roatan's "autumn"

This astounding, MoMA-worthy photograph (taken - incredibly! - with my Blackberry's camera) is another view from my balcony here in heaven at Paya Bay.

This time of year, after the rainy season, the leaves of the sea almond trees turn beautiful shades of orange and red, and then they fall. This annual "clean the slate and start over" behavior by trees is rarer here in the tropics, where most everything stays green and keeps growing year round. Interestingly, when the almond trees re-bud and create fresh crops of new leaves in a week or two, they will abandon branches that - for some reason or the other - failed to contribute adequately to each particular tree's 'greater good.' These internally cut-off branches don't get new leaves and eventually dry up and fall off. Obviously, even trees practice 'tough love' and make necessary corrections in their growth. This leaf-shedding event gives a dash of brilliant color to the natural tropical surroundings.

it's time

It's time for revolution.

bliss

Sunset yoga at the Ananda Pavilion. Paya Bay Resort, Roatan, Honduras.

one or the other

In life you have to be either really present or really absent.

- Layle, or as I teasingly call her, "The First World Trust Fund Babe," one of my twisted Australian friends who resides here in (what's becoming a quite hip and cosmopolitan) Roatan.

the sky trail

Views of the tropical vegetation and fascinating rock formations along the Sky Trail (this section of the trail is near the Ananda Pavilion). Some family friends call this part of the property "Daviland," as my low-impact, respectful approach to development is used throughout it. :) Paya Bay Resort, Roatan, Honduras. See the resort's map.

*The salt in the ambient air is starting to work its magic on my camera. Can you tell? Salty air is great for humans but not so much for hyper-sensitive electronics.

fight obstruction with action

...I intend to fight obstruction with action, and I will oppose any effort to return to the very same policies that brought on this economic crisis in the first place.

- President Obama, 2012 State of the Union address

I have a deep and sincere respect for this gentleman. Let's face it, back in January 2009, G.W. Bush handed President Obama an economic disaster of historic proportions (back then, I often wondered if "W" and his puppeteer, Dick Cheney, were deliberately screwing things up as much as possible in order to trigger - in their bogus reality - some kind of sick, Bible-sourced "End Times.") Today (a mere 36 months later), Mr. Obama and his team can point with cautious pride to a U.S. economy that is growing (albeit slowly) while many other developed economies around the world are still teetering on the edge. Not only has the amazing talent of the Obama Administration deftly doused a "five alarm" economic conflagration (one that ominously threatened to take the whole world's economy down with it), the Administration is now using the charred remains to rebuild the house.

Astonishingly, the current U.S. administration has done all this while being relentlessly whipped, denigrated, and beaten down by what has seemed like a bitter, cynical, selfish, corporate interests-first, country-second Republican opposition. Under close analysis one realizes that what the brilliant, tenacious Obama economic team has achieved in such short time is nothing short of miraculous. If the extremely disturbing tragedy that was the W "administration" deserved reelection, Mr. Obama deserves it one thousand times more.

photo of the day

There is no doubt you live in the Caribbean when this is one view from your balcony. Paya Bay Resort, Roatan, Honduras.

*The salt in the ambient air is starting to work its magic on my camera. Can you tell? Salty air is great for humans but not so much for hyper-sensitive electronics.

a great desire for positivity

If you have a problem with a member of your family who is negative, begin by writing a list of all the things you appreciate about that person. Remember to include gratitude to them for giving you a great desire for positivity in your life; because that is a gift they are giving you. As you focus with all of your strength on appreciation, you will not only reduce your exposure to the negativity, but at the same time you will be attracting positive people into your life.

Get yourself on to the appreciation frequency, and the law of attraction can only surround you with people who are in a positive state.

- lessons from The Secret

memories of esalen

Food for thought. Esalen, Big Sur, California.

open up the door to receiving

Giving opens up the door to receiving. You have so many opportunities to give every day.

Give kind words. Give a smile. Give appreciation and love. Give compliments. You can give courtesy to other motorists while you are driving. You can give a smile to the car parking attendant. You can give a warm greeting to the newspaper stand person or the person who makes your coffee. You can give by allowing a stranger to go ahead of you into an elevator, and you can give by asking which floor they are going to and pressing the button for them. If someone drops something you can give a helping hand and pick it up for them. You can give warm embraces to those you love. And you can give appreciation and encouragement to everyone.

There are so many opportunities for you to give and thereby open the door to receiving.

- lessons from The Secret

current temps

The current temps in my world. Tonight I return to warm Roatan. What an amazing week I've had here in 'nippley' California!

Image: weather.com

when you withdraw

When you withdraw from me, I'll withdraw from you
I'll distance myself from me so you will never know how I feel
I'll suffer and feel lonely
I'll blame you for not meeting my needs
I'll be secretly angry at you

When you withdraw from me
I'll remember all the times you have hurt me in the past
I'll wonder if anything will ever work between us
I'll mistrust what you say and judge what you do
I'll doubt ever wanting to be with you

When you withdraw from me I don't know what to do
I want to keep my love
I want to be close to myself and to you
I want to feel compassion
But, I just don't know what to do

When you withdraw from me, I'll withdraw from you

-Menachem Tabanpour

Menachem (pronounced Meh-nah-hem) is an amazing young man I've met here at Esalen. What bright light shines from this angel! I aspire to be like Menachem as I become more and more Truly Alive!