In January of 2022 the Carolina's experienced three back to back weekends of snow. You'd think being from Montana that it would put me in a happy place. Not true. Amazing things are met when you learn to accept what nature is trying to share. What have you been called to carry? The people that walked through life before us brought with them valuable tools and lessons. Why should you be any different. Dear Future Reader. Learning to be present today creates an amazing foundation of experience and information for tomorrow.

The steps toward becoming a better listener...

The blizzard white canvas' in our every day world. Those moments we walk beyond because what we'd like to savor isn't found on the blizzard white canvas. We miss so much because they pictures painted in our imaginations have turned us into chasers. Looking for the instant victory. How can we learn from the blizzard white canvas? It's in nature.

The wait. So much forecasted. Days are now only hours away. The predicted first snow and ice of the winter season. No owls are hooting. Not falcons screeching. Not even a deer to be seen. The wait. More is moving through my head then leaves on a tree. Do the trees feel the sting of the 40 degree day? Where are the bouncy squirrels? All must be stuck in the same thought. If I close my eyes will the approaching bad weather go away? I've seen this forest in snowflake white. I've fallen witness to it being crystalized. That's where everyone is. They're in rehearsal! You can't suddenly hit the stage expecting to create wow! The wait. How can I help or participate?

The little things! Those tiny birds or insects that zip by us without being noticed. The world is too busy to take note. The little things. A 27 degree morning means what to a passerby? Yet we complain all the time that life is moving too quickly.

May 24, 2022
A huge change is coming to the forest. Within a 48 hour period we’re going to move from early winter 70’s to late night 20’s. The mind body and soul have natural ways of embracing the constant edge of unpredictable outcomes. No matter how many years of experience we carry, the natural disturbance plays with the human heart. It generates challenges. Learning to see the forest for what it is teaches us to move through our seasons. Understanding the impact of sudden disturbances shouldn’t go unseen. So often we want others to be what best fits into our life and purpose. When that doesn’t materialize, the distance provided is like an approaching winter storm. The relationship is cold which creates the atmosphere of not wanting to reignite the origin of the relationship. Listening is the seed. Developing a true habit of listening strengthens the body’s intake of other people’s expressions. Practice listening inside a forest. It teaches us how to build a connection with all things. We’re guilty of showing up to have a conversation but while it’s unfolding our thoughts are elsewhere. That’s not listening. We’re practicing the wrong way. Get into the now. Stay in the now. Build the conversation without wandering. Don’t make it only about only you.

Garrick is one. He finds great joy in pointing at the black bear statue in my forest. On Christmas Eve I placed a black bear statue on his side of the forest. I didn't want to tell him where to locate it. That's part of the excitement of life. Locating things that others have put on your path and not telling you about it until your heart and eyes find it. The same is true about conversations. Just like the bear in the forest people endlessly say things that go unnoticed. The moment you locate the bear in the conversation things get deeper and more meaningful.

A slow casual stroll through and beside the forest. Dampened by extremely light raindrops. Grey cloudy sky. The scent of a fireplace nearby. Just us walking. Slipping into a moment that's never the same twice. Trying to rid the mental system of the blocks that have cracked a wall. I can't leave them on the ground like bread crumbs in fear that I'll find my way back to the self designed foundations. I call this my transition walk. Allowing the universe to have a voice in a very busy and noisy head. I've always let the small stuff instantly injure. I sulk in it like cookies in milk. It's never a dessert but rather a desert. A long dried up path with layers of solid rock put into place and play to preserve whatever's available and mentally valuable. The transition walk.

How does your balance look today? With so much uncertainty life has a way of turning each of us into leaners. In martial arts we put a lot of focus on the front stance. No matter how steep the mountain the front stance which was taken from the cow kept us in touch with balance. Prepared for the unexpected. Physically prepared for the aftermath.