Hope

Sunrises make me feel hopeful. Perhaps its the thought of a new fresh day. Today was no exception. The sun came up today just like it does every other day. The air is thick and in need of relief from a thunderstorm. The sky is beautiful - peppered with clouds alternating between the colour of the clouds and the colour of the sky. It is a very hope filled scene.

When you look for hope then you find hopeful things. It's a function of focus. It's also more pleasurable to look for hope than to obsess about what's wrong. Paradoxically, surrendering to what's wrong in your life can liberate you and give you the ability to focus on something else. We have a hard time accepting the truth of our circumstances. I think it's because we actually resist what's wrong in our lives instead of surrendering to the way it is. Resistance is a form of focus. You've heard the saying "what you resist persists", right? It persists because you are trying to make it go away by resisting it. This just makes it even stronger. The only way to get to the other side of the problem is to go right through it. You must do the thing that you think you cannot do. When you are free of your own resistance then you will be free to focus on what you really want.

Late Starts

The sunrise got better as time went on this morning. The beginning of the sunrise was not really that impressive but as the sun started to get up over the horizon and interact with the clouds and the sky, the whole thing turned into quite a beautiful show. Coupled with the fact that Lake Ontario was dead-calm made it even more beautiful as the sunrise reflected in the lake like a mirror.

Carl Jung said that "perception is projection" meaning you don't really experience people for who THEY are. You actually experience as YOU are. His concept is profoundly simple and yet extremely complicated at the same time. Everyone in your experience is a reflection of some aspect of you on an unconscious level. To the extent that you experience negative emotions about these people and/or events, Jung would say that those are your most unconscious qualities looking for resolution. There is a lot of power in looking at the world this way. There is also a lot of frustration. I suppose it depends on how willing you are to look deep within yourself and face what you see.

Boldness

There should not have been a sunrise this morning. The sky was completely overcast. If I was a betting woman I would have bet against any sunrise at all. And yet, the sun made a bold move and pushed through all of the resistance as if it wasn't even there.

The theme of this morning was boldness. There was a flock of geese unusually close to shore while I was walking along. I walked right past one goose who didn't so much as raise his head. I was within 2m of him for sure. In fact, he moved toward me at one point. Bold! I thought about the power of being bold. Boldness creates movement and action. These things usually lead to amazing results. Being bold means going against the grain and setting out on your own agenda. There is no complacency in being bold. It's a fantastic way to get the momentum rolling and create outstanding results. Just look at what the sun did!

New Again

I'm back in Toronto. The sun was brilliant today and yet it felt cool at only 27 degrees compared with the high 40's of the desert. It was oddly relieving. It's strange how a shift in perspective can literally change everything. A a few weeks ago, I would have melted at the thought of 45 degrees heat. Now, I have a different viewpoint.

I have noticed that making small shifts in my perspective has often led to a completely new experience of my circumstances. Usually, this process has allowed me to access more resources thereby making it easier for me to deal with my circumstances, especially the challenging ones. It can be accomplished as easily as changing a routine. In fact, I find that when I take a different route or try something new that everything changes in an instant.

Final Farewell

This was the last sunrise in the desert for me. I watched it from Red Rock Canyon. It was mesmerizing. The sky was afire with a golden red fiery glow. I watched it burst up over the horizon and up over the red and grey rocks of the stunning canyon. It was a postcard or at the very least a "Kodak moment". I took a million pictures. I wanted to capture everything.

Endings are like that. It feels as though something will last forever. And then, towards the end, it becomes frantic. Saying goodbye, taking pictures, connecting with each person. We had over 16 days to do this yet it all comes down to the final few hours. I'm not good at endings. I'm much better at starting things. I'll miss this place and it's demanding heat. There is nothing frivolous in the desert - it requires honesty because there is nowhere to hide.

Illusions

It appeared as though it would storm this morning. The clouds were thick and heavy all around the horizon. There was a stunning band of gold where the sun was rising in between the layers of cloud. By the time I went outside for my walk, the clouds were gone. The storm was an illusion.

Have you thought that your whole life might be an illusion? How can you tell the difference between a dream and reality? How do you know for sure? What if reality was real at all? What if reality was really just your interpretation of the circumstances merely filtered through your experiences, your beliefs, your values, your perceptions? What if none of it was really "real"? What would be possible if you knew you were making it all up anyway? What would you dare to experience if you knew for certain that you were in a dream? Would you live any differently?

Lessons

Standard sunrise again this morning. I feel as though I've been here before. I wonder if the sun goes through cycles of repetition with a purpose. I thought about taking a picture this morning but it honestly looked exactly the same as the previous few days.

I got to wondering, if the sunrise looks exactly the same then how do I now that it's a new day? I know it's a new day by looking at my calendar but other than that the morning looks exactly the same. Is there a lesson that I am meant to be learning that is hovering in the routine? We are always being presented with the opportunity to learn something but most of the time we miss the opportunity. I think that routine days or repetition is a way of slowing down the process so that we might notice the lesson that is right in front of us. They made a movie about this concept once. It was called "Groundhog Day". What we need is usually staring us in the face.