Our guide, Roberto, took us after lunch to a small village about 30 minutes outside Oaxaca where we met one the premier artisans in the nation of Mexico.  He gave us a private tour of his rug making operation (which was featured in the smithsonian, amongst others).  He was extremely gracious.

Driving out of the village, we drove past the cemetery, where a family was remembering their grandfather who passed one year ago at the age of 86.  The family welcomed us in their fold and laughed at the face I made when I drank their home brewed mescal (think tequila, then moonshine… then keep going… its crazy, like lighter fluid) Between Nick and myself, we had 6 shots of the stuff, which was more than enough.  The people were incredibly friendly, and have invited us to their home celebrations on Friday.  With only a few common words between us, its amazing how much we are able to communicate.  We were very honored to have been accepted in their family time.
Nick and I were then brought to the ´largest tree in the world´- its actually the tree with the largest circumference in the world… and its truly large.  Roberto took us back to Oaxaca city about a half hour ago, and now we´re headed out to grab some dinner.

This morning we took our video and photo gear to the local town square ´Zocalo´ .  During breakfast, a demonstration parade broke out, and thousands of people flooded the square.  There is a whole lot of political turmoil in the state of Oaxaca… overthrowing of governments, murders… lots of crap.  Apparantly, this demonstration was a call to arms for people to unionize - which is illegal in Mexico.  Nick and I sat in the park and watched the happenings.  We then went through the (huge) local market.  We took our time and sat in the park for nearly an hour.  A nice lady we bought some water from then went into a theatrical routine to try and sell us some energy drink.  It was hilarious - she nodded off, took a sip and then was all perky.  She did this for several minutes, and it became more and more dramatic - especially after I turned the video camera her way.  She then launched into an infomercial.  Yes… we now are the proud owners of Mega10… an apple-juice looking energy drink.

There are internet cafes all over the place, but that is not why we are here.  If the opportunity arises, we may make more entries.  Be well!

-Mark

I know, everybody tells us that right now is bad. We’ve got people beating us up, robbing us, bringing us into war, destroying the environment, warming the globe. We’re overweight, over-caffeinated, over-worked and under-paid. Everybody has something to complain about (even me).

What does fear look like? Princeton describes it “to be afraid or feel anxious or apprehensive about a possible or probable situation or event.” We fear what we expect - but feel helpless to change the outcome. Many of us fear financial destitution, loneliness or lack of good health. We probably fear these most because we feel like we might have a little control over these elements…. which causes us to be scared shitless. “What if, after all of my toiling and labor, I lose everything in a flood?!”

Exactly. There is never a time when you are prepared for absolutely everything. Unless… what if… you didn’t make a judgement that being alone is any better or worse than being with somebody else. Or what if being poor was no better or worse than being rich. Gretchen Rubin, authoring a book titled “the happiness project” writes about Seneca’s Letters from a Stoic:

“Seneca mentioned the practice of some rich men—Epicureans—who fitted out their houses with a “poor man’s room,” so that once a month they could practice being poor.

They did this, apparently, not to deepen their gratitude for the comforts they enjoyed, or from any nostalgie de la boue, but rather to train themselves, through familiarity, not to dread the poverty that might one day befall them.”

It seems to me that these Epicureans had something figured out. They addressed their fear of poverty in a way that told them, “if this happens to me, I’m fine. No worries.”

Cherie Carter-Scott wrote If Life Is a Game, These are the Rules. These ten rules are given as a guideline for living out our lives. You can see a list of the rules here. One of my favorites is rule six:

Rule 6: “There” is no better a place than “here.” When your “there” has become a “here”, you will simply obtain another “there” that will again look better than “here.”

The classic, “the grass is greener on the other side.” How many times a day do we say, “once I have ______, then I’ll be complete”? If only.

What’s the remedy to this craziness?

Being at peace with what is. Stop living in a future that you don’t have any control over. The only moment you can manage is this very moment you are in right now. Be present, be alive, love, joy, hunger, thrive and rejoice in it. There is nothing more beautiful than it is right now. Jesus told his followers, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” On a similar note:

“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past,
not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles,
but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.” Buddha

Take a moment to stop and look around at your life, your environment, your relationships - in this present moment. Sit down, and take a deep breath. Take a little while to describe the present reality to yourself. Look around the room and describe what you see. Colors, textures, sounds, smells.

Right now, I’m in the Albina Press. It’s a coffee shop in North Portland, Oregon. The customers trickle in and out, ordering their latte and bagel - headed off to their daily grind. The building is a hundred years old or so, with the hardwood floor showing the signs of its age. The guy in the table next to me is reading a hardback book… he’s been here for about an hour now. The smells and sounds are that of the morning. Music, the steaming of milk, the announcement of “12 ounce non-fat latte!”. The air outside is cold, and every once in a while the front door is left open to remind me of how warm it is in here. It’s all beautiful. Gorgeous. Amazing. It’s perfect just as it is.

I could project myself into this afternoon, and keep in mind the labor I have to get done, the code I have to write and the customers that I have to keep happy (as if I have any control over their happiness…) I could tell myself about the rest of this week, getting ready for the meeting with the big client. Or how much stuff needs to be done around the house, or in my relationship or with the truck… I could, but what would the use be?

