.day 19.

I was missing my bike so much this morning. I ride my bike everyday at home - it's my transportation, my freedom and how I move energy. Then my landlord called this afternoon to tell me she had a bike for me to borrow. Bike dreams do come true! She dropped off the bike at 12:50pm with VERY flat tires. All the stores here are closed for lunch from 1-3pm so I had to wait 2 painstaking hours to get the tires pumped up. 3pm finally came and I headed out to my favorite spot, zooming (I mean it's a commuter bike with a basket...I'm not sure if it can zoom. ha ha!) past a group of very serious retired Brits dressed like they were on a guided safari adventure (this is a strange but common occurrence in my town), with a huge smile on my face. My 40 min walk to where the river meets the ocean is only a 10 minute ride so I looped back and decided to ride a bit more. I took the Ecovia - a bike path connecting the towns of the Algarve region for a little bit to see how the bike handled the muddy roads. Once I reached my planned turn around point I didn't want to turn around, I kept riding. I rode all the way to the next town over, Cabanas. It's a ghost town this time of year, most of the year. Some developers got too excited with hopes of a new surge in tourism to the Algarve region and slapped up complex after complex of cookie cutter condos with unnecessary barred windows. My new friend in town, she owns a used bookstore and gives me endless travel ideas/inspirations/temptations every time I visit her, told me that for the most part the stacks of condos stay empty except for a few families renting one for the Easter holiday. It's sad to see implusive/disconnected development in such a beautiful place. I kept on the bike path, I wanted to see the waterfront. I found Cabanas to have a nice little boardwalk. It's about 3 blocks long and has about 4 cafe/bars and a beautiful view of the docked fishing boats, a narrow sandy beach and a small marshy island.  Listen to this if you need to set the mood. The marshy coastline and fishing boats had such a strong New England vibe to them. I made me think of spring time on the coast, taking trips up to Portland, Maine to visit my friend, Abbi.



I think I could live so many places, I fall in love easily with landscapes. I love being surrounded by mountains so enormous if makes me feel dizzy, overwhelmed by the smells of sage and the warm desert hues, trips down winding muddy country roads, laying on the beach with towering dunes of Cape Cod or soaking up the salty air and relaxing cadence of the ocean lapping up on the beach. Maybe that's why it's so easy for me to move but there is something truly magical about New England, its can be wild or ridigly regal and sometimes both. I felt that same wild energy on the boardwalk of Cabanas as the sun was setting and the damp chill was setting in. I just wanted to sit at the cafe with a glass of wine and enjoy the view a little longer but I had to I forced myself to turn back before it was going to be dark. I'll be back.




What place(s) captivate you? What's your favorite view?

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In other events, I started reading Lily Stockman's blog again, she always inspires me. She doesn't post there anymore but reading her posts again feels like reading old letters from a friend. Today is the first FULL moon of 2016, full moon in leo. What a way to start the year! I am dreaming about taking a bus/ferry ride over to Morocco (it's only 5 hours away), one of the great suggestions from my bookstore friend. Speaking of books, I'm traveling to Faro 3x a week for my metalsmith class which means a lot of time on the train. I found A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley at the bookstore, a book I seen a few times but never picked up. I just started it, it's a story of a family farming in the Iowa which feels strange looking out the train window to see the ocean, salt marshes, and orchard after orchard of orange trees. I also just heard about this guy and his 100 days of self connection, such an interesting thought! I'm curious to watch more of his videos.

.moments of AWE.

I heard Jason Silva's words, "our environment sets the stage for our experience" a few days ago and I can't stop thinking about that statement and the truth it holds for me. I've been processing SO MUCH in the past 16 days (I can't believe i've been here 16 days!!) but the process has seemed bright - fruitful - the air of potential underlines everything all because - or I believe because I wake up everyday in love with my home - my kitchen - my rooftop - my bedroom - my town - my environment. 

Today I walked down to where the river meets the ocean (my favorite place) and found 5 huge jellyfish on the beach - the fishy salty air - the cadence of the waves all layering to produce a state of AWE inside of me. I starting thinking about Jason's words and my experience the past few weeks and started to wonder...what if we lived in AWE, not all the time but if we experienced regular moments of AWE? How would it influence/affect our abilities to live/process/accept the rest, those sometimes intense/overwhelming/draining elements of life?

I have always found my most intense moments of AWE exploring/being out in nature. I can get lost in the greatness of the mountains. I remember the first time I drove on the North Cascades Highway (HWY 20) in North Central Washington and had this moment where I felt like I lost the boundaries of my body I was so overcome by the sensation of being engulfed by mountains. This past year living in Boston area I've really formed a connected to the power of the ocean. This mysterious/secretive body that changes it's appearance throughout the day - it's ruled by the cycles of the moon - and contains another world of mystical beings/creatures that it sometimes pushes ashore for us to discover/marvel in. The ocean fills me with AWE.

What does living in moments of AWE look like to you? Where do you find your AWE? How do you add it to your life?

I hope you spend sometime thinking about your source(s) of AWE and find ways to incorporate them into your daily/weekly/monthly rituals.

.trust yourself.

Today I went to the beach. I'm starting to feel anxious about the end of summer - about not being able to ride my bike/take the train or drive a car to the ocean and submerge myself in it's peace - purifying my mind/spirit from everything. 

I spent the day soaking up the delicious sunrise and diving into the sea, floating with my arms and legs stretched out in an X -
trusting in letting go -
to remember to trust -
to try to trust and be supported -
allowing the salty sea to hold me up.

While I was floating I kept hearing "listen to your heart" 
turn down that volume outside -
listen to your heart/rhythm/desires - 
TRUST YOURSELF.

I hope you're trying to float (let go) in your own way and I hope you find the  love and support when you do. 

.the waves and i.

The waves called to me - pulling to shore as if they were begging me to tell them my secrets. I hesitated to set them free - to make them real - to commit to their truth.

Then I ran to the ocean and let the waves embrace me - with each greeting building in force as if encouraging my heart to open more - to keep dreaming. 

To trust.