Saturday, March 31, 2012

naturist march


Today (31/March/2012) marks the culmination of Paya's first-ever 'Naturist Month!' And what a successful month it has been! Bookings- and revenue-wise, we have had the best month in the 18-year history of this family owned and operated business! Impressively, some 90% of our guests this month expressed their desire to return to Paya during next year's winter season. Our sincere thanks go out to the worldwide naturist community for your astonishing support of our project. We are committed to you (after all, someone had to come to the aid of the "Sorobon refugees"), and we truly appreciate your awe-inspiring commitment to us. It only gets better! Learn more about naturism at Paya Bay.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

supercedes

There is a higher court than courts of justice and that is the court of conscience. It supercedes all other courts.
- Mahatma Ghandi

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

stunning


A fractional view of the beautiful fringing reefs typical of the Pigeon Cay area. It's understandable why this unique corner of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System with its multi-hued, crystal-clear waters is considered one of the top spots for snorkeling in the Caribbean. In the background, Barbareta -- the fourth largest (and most pristine) of the Bay Islands of Honduras -- floats peacefully in the Caribbean sea. Being a native-born Bay Islander elicits a lot of personal pride. Truly an exceptionally beautiful archipelago to call home.

a stupendous gallery

Where a love of natural beauty has been cultivated, all nature becomes a stupendous gallery, as much superior in form and in coloring to the choicest collections of human art, as the heavens are broader and loftier than the Louvre or the Vatican.
- Horace Mann

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

coconuts galore


Nighttime view of a loaded Bliss Beach coconut tree. In light of its many reported health benefits, we recently initiated a program at Paya to offer our guests a daily serving of fresh, organic coconut water right from the fruit itself. Next time you are on Bliss Beach, expect a friendly staff member to come offer you a freshly-picked coconut. Paya Bay Resort, Roatan, Honduras.

Photo: Dennis and Kay

Monday, March 26, 2012

the law of love

Love is the highest power we possess to be in complete harmony with the law of attraction. The more love we feel the greater our power. The more selfless love we feel, the more unfathomable our power.

The law of attraction has been called the law of love, because the law itself is a gift of love to humanity. It is the law by which we can create incredible lives for ourselves.

The more love we feel the greater our power to create a magnificent life of love, joy, and harmony.
- lessons from The Secret

Sunday, March 25, 2012

photo of the day

The tip of the 'alligator head' rock formation. There's a secret cove located here. Paya Bay Resort, Roatan, Honduras.

Photo: The kick-ass Kansas State University architects

your natural state

You cannot do yoga. Yoga is your natural state. What you can do are yoga exercises, which may reveal to you where you are resisting your natural state.
- Sharon Gannon

Learn more about yoga at Paya Bay.

Friday, March 23, 2012

sharing


Lots of sharing and 'helping others out' occurs at Paya Bay. This spirit of cooperation can be observed all of the time in the spectacular nature that surrounds us here. The photo above is "Exhibit A." The branches of this tree serve as sturdy and beautiful bases for non-parasitic bromeliads. Note also the brown termite tunnel running along the underside of this limb. The termite tunnels are a marvel of insect "civil engineering" themselves -- every single major branch of every single tree on the property has one. Termites never attack living plant tissue, but the moment a branch or twig dies, they don't waste a second converting it (directly or indirectly) into food for their colony, or into building materials for their infrastructure projects. In undisturbed nature, stored energy originating from the sun is always being harvested, converted, recycled, and used in very efficient ways. There is no waste. Something for us 'higher intelligence' beings to ponder.

Photo: Joanne and Matthew

overheard

I've got a lot to learn. We don't get out of Texas much.
- Dennis, a special guest from the Lone Star State with a wicked sense of humor

Thursday, March 22, 2012

call it even

Rick can pray for me. I'll gay for him. And we can call it even.
- The ever witty Dan Savage responding to Frothy's, "I'll pray for him."

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

love, love, love

Joanne and Matthew, two extraordinary guests from the United Kingdom ("Ye Olde Motherland") visiting Paya for the second year in a row, pose for the perfect sunset photo at Ananda.

Photo: Matthew and Joanne.

digital art


I'm always amazed at PhotoShop's ability to "crunch" tens of thousands of variables and render instantaneous "digital art" by executing an algorithm of mathematically-computed changes to a well-taken photograph. In this awesome piece, generated by a MacBook Pro® with 2 Ghz of Intel® artificial intelligence, a Paya guest exits the Caribbean Sea after a late afternoon post-yoga swