Travel keepsakes and Inspirations

Mykonos, Greece

                                                                      

If you know me, or have read my blog you probably know how much I love to travel. I was looking for a photo the other day and came across some of my pictures from various trips. It was great to see them, and re-visit those wonderful places, but I must say It didn't help subside the travel urge I constantly battle. Especially because lately for some reason it is stronger than ever. I think its because a lot of my friends are traveling and I don't have any trips planned or coming up to put my energy into....
Sigh.
And because today I feel stressed and really just feel like leaving my stresses behind and escaping..

Well enough of my self pity party. Hope you enjoy the photos.

Yosemite

                                                      

Paris

Bali, Indonesia

Maui, Hawaii

Bruges, Belgium

Yosemite 

Naxos, Greece

Mykonos, Greece

Napa, California

Naxos, Greece

Maui, Hawaii

Bali, Indonesia

Palm Desert, CA

Santorini, Greece

Palm Springs, ca

Bali, Indonesia

Santorini, Greee

Mykonos, Greece

Those Nights

Those nights, usually in summer, that stir a thing that's hard to describe, they are rare. Sacred is the way I'd put it. Its about an intangible. Something that simultaneously creates a euphoria ethereal, and a a longing so deep and sorrowful you know it can never be quenched.
Beauty reaches as far as the eye can see. The kind that fills the moment so that it feels like it might burst.  Perfect temperature combined with the awesome display of nature grandiose is almost too much. Its hard to believe the world exists in this way. An expanse so vivid and breathtaking has to fill the void. It should be enough to feel the moment of perfect peace deep in the soul, in the bones.
But beauty so impressive can't help but make us feel all too lonely. After all, how can we compare? Our imperfections become all too large and exaggerated. We long to create something so beautiful, but alas, we will never. We become so small and helpless. There is too much and we are not enough. And how many of these scenes will we never reach? Beyond the horizon lies so many nights and displays of wonder we long so deeply to see and know we can never reach. Our thoughts thrown into the void come back to us with a sense of wonder, but also with much defeat and despair.
And companionship is a necessity for our nature, but we know it is not still and unwavering like these surroundings. It is a constant quest full of compromise, and we worry that with each that we lose some of ourselves. The still and overwhelming beauty of these serene moments made possible by such settings will be disturbed, like the perfect glassy waters of a sunset lake erupting with ripples when rocks are thrown. Hard and fast they hit, and the recovery is slow and sad.
Those nights are emotion. A word that means nothing to some. A jumble of flowery words that have no real support. But the beauty is overpowering. We are at once awed and saddened. And so we can sit on the edge of a dock, looking out at a glassy lake into a vivid sunset and wish  to stay forever in the peace, love one in the beauty, and want to dive into the lake and float aimlessly knowing in melancholy how perfectly small and incapable we are.

 Those nights
 remain burned in my mind.

Pumpkins and Brownies

Today was surprisingly, a rainy day.  Its been close to 80 degrees lately, so a cool rainy day was quite a change. Coincidentally October has just begun. It feels like with the beginning of this month, fall has officially arrived.
Perhaps because of the weather, I left work feeling the need for homeyness and an urge for domesticity. When I got home I decided to add the little fall touches and small amounts of decor that give a nod to the season to our house. Fall wreath on the door, some mini pumpkins, fall leaves. I love seasons and holidays.  Its always fun to celebrate, but I think part of what makes me love them is the sentimentality. Holidays, and even seasons, at least for me, evoke memories and feelings of family, security, tradition and generally just warmth and joy. Times to take a break from work or school and be together, most often in the warmth of a cozy home. After all, home is where the heart is, wherever that may be.
And to add to the coziness, (and deliciousness) of it all, I baked chocolate brownies from scratch. I just took them out of the oven and the wonderful smell is filling my house.

I feel so blessed that I have a safe and happy home in which to celebrate the seasons and holidays, and also to have such a wonderful husband to enjoy it all with. I can only hope that when I have children that they will come to love the seasons and holidays, my little decorations and touches and feel so safe, warm, secure and happy. I hope they will look back on the seasons and holidays with love for all these reasons.
Here's wishing you the joy and warmth of the seasons and the glorious traits and qualities of each as they change. May you find warmth and comfort in the celebrations of nature and holidays spent with loved ones. Happy fall!

A Few of My Favorite Things

So tomorrow I get to do two things I really love. How often does that happen in one day?!
The San Francisco Ballet is coming to a theatre in Orange County and I get to go see them!! My friend Allie and I are heading up and going to dinner at a French Restaurant and then going to the ballet!
French food and the ballet, swoon!
We are going to see the mixed program, which is composed of several short pieces that often include some modern ballet, and that is my favorite! There are not many better than the San Francisco ballet and I cannot wait!!
What a blessing to get to spend the evening with my friend enjoying great food and beautiful art!
To me, these are the things that make life worth living!

Carpe Diem

Here is a video of a principal dancer from San Francisco ballet that I just love to watch! She is beautiful!

Rid The Toxins

    

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul.” - John Muir

I Really feel like i could use some of this (nature + solitude + peace) today...

   

Post Script

“Not all those who wander are lost.”
― J. R. R. Tolkien

Dreams and Travels and Wanderings

I came across a blog of an old friend's tonight that I really enjoyed. I didn't know, but I guess she has become a photographer and this blog contained many of her lovely photos. A bulk of recent posts held photos from her wonderful travels across Europe, especially France and the many culinary experiences held there. Now there are a few things that have a hold on my heart; France, food and photography. I spent several minutes pouring over the photos, oohing and awing and feeling my heart speed up and skip a beat as I felt the sudden urge, sudden need, to immediately get on a plane and go to France.
I love to travel. Exploring new places and discovering the idiosyncrasies that make up every different corner of the earth is a pleasure I seldom know how to describe. I love wandering, getting lost in a new and beautiful place steeped in history and a culture not my own.
What really interests me in life, fascinates me and often inspires and motivates me is people and how they feel, what they do and more importantly why they do what they do. And so literature (especially) and history are of great interest to me. Some are fascinated by how the world works; laws of nature and origins of the universe. I, unfortunately, or maybe not, am not. Instead I am fascinated by how people react to the world around them; nature and men, civilization and men, and also, men and men (or women).
It might seem egocentric, but I am truly fascinated by what we can create. Buildings, art, music, literature and writing, and trying to understand what motivates people to create and to create certain things.
I guess in a way this is sort of philosophizing and some may say in the end, what's the point? What is the point in trying to "find meaning" in life or our world, because what does it mean anyway? In contrast science seems to have a real "purpose." Study our world and beyond, try to understand how it works and how it came into being and find answers to the every day questions and hopefully, the infinite questions that plague a scientific frontier.
But shouldn't it come down to what motivates or moves you? Now, survival in almost any case doesn't depend on musings on the meaning of life, the creation of art and music. It of course depends on what we can learn to extend the longevity of our lives, ward of disease, grow food efficiently etc. I, however, would hate to imagine a world without the luxury, freedom and motivation to create and "muse."
Isn't that what makes humanity different? Instead of simple survival, we have the intellect and the luxury to  seek to go beyond survival and hopefully flourish and enjoy.
Another thing about the blog I loved (besides France) was the photography itself. I've always loved photography but have never been great at it or given it a real shot. I love most outlets for artistic creativity, and photography is no exception. Looking at these photos made me think of a quote I think I think of all too often:

 "In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts; they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty." -Ralph Waldo Emerson


I have, much like probably everyone else in this world, the desire to create. And of course we would like to create something "genius". Far too often I find that I feel myself failing to create anything of substance, and instead I see the creations of others and I become frustrated, and I admit, a little jealous. When I can truly appreciate and feel the creativity, emotion and genius in some work, I feel simultaneously so close to it, so understanding, so sharing of the ideas, and also far away from it and any wonderful creation I've seen because I lacked the ability to create it myself. I feel in awe and a failure at the same time. And sometimes, like the quote says, I feel I too had those thoughts but simply failed to express them in an effective beautiful way.
Frustration.


Looking at this blog made me think all of this and two other things.
How can I create in my life the ability to travel even more than I do (because I do have many opportunities to travel)?
And how do I create a life with both travel opportunities, lots of flexibility to go where I please and that offers a creative outlet as well?
Don't get me wrong, I love my job. I love how quick to forgive and optimistic my smiling students are. I love being able to teach them things they don't know and watch them delight in learning.
But I find it so confining at times. This may sound ridiculous, but I have a hard time having to be in the exact same place at the same time every day. I want freedom to wander and still be productive. Its the waking up early and driving back and forth and sometimes, dare I say, having to say the same thing to a little face 5 or 6 times before I get a response or an action that wears me out. 
Now maybe what I'm thinking seems impossible. We would all love to just travel and "be creative" all the time in life. I'm not really sure.
And its not like I'm unhappy. I'm extremely satisfied and happy. But sometimes you see things that make you really think about what you are passionate about and what  your ideal way to spend your time is,
priorities, per say. Mine are family and friends, traveling, making time for peace and creating (whether that be writing, photography etc). I'm not entirely sure where that leaves me..


So tonight I will dream of France and travels. Of creating a work of, if not genius, then of some substance. And I will take joy in the life I have and feel grateful for a loving husband and family and friends, for smiling little faces and freedoms and means to do a lot of what I want.
I know that's a lot to be said, and I really am not ungrateful.

I just like to "muse" and dream sometimes. 

                                                 (photo taken by yours truly)