PTown Sunset 2016

I Love Provincetown.
I think it’s the Sunsets!

In this contemporary world in which year after year, we find ourselves increasingly immersed in the virtual reality of the internet,
it is so refreshing —
So Peaceful —
To return to the Elements.

Sunset on the Beach involves being Fully Present with the Four Miracle Elements:
Life Sustaining AIR, as Breezes blow on your Skin — feeling the Air inside and outside and all about you!
Life Sustaining WATER, infinite before you, stretching all the way to the Sun itself!
Life Sustaining EARTH, that you sit upon, perhaps putting your bare feet into the sand!
Life Sustaining FIRE, that Giant, Dazzling, Beautiful Ball in the Sky,
which for billions of years has given Light and Warmth to this planet, enabling us to incarnate here together!

A Meme from the Internet

At the risk of heresy, I feel no Life from my Computer.
It is useful, and I am Grateful for all that it enables me to do.
Yet in spite of Science Fiction stories as early as that episode of WALLY COX on THE TWILIGHT ZONE,
And, more recently, WATSON playing JEOPARDY,
I do not believe they have Life.
They sit dormant awaiting our input
They connect us to the World, and yet I feel so without connection when I have spent the entire day on my Computer.

PTown Sunset 2016

But Sunset at the Beach
Is Teeming with Life!
There is such LIFE in that FireBall in the Sky
OK, so it’s only got another four billion years before becoming a White Dwarf and then entering it’s Red Giant stage,
But Right Now it is at the Peak of it’s Life!
And we are Lucky enough to be Here Now to Enjoy it!
Soak it all up!

PTown Sunset 2016

And the Earth!
Walking to and fro,
along the Sandy Beach
The sands of the Earth moving beneath our feet as we walk, yet still we are Supported.
Yes, The Earth Moves, but Always Always Always,
with every step,
our feet soon feel the fixed and stable Ground Beneath — Terra Firma!
BeachWalking is So Good for Us — a physical representation of the Earth seeming to give way, yet Always we are able to Trust that no matter how much it may slide away, we are Eternally Grounded.
Feel the Support!
So Much Life!
A Life So Much Bigger than just what we can see!

PTown Sunset 2016

The Tides… Life!
The LifeForce of the Ocean, underneath, as well as glistening on the surface,
Again, some 4.5 Billion Years in the Making.
The planet Earth travels in our Solar System, along the narrow orbit in which Liquid Water can exist.
A bit further out and it would be frozen; too close and it would boil away…
Essential to Life — without it, we could not survive — And here it is in such Life-full Abundance, stretching as far as the Eye can See!
I learned, this trip, that the Great White Shark only needs three feet of water, so it can come up pretty close to the shore.
I didn’t need that info, to be honest.
Still, just being near the Ocean, I feel the Abounding Life from which we all emerged
Thousands of years ago…
I often refer to the line of a poem a friend shared with me so many years ago:
“The man stood naked in the ocean
And for the first time, he understood his body.”
I Love That!

PTown Sunset 2016

Air!
How we take it for Granted!
The Birds soar through the Sky;
the Green Plants and Trees fill our planet, creating Oxygen,
And this is how we Breathe.
At the Ocean, the Air feels so Salt and Alive!
As if you can Taste It…
Taste Life!

Lobster in the Cooler Bag

Coming back from Vacation.

A Last Minute Purchase

We attempt to keep some part of what we found there.
I bring home a Lobster for MOM
And at the last minute, stuff some Salt Water Taffy in my Bag — No Idea who that’s for! Nobody really eats that, do they?
But that intangible thing for which we search
That elusive Relaxation that we feel in the experience of Vacation
Could very well be summed up as a return to simple connection with the Elements:
AIR
WATER
EARTH
FIRE

Mom likes her Lobster Marinara

I saw a Shaman years ago
He told me to pick up a stone occasionally
And to Blow a strong Breath into it
To release any Negative Energy I might be holding
Back into the Earth.
He told me that Mother Earth is Always there for us,
Always willing to accept whatever we need to let go of,
And that She has ways of processing it and using it for Good
Like the way her Soil provides nourishment to the plants.
Learning that I live in New York City, he pointed out
that brick and cement buildings are a form of stone.
Just walk right up to a wall, take a deep breath
and blow air into the stone.
Mother Earth will accept it in that way too,
And you will be Free.

Urban Stone

So, those of you who occasionally see me along the New York City Streets, looking like I’m whispering secrets into a building wall.
That’s what’s actually going on.
I am blowing air into the Stone Matter,
releasing negative energy back to the Earth Mother
So that she can create from it something Positive and Good.
(It’s a great Exercise, by the way. Try it!)

And to you who are just back, or getting back from Vacation,
And to you who didn’t go away this Summer,
Know that the Pleasure
Joy
And Relaxation
Are not found in the Accommodation and the Lobster and the Salt Water Taffy,
Nor are they exclusive to the Oceanside.
Pleasure and Joy and Relaxation are within You.
They are an Awakening, ignited by your Communion with the Elements:
AIR
WATER
EARTH
FIRE

And these can as easily be found in our Day to Day Existence:
Taking a Pause, right where you are; Exhale;
Then Close your Eyes and take a Deep Breath of the AIR.
When the phone Rings or Buzzes, allow that to be a reminder to Pause and take a Deep Breath.
I was once advised that telephone calls are always to be answered on the fourth ring.
The first ring is a shift of your attention.
The second and third rings are time for you to enjoy a Deep Breath.
And on the fourth ring, you answer, peaceful and centered.
I Love That!
And this technique may be employed to Emails and Texts, as well.
(This is a Great Way to Enjoy More Peacefulness throughout the Day. Try It!)
Of course, our culture of commerce doesn’t particularly endorse such ideas,
But Take a Breath!
How Peaceful we are when communing with the AIR…

Refreshing StrawBerry Water — One of my Favorite Treats!

Drinking a Nice Cool Glass of Water…
Imbibe!
Enjoy!
Refresh!
Perhaps treat yourself to slicing up some Fresh StrawBerries and plunking them into your pitcher of WATER…
(This is such a Great, Easy, and Inexpensive Way to Enjoy a Delicious and Super Healthy Treat. Try it!)

Take a Walk, right in your own Neighborhood;
Hug a Tree;
Visit a Park, and walk barefoot in the grass for awhile;
Garden, even if it’s simply by caring for your HousePlants;
Put your Hands in the Dirt.
Feel the EARTH…

Light a Candle

Turn on your Stove to cook something, lighting the Fire — Cooking can be a Nourishing Act of SelfCare, or Generosity toward Others;
Light a Candle;
Or just open the Curtains, raise the Venetian Blinds, and let the Sun Shine in…
Walking outside, Look Up, and Enjoy the warmth of the Sun’s Rays on your Face!
Experience FIRE…

All of these Gifts
AIR
WATER
EARTH
FIRE
These Gifts are your BirthRight!
We are One with the Miracle Elements of the Earth!
Commune!
Savor the Pleasures they Avail to us
Every Day
in their Limitless Forms
Bring Awareness to it
And Revel in the Boundless Pleasures
Every Moment of our Lives
And in this Moment
Now…

I Love Provincetown.
I think it’s the Sunsets!

PTown Sunset 2016

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