Journeys Away from the False Self

I know that I promised to discuss Thoreau on the blog, but it’s also about my spiritual journey which weighs heavily on the Tao and my Dr. Dyer readings. This particular adventure was inspired by my finishing of The Shift, I hope you enjoy it!Today I thought let’s go to the Park. So here now I sit on the most beautiful of days. The sun is shining, the temperature is perfect and there’s a breeze. I decide to swing, to explore the loss of self. So often as we age we consider things like swinging and playing the sort of things that children do. Adults are serious and have responsibility. So why the hell would a 23-year-old drag herself to the park on a work day? Well for starters I have done many posts on the benefits and my boy Mark Sisson’s is a big abdicate of play. but most importantly it takes you back closer to your beginning and true self. Have you ever watched a child play? They’re careless. They’re not yet conditioned to the thoughts of society and trying to portray a false image to the World that the ego says will make them accepted. They’re not thinking about how the other children perceive them. They’re motions are not contrived, they don’t worry about anything, thus they just ARE. It’s sad how this fades though. I’ve watched this with my nephews. Trenton would pick up any worm fishing a month ago and Saturday after watching Gavin refuse, he too would no longer pick up any worms. So today I find myself on the swing exploring my own inner child (or true self), not caring what time it is or what I have to get done today or what the lady pushing her daughter besides me thinks, just moving hypnotically with the wing. I explore my different senses. Watching the water flow gently (yet powerfully) down the river and the green trees surrounding. I close my eyes and hear the wind rustle through the tress as the birds chirp along while my swing creaks persistently in the background. Here too I feel. I grasp the swings of the swing and feel my body sway methodically back and forth. Feel the sun light up my back and shoulders as the breeze pushes my hair back. It’s amazing how something as simple as a swing at the park (that is free) can bring so much enlightenment and be so freeing to the spirit. Dance, play, sing, and find the hidden true self, rather than the false one shown to the world!

Unstuff

My adorable little home

Today is book review/reflection after reading the book Unstuff. My father handed it to me as part of my spiritual education, but it’s definitely something I’ve already been striving for. Unstuff is about uncluttering life, to improve life. This goes along with the Tao’s push for cutting the strings on material possessions and Thoreau’s principle of ‘Simplify, Simplify.’ I speak from personal experience on this subject. In March I was inspired to unclutter my life. I gave away 1/2 of my possessions (and at least 3/4 of my revered closet)

Trying to be Perfect vs. Accepting Perfection

My hikes bring me to such a state of being and enigmatic enlightenment, that’s why I do them nearly everyday. Here is what I discovered (or rather reflected on) yesterday on my hike. Talking with my mom about addiction and coping has made me realize how far I’ve come in a year, especially the last 3 months. I’ve been battling myself and my body for so long. Last year I gave up grains, starches, and sugars (since May the only bit I’ve had was the rice in the few sushi rolls I had on my birthday), but still I struggled fluctuating 5-10 pounds, just overeating. Then 3 months ago it clicked. In my late teens and early 20’s I would succumb to bingeing. Either eating or sleeping away time to keep from feeling-stopping myself from living. Punishing myself. I realize now that I set myself up, trying to be perfect. Not even for myself, but trying to portray and image for everyone, caring what others thought entirely too much. When my

Musings, Mushrooms and Mario

 April is the time to hunt the abundant wild mushrooms in the Midwest. As I find myself planted in western Indiana, what better way to pass a Sunday afternoon than in search of the yummy fungi. This trip was different for my cousin Mario was my right hand man. I readily admit that he is someone who I have not spent a lot of time with. It’s odd that you have this physical tie to someone but really have no actual connection or understanding of them. Often with extended families, we take them for granted and often end up strangers. If asked questions about your uncles and cousins’ lives could you answer (although Facebook is a modern way of keeping up more on others affairs)? It’s like I’ve written about before with rock climbing or hunting. Our friends and family are there but how often do we engage or interact or share experiences with them? You see someone a couple of times a year and you’re automatically supposed to have a bond with these people? I think not. Which is something I’ve been working on-relationships. I went hunting just me and my grandpa this year and me and Cliff have thrown out fishing in Texas with him. My grandma is another story that I’ll have to contemplate (although me and my other grandma have been discussing an art class this summer and are working on a garden). I’ve taken Elizabeth rock-climbing. Me and Dad hike; Cliff and I hunt and are going on a camping trip; Amanda and I have went rock-climbing and have future plans for tattoos and to plant a garden; I’ve taken the boys to the Children’s

Tales of the Tao Traveler

Me and Half Dome

Hello there! Some may not be aware of what the Tao is, but like Ashton Shepard says ‘Look it up.’ As a few of you may know I just returned from a four-day trip to California and Yosemite National Park. In this post I hope to not only relay my experience to you, but delve into my personal thoughts on the on-goings and life in general (hence the Tao). Just to lay out now: previously some may perceive me to be ‘shy’ and I would struggle to just ask someone for a refill, so this is a trip of many firsts where I have to take my own initiative (needless to say I tore down all kinds of walls). Saturday morning I waved good-bye to mom at 5 am to depart on my first solo flight (layover and all); finally reaching my destination of San Francisco, California at around 10. I caught my own taxi (another first) to take me to the Ferry Building to purchase bus and train tickets to the park. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, there was minimal wind, the sun was shining, and the temperature was just perfect. Once I arrived at my destination I was a little taken aback to see this huge market sprawling in front of me. Eventually though I find the station to get my tickets, to discover that I have two hours to meander around the city. I explore the market, taking in all its wonders: extra-virgin olive oil, organic fruits and vegetables in abundance, smoked salmon, organic herbs and seasonings, everything. Needless to say I was not only in awe, but in love (why do I not have this in Terre Haute! I was a little envious of the city at that point). For the two hours I wander aimlessly around the city trying not to have an agenda, rather just absorbing the city and all that it beheld. I stopped by a man’s station, where he played his makeshift drumset of trash cans and coffee cans. Upon reading I learn that his car had been broken into and his original set stolen, yet his sign said ‘Life is Good’. What a beautiful notion that this man can have everything taken from him and still have such a positive outlook on life. I place money in his tin and he gives me the most joyful smile (which I try my best to replicate) and move on to wonder down the streets. On returning to the market a young man (barefooted and dreaded hair), who approaches me acquiring about my visit and pack. ‘Well welcome to California. Do you want to smoke weed.’ Well I am a little taken aback, but manage to somehow politely deny him and tell him that I haven’t done that and that I don’t see a need to. Well he was baffled because he’d never met anyone that hadn’t smoked pot. This kind of set the tempo from where the day went from here. I boarded a bus to Emeryville, where I connected for a two hour train ride to Merced. Here is

From Lake to Table

Beautiful day on the lake-April 5th

Yesterday my brother and I went fishing (and I’ll admit that there were times where I was not very Godly or like water, starting in the beginning). I was late getting off and hungry-the usual suspects when excuses rear their ugly heads. But why was I letting this affect me now? It was a beautiful (a smidge chilly) and we still had a few hours of sunlight. So we take off into the wilderness with all our gear and Cliff’s proud findings from Gander Mountain. As we’re trekking it occurs to me how special this moment is, how every moment spent with my brother is special. But this was different. He told me last week that he’s considering moving to Montana (and I’m doing my best to remain Tao-like and not judge or implement my own thoughts- its his life not mine and I can’t

The Project

Me and my mama after one of my favorite things to do- hiking

This is a project, how long it will last and what will happen I don’t know, which I think is part of the excitement. I Brittany was formerly a control freak and am now trying to live in a state of being, where I am bendable, rather than stuck in my ways always with a plan for what’s to come and knowing exactly where my life is going. I do admit I was alittle uppity and nervous about not knowing what is going to happen, but I have come to embrace living in the moment rather than worrying what my happen tomorrow, or thinking that something is challenging or going to be hard (instead I think the opposite of hard is easy and that each house starts by laying one brick). This is came into being while I was reading Dr. Wayne Dyer’s Change Your Thoughts Change Your Life. I had an emphiany that I needed to move out of my rental house and build my own cabin (this my prior to my true interest in Thoreau), to be closer to Nature and my Source and to try and renounce my urges for more material objects and ‘stuff’. I didn’t think that it was stupid or that it would be hard, people lived with electricity, heat, and all of those other amenities for most of human