Starting the Year in Nature…

This year I decided it was time to upgrade my camera. Found a great deal on a Canon Rebel, and am suffering no buyer’s remorse (ok, maybe a little). I’m actually pretty excited – not that my other camera was no good, but this one is much better.

I didn’t get the opportunity to celebrate the New Year like most of the world, since I had to speak in the morning. I totally missed the ball drop, Dick Clark and all the craziness that goes along with it. It’s ok, ever since I was little, I have preferred quiet solitary places. So, that’s just what I did after I spoke: went to a solitary place.

2011 was a year of finding “not-so-hidden” gems right here in my own backyard, the Bay Area of Cali. I’ve taken up hiking the hills, enjoying the nature, and letting the serenity of it all speak to me about me and the world around me. Something about the quiet… you would think it would be the perfect time to start “thinking”, but I find that it is more of a time to relax my mind. To stop the constant barrage of thoughts, ideas, worries and frustrations, and allow the quiet to rejuvenate me. There are times that I engage in self thought, but this day was not going to be one of them. I just wanted to walk, take in the sights, take some pictures, and breathe…So I finished up my conversations at church, changed into my comfy clothes, and headed up to another place I’ve never been before: Muir Woods.

The day actually couldn’t have been better. San Francisco was in the 60′s, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Even traffic was light, because the games were already underway or over, and people had gotten their fill the night before. The drive would have been kind of long for most people, but not for me. I took in the sights of the city, and just enjoyed the quiet calm of the day.

I stopped a couple of times to see where I could take pictures. I am still getting used to the camera, so I expected some of the shots to be throw away ones, but that didn’t really matter. In time, I will make my photography teacher proud, but for this trip, it was about solitude.

I was pretty amazed at the scenery. How the trees grew towards the light or toward each other. How every part of nature was connected. How in the midst of what seemed like no life, something beautiful would be displayed.

I loved the occasional flower in the midst of the total green, the creeping vines all the way up 20 and 30 foot trees, even the naturally felled trees that dotted the landscape. It was all fine, just the way it was.

I’m sure i’ll go back at some point to experience more of what this area has to offer. Maybe I’ll make my way to Stinson Beach, who knows. All in all, it was a good day.

Notable Notables: See the rest of the pictures here: http://s651.photobucket.com/albums/uu238/thekidh/MuirWoods_2012/

Silent Wisdom From the Cali Coast…

Today, I had something on the schedule that I just couldn’t get to. Too much other stuff to do. Anyway, I got close, I really did, but in the consideration of it all, I realized it was not gonna happen. I ended up on the coast instead.

It was cold and cloudy, not at all what I would have preferred, but still very beautiful. I found myself in places I had never been before (and some that I had), and saw some creation for the first time. It was amazing.

Spending time with nature can be pretty exhilarating. No hum of electronics, no blaring images on TV, just the majestic beauty of the world. There is something powerful in the silence of nature. Life takes on a different perspective. Enough talk, I’ll let you experience some of what I was able to take in. Enjoy! (you can see all the pics here: http://s651.photobucket.com/albums/uu238/thekidh/Cali%20Coast%205_2011/)

Riding Horses…

Earlier this week,  I visited some friends who have a ranch in Nevada.  Being a city/suburban kid, the only time I got close to farm animals was on school field trips. There were some  ranches around the area I lived growing up, but all I would do is run by them and see the animals from a distance.

While my friend was showing me his horses, he threw out  the obvious question,

“do you want to ride?”

 Well, obvious to him. It was literally the last thing on my mind, if it entered my mind at all. Of course, I know people ride horses, and I have some close friends who have ridden competitively, but for me, I was a complete newbie (aside from the one very short ride when I was about 13).

I didn’t feel like I could say no. It’s like an invitation to dinner when you are already in the person’s house: saying no is almost an insult to their cooking. He was sharing something that was special to him, and I have learned through various cultural experiences that it is very important to be appreciative when people want to share.

Al and Carolyn began prepping the horses – brushing them down, putting the saddles on (which was a fascinating process in itself), then finally setting the bit and reins. The horses were ready, and so was I, or so I thought. I climbed up on the horse, and tried to keep my game face on, but truthfully I was freaking out. My issue? This thing under me was starting to move on its own, and I couldn’t control it.

They gave me the briefest of instructions, and as I resisted asking all of the “what if’s” going through my head, we were off. We rode up the mountain, and I reacted to every attempt my horse made to run. I wanted to enjoy myself through the ride, but I was too afraid that if I allowed my horse to do anything, there’s no telling where I would end up. I had all of those Hollywood reels running through my brain of horses that got spooked and the poor rider clutching for dear life as the horse ran at full tilt.  I broke my death grip on the saddle, and my associated fear long enough to notice that my friends were about as free as they could be – letting the horses do what they wanted, riding without hands, just having fun. I wanted to be that free.

Something happened to me on the second half of the ride. I began to trust my horse. I’m not sure why – maybe I figured I had no choice, or maybe because I realized that the horse was actually working with me. On one occasion I watched as she went away from the trail, and thought she was trying to just go off on her own, but realized that she was just trying to walk on a smoother surface. I relaxed my grip on the rein, and in one sense, gave myself over to the horse. She found her footing aside the path, and followed my friends’ horses down the hill. I looked up, breathed a sigh of relief, and gazed at the beauty of the valley below me. I was finally having fun on the ride.

Giving up control is such a hard thing for me. I like knowing what I am doing, where I am going, and how I am getting there. One of the downsides of this, though, is that I can be so focused on my destination that I miss the journey. There are times, for sure when we have to execute, implement and get things done. There are others, though, when it is appropriate to take the passenger seat, and let someone else drive. Or, in the case of my horsey ride, share the control. This is new for me, as I have always considered myself the “get it done person”. However, I have been blessed with some great people around me. Family, friends, coworkers, even a horse or two. All with great things to contribute, all there to share this journey with me.

I remember something one of the church mothers told me a long time ago. “Don’t ever turn down a gift”. Now, for the life of me, I don’t remember doing it, but she did, and wasn’t going to let me make that same mistake twice. The gift doesn’t have to be monetary, or anything like that. With my ride, the gift was relaxing and enjoying it while my horse did the work.

Next time I go, I’ve been told we will let the horses run… ok, yeah, I’m a bit scared, but not as much as I was before. I figure they (the horses and my friends) know what they are doing, so I can focus on the fun part. I’m actually looking forward to it.

A Whole Lot O’ Nothin…

 

I called my dad on my way home from work today. I decided that my life wasn’t complicated enough, that I would use my only sanctuary (my car) to, not relax and de-stress from the craziness of the day – no, I was going to use that time to catch up on all of the calls I hadn’t been able to do at any other time in my busy days… Go ahead, say it “Hopkins, you are plain nuts”…

Anyway, I called him, and he hit me with the question that just stopped me in my tracks…

So, what’s going on?

I had just come from I don’t know how many meetings, about 100 or so emails, rescheduling 1:1′s with my staff, preparing for the next day’s meetings, planning the night of sermon writing, meeting prep, scheduling running training and other such things flooding my mind, and what was my answer?

Nothing…

I couldn’t think of anything meaningful to tell him. Did I just think that he wouldn’t be interested in all the wild and crazy things I had to deal with? Or maybe I didn’t think those things were of any real interest to me… Dunno, still trying to figure it out. I decided to take the safe route, and talk about the kids. Grandparents are always up to hearing about grandkids. Whew! I got out of that one… I really gotta plan those phone calls better. How dare I call and have nothing to talk about! (that’s how I’m beating myself up. I’m sure there’s some therapy out there for me – chocolate therapy, or Rose Milk tea therapy or something )

I started thinking about what “nothing” would really look like. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that sometimes, “nothing” is pretty valuable. I remember as a kid watching Multiplication Rock, and one of my favorite (ok, I really liked them all) was “My Hero Zero”. Not because I liked zero all that much, but I just liked the song. But the story is just as good – Zero starts out as, well, nothing, but you add zero to any number, and you multiply it by 10… that’s pretty cool.

So, I’m thinking about what would happen if I added “nothing” to certain aspects of my life (doesn’t that sound weird?). For me, that can be turning off the music while I drive, and just sitting in silence. Maybe not turning on the news in the morning to see the traffic (it will only stress me out anyway). Maybe it’s coming home and not working for once. Just sitting down and experiencing my family (whoever is home… they are all just as crazy busy as me).

When I was a tiny tyke, one of my mom’s favorite memories of me was that I would go in the kitchen, take all the pots and pans out of one of the bottom cabinets, climb in and shut the door, and just sit there. I could do that for hours. My mom would check on me every now and then, ask me if I was ok, to which I would just nod. She would shut the door, and we were both fine. I’m thinking I had something there…

Maybe that’s what the whole Sabbath rest thing is all about: dialing back, rejuvenating, stopping to smell the roses, all that. It’s amazing how different people look when you see them for more than a split second.

So, the next time you may ask me “what’s up?” I may tell you “Nothin”, and really mean it. And there’s nothing wrong with nothing…