Ode to My Undergrad Experience

I am filled with gratitude for the profound transformation that has taken place through the wide range of experiences made available to me through my Evergreen degree.

Ideas.
Ideas.
Ideas.
Ideas.
Tactile.
Applicable.
Experiential.
Community-based.
Connected.
Motivated.
Understanding.
Real.
Exploring.
Memorizing.
Creating.
Thinking abstract.
Love.
Aliveness.
Research.
Dedication.

Discipline.
Planning.
Organizing.
Outlining.
Ideas.
Ideas.
Ideas.
Ideas.

The realities which are the fabric of this setting represent what I would like to create for myself in the coming years. Here, ideas are allowed to take flight and swirl in the minds of young, idealistic misfits with the container of the academic world holding them accountable for follow-through. Nothing is impossible as long as you know who to talk to, which rules to follow (and which ones are breakable and under what circumstances), and how to connect to the people that are doing what you want to do.

Ultimate freedom,
Within definite boundaries,
A perfect dichotomy that somehow transcends its own.

Criteria that must be met in order to move forward....

A rough outline of ______________ (fill in the blank with whatever your mind desires).

Creativity does not, as I previously had thought, exist only in a painting, colored-pencil sketch, or hand-stitched outfit, assembled with eclectic scraps of material.
Creativity is not just found in an art gallery in the city,
because the whole world is an art gallery!
Every aspect of this life is touched with a piece of yourself, transformed into something different simply because you interacted with it.
Once this is understood, the beauty of each pulsing breath becomes an act of utter divinity,
and life,
a joyfully painful engagement that just is.
Nature manifests this best,
and we are all a part of nature.

My college experience started out as a blank canvas. The canvas was the limitation, yes, but it also provided the space for the vivid painting that now rests upon it, nearing its completion. I thought when I graduated I would hang this proudly on my wall, only to realize that the painting would dissolve and only the memory of the experience of painting it would remain a part of my cells for always.

Not Broken (but I knew that)

"Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is her patience."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson



Injuries are our greatest teachers!

It has been one year since I've been able to use my wrist in the ways I have in the past; Pressing, weight bearing, sculpting, digging, carrying, and bending all lead to an achy feeling inside. Practicing all weight bearing yoga postures on my forearms since May, I've had to challenge my desire to "accomplish" postures and instead, find out what yoga truly is, awareness of body and breath.

When teaching yoga, I've wrestled with the challenging of articulating the poses with words, rather than simply offering a visual demonstration. I've had to shed my previous assumption that, as a yoga teacher, I should be able to do everything I teach- not true, not true!

Taking care of the body is important. The most effective way to take care of the body aside from action (pursuing the necessary medical attention) is equanimity. Pain X Resistance = Suffering. Pain X 0 = 0. Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. This wrist injury is, to some extent, the least awkward of some of the ouches I've experienced in this lifetime. It is the perfect opportunity to practice equanimity.

"Forever is composed of nows."

-Emily Dickinson