Musing

-1C/31F, clearing, mild, calm, nicest morning in a quiet a while - snow and slush starting to feel like spilled slurpees underfoot; like so many times before . . teased all the way 'round the lagoon, the rabbit kept moving ahead, staying just within sniff distance driving Gusta goes a little bit nuts each time

Gusta leaves for her vacation at the pet resort in a little while; work left to do before I go has diminished to a small manageable volume for this morning, packing awaits . . computer, reading, shorts, shirts, clubs, sun-screen . . 10 minutes tops . . then I’ll be off to an airport hotel this afternoon . . . 24 hours from now I will be in the air

recent days saw many calls and notes from friends wishing me a pleasant vacation, a happy trip etc. – mostly I think they sense how much going there means to me – how incredibly special it is on my priority list: I think, how lucky I am that I can have this passion AND indulge it, each time I go there

why not indulge passions?

so many people I see around my world don’t; they work, live in homes, save, invest, raise families, have relationships - all good stuff - but so often I hear people speaking of wishes, hopes, dreams unfulfilled; I hear them say things like 'I wish I could . . .', 'I have always wanted to …..' or 'I had always wanted to do ________ but never did', or 'I can't afford to go, I have to get my teeth fixed'

if we do anything in life worth doing, I think we should INCLUDE our passions, not exclude them; if we have duties, responsibilities and obligations that is fine . . we should do them most of the time with a view to 'what would happen to those elements of my life if I wasn't here?', then make contingency plans - but NOT shelving dreams, passions or deep needs

I don’t want to go on this trip, I don’t have to go on this trip; I choose to go on this trip and the moment I get there I will be planning the next one and the moment I get back I will be thinking about it – not to the exclusion of many important things – but by making sure I don’t forget how important it is each time

I find myself burning to get back to Maui, not just for the break from winter, the great golf, the pleasure of palm trees and easy walking beaches, not just for the humidity, the warmth of the air, the kindness of people made gentle by that incredible place - but because I feel gentle there, each time

I've read of Gaugin's tumultuous life, finally finding all his 'ingredients' in one place - a paradise called Tahiti only to die there, far to youn at 54, but having relished that experience and having done his greatest work there where he found such glorious inspiration

I read Mark Twain’s praise each time he visited Hawaii and of his sadness not getting back there again late in his life

“Life is like a song, you have to enjoy it while it plays because you never know if it will come on again.” - Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin

someone asked the other day, if I am now or have experienced a mid-life crisis

I answered that I’ve not hit that bump in my road, but I feel my visits to Maui are certainly preventing me from having one, each time I go there

self indulgent, you bet

worth every moment, every dollar, all the time

each time

not Paradise Lost, but PARADISE FOUND, each time

Mark
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