“We shall not cease from exploration

And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time."

-TS Eliot

I just returned from my second wing surfing adventure.
It included camping
alone
next to a river that sang to me all night,
marveling at the stars' vivacious multitudes and
shamelessly
snuggling my stuffed donkey, Hee Haw, throughout my journey.
He rode shotgun on the way home, until Everett traffic launched him from his perch.

I love learning new things. I am an insatiable explorer with copious questions. I love to visit art galleries and lose my footing at all the new ideas folks are continuously bringing to form and life. I am delighted to find new ways to be in the body, like holding an inflated, nylon, dragonfly-like wing, while balancing on my paddle board. I am learning to use my body like a mast and translator of the wind, guiding my feet to (try to) have some agency over my direction, going faster and faster! I wish you could hear my giddy laughter when I face plant into the water again and again.

This tag showed up on my teabag in camp. This tea has been stowing away, for years, among my Swiss Army knife and red checkered table cloth.

I only chose it because I forgot my favorite tea. I've enjoyed tea for decades, and put some value in these "fortunes", yet never had I seen this quote.

Catwoman.

Who pitched this as a contender for tea bag wisdom? 

Who thinks up all this fun stuff? Folks who are willing to get bored, that's who. My kids used to complain of boredom, and my irritating mama reply would be that they were so lucky, they could finally figure out what they like to do.

Creativity means a lot experimenting, lots of ugly omelettes and crooked outlines. We could call these mistakes, but they're part of the process of finding what we love to do, or make, or be. We must find the courage to do things differently if we want to grow.

Here’s what Rob Breszney has to say:

Your weirdness will make you strong.

Your dark side will keep you whole.

Your vulnerability will connect you to the rest of our suffering world.

Your creativity will set you free.

There’s nothing wrong with you.

If you’ve been waiting for the next installment of my creative project, hopefully you’ve been following along here. Some words got cut off here: it says, She comforted herself with (her own arms)

Wouldn’t you like your magic stone, your birthright totem, to return to you? What changes would happen to you and those in your world? Would it help you say the things you’ve never said, those words that would liberate your soul? Untame you? Make you unafraid?

From the sanctuary of the ocean floor, Dahlia’s bubbles allow her to speak without censorship, uninterrupted, and release her fears.

I hope this is inspiring you. I’ll close the story in next week’s newsletter. For now, spend some time in nature and feel for your refuges. Do you like the ferns, the forest, the ocean? Maybe it’s the roses in your own yard that allow you to speak your truths.