For right now, I’m going to live in this amazing moment.

Okay, it looks like there’s a 1 in 45,000 chance that an asteroid will impact the earth on Sunday, April 13 2036. That’s just more than 29 years away - and people are pissed that the UN doesn’t have a solid action plan yet. According to this NZ web site - here’s the plan they would recommend:

Before a Meteor Shower Occurs

• Develop a Household Emergency Plan and have emergency survival items so that you can cope on your own for at least three days.
• Discover whether there are volcanic, Tsunami or earthquake hazards that may likely affect you as secondary effects of an asteroid impact.

During a Meteor Shower

• Move no more than a few steps to a safe place, drop, cover, and hold on.
• If you are near the coast, drop, cover and hold during an impact, and then move immediately to higher ground when the shaking stops.
• Stay indoors with your pets as much as possible.
• Take your Survival Kit with you if you have to leave. Turn electricity and gas off at the mains.
• Don’t go sightseeing.
• Don’t leave home unless advised to by Civil Defence.

After a Meteor Shower

• Expect the possibility of further secondary disasters (such as earthquakes and tsunamis) and help those around you if you can
• Report injuries or fires to the emergency services.
• Listen to the radio for advice and information.

Just doing my part to get you prepared!

-Mark

What can a mom and son do in one day on the other side of the world?

• Arrive in Amsterdam, and meet "Rocky", a fellow pacific-northwesterner who happened to be visiting Amsterdam for only one day - abandoned by his friend who broke his leg a few days before their adventure, Rocky had no idea what to do or where to go.
• Take a train to the city
• Take the tram to a neighborhood
• Walk along the canals to the Anne Frank museum
• Spend an hour touring the Anne Frank house
• Visit a local grocery and get a snack
• Take a canal boat trip to our next destination
• Visit the Van Gogh museum
• Walk through the streets, visit the open-air market… buy some souvenirs
• Travel to a coffee shop, descend into the basement to buy a couple of joints
• Spend an hour sharing pot and laughing with 3 French college boys (leaving with an extra joint in our pockets… we’ll address this later)
• Walk along the Amstel canal and pretend to open a drawbridge by hand with the big crank
• Have a traditional dutch dinner with a couple who have lived in the city all of their lives together in an apartment on the third floor looking out over the canals
• Walk through the streets taking night photographs
• Take a train to the main transit station
• Walk through the red-light district
• Pee in an outdoor urinal (men only… sorry ladies)
• Give the extra joint to a street performer playing the didgeridoo (he was very pleased, and gave a special performance with my mom along-side)
• Tour the sex museum
• Take a train to the airport
• Sleep for a couple of hours in the airport before the flight out.

Every place we went, there was a constant voice inside me saying, "this would never fly in the U.S." Outdoor urinals, smoking pot in a coffee shop (18 years old and older, please), legalized prostitution… we place so many judgments on these activities - so they go into hiding.

You’re only as sick as your secrets.

I’m not saying that if you partake in any (or all) of these legalized and tolerated activities, you’ll be a better person - I just think that by being authentic - there’s a freedom and comfort that lets you get to the heart of what really matters. The people in Amsterdam were so friendly, happy and peaceful.

“How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank.
Here will we sit, and let the sounds of music
Creep in our ears; soft stillness, and the night
Become the touches of sweet harmony.”

-W. Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice

The human experience is one of tension. We feel we must do, in order to be. We must look the way we want to look, say the things we want to say, do the things we want to do and go to all the places we want to go. We feel that we’ve only got so much time, and in order to suck the marrow for each and every moment… we’ve got to fill our lives with objects, activities, possessions.

Be still, and know that I am God
Psalms 46:10

What do we find when we start to shed the stuff? What is left when we lose the items, lose the noise, lose the schedule, lose the ego and lose everything?

In that emptiness, we find dancing.

1. What I do, I own.
2. What you do, you own.

There’s absolutely nothing that “you do to me” or “I do to you”. Freedom is either entirely free, or it’s not freedom. When I want my “freedom of speech” or my “freedom of diversity”, if it’s just for me, it’s not freedom. I’m no Paris Hilton fan, she’s doing her thing, I’m doing mine - and the two don’t cross their paths very much. But recently, she’s been under attack for some comments she made on a video some time ago.

If I ask for people to give me space and total freedom to say what I think, be who I want to be and express myself my way - I can’t then turn on somebody when they have something that they want to express - even it offends me. Paris might be a bitch, have horrible things to say and she might even be a racist, homophobic freak (she might be… I don’t know what’s going on inside her heart… only she does - and whether she is or isn’t is not any of my business.)

According to the article,

“Hilton has an obligation to go on the record, explain herself, and publicly apologize to the LGBT and African American communities and all those offended by these slurs.”

Bullshit.

The only harm she has done is to herself, not me. I’m me, she is not me. If I take offense to something somebody else says - it’s an offense that is going on inside of me… I’m not a victim of Paris Hilton.

“If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn’t part of ourselves doesn’t disturb us.” - Hermann Hesse

We continually ask for equal rights, but it seems like what the message we are delivering is - “I want my right to be me, but if somebody else offends me, I want them to change to be what I think they should be”… how is that equal?

(now replace “Paris Hilton” with “Isaiah Washington” above, and repost this)