the steps into traveling. Thank you Chris, for sharing your story with me, and for really feeling the moments in life and appreciating them as they come. Your words of encouragement on me and my future travels have been taken in by my heart forever.

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Thrill Of The Journey

It's a bit scary when thinking ahead into the future, not like a day ahead, or even possibly a week, but for me, thinking any longer than that is a strain. Thinking too much into the future can cause anxiety, which can be followed by fear. Looking too much into the past can be depressing for some. I want to make sure that when I move forward in my life, I will be able to look back at the past, and feel absolutely in love with the life I had lived.

I have always been a girl who lived off impulsive decision making. In the last year or so, I've calmed down a bit, and started to really think about what I want out of my life. I guess everybody warned me about that stage, and there I was, and still here I am…just putting all the pieces together on this giant puzzle of life. While putting one piece together at a time, I am starting to figure out myself more and more which is giving me a path. One thing I have always known, and will never forget, is, Yes I still am impulsive decision maker, and I always will be. Maybe that's just another reason why traveling is perfect for me.

These last few days have got me to look inside myself, within my heart and mind, and to see what I can do to make myself the happiest person I can be. I have to knock some things out of the park, tie up loose ends. After all that is taken care of, I will see what will be on the agenda, but I won't think about it too hard. Although it will include some music festivals, and beautiful landscapes, with great company on the way, where that may be. I get the THRILL from the journey, not the destination.