Hippy Go Lucky Hoops: The mountains are calling and I must go

Man oh man....did that summer come and go or what! Hello September!

Ok, so lack of posts. It's been a whirlwind of a few weeks for me...Lots of changes on the horizon. I am totally okay with it. They are much needed and necessary -- I'm welcoming them with open arms. I've been going through some tough personal challenges. But sometimes the pain brings you through to a whole new self. Sometimes when reality bitch slaps you in the face it's like, "Alright...I got this. Bring it." And just when you think you can't take anymore...the Universe grabs you by the shoulders and tells you it's time to heal.

As a writer, I make constant notes in my head. Everything in life is a symbolic representation of something I can think deeper about and really explore in my writing. For example, the beard, my dog and myself decided to hike to the top of a mountain. It was completely spur of the moment and neither one of us were planning to hike the entire trail. But once we started there really was no point in stopping.

Life is a lot like climbing a mountain. You start things off innocently enough with the best intentions: you want the stretch your legs, get your dog some exercise, see the amazing view at the top. And then in the midst of the hike you start the struggle. It's really steep, you're out of breath and sweating. You need to take some breaks. You consider turning around before reaching the top. But we wanted to see that damn view. And we worked this hard, why turn back now?

And then you get to the top and you are overwhelmed by the beauty. Suddenly, the struggle all seemed so incredibly worth it for that beautiful moment. You feel empowered by what you accomplished. And then, after the initial awe of the view goes away, you remember how much you actually really enjoyed the hike up. You remember the process and what it took to get to the top..and even though it was hard and you realized how out of shape you are, it's when you are fighting with yourself to make it up that mountain that you realize who you are and your capabilities. I thought to myself: "maybe being at the top isn't what it's all about. Maybe it's the struggle in the journey of getting there and the people that are right by your side that make life the most beautiful."

Switching gears a little bit: I have been detoxing from technology. It started when my phone decided to die on me. It wont take a charge or come back to life at all. So she's crapped out. Normally I feel like I would go to get it fixed immediately because living without a phone in this day and age is unheard of. But I really wasn't in any rush. Sometimes all my phone does is bring me bad news. So I decided to take a little break and see how I felt without it.

I love it. I love not having it with me. I love not being one of those people sitting with another group of people NOT talking to each other and scrolling through a news feed, playing a game, texting or one of the other endless things you can do with a smart phone. Will I get it fixed? Yes. Will I downgrade and get a simple phone? Perhaps. That is being heavily debated. It has made certain things a little difficult, having to rely on other people to make phone calls and not being able to get back to people as quick as possible..but honestly, there was life before cell phones and I have discovered there is life after! It's been nice having a break from blogging, facebook, mobile uploads and all of that stuff. We don't live in the moment enough!

I had another really awesome hoop dance class this week. It always lifts my spirit, even when I am feeling low. The people that come to hoop with me are the best part of my day. A really great guy named Daniel came to hoop with us at the end of class. He has been watching from a distance all summer an he always gives me really nice compliments after class about how cool the hoop tricks are. I invited him to join us and this week he gave it a spin. I feel blessed to be able to make people smile with my hoops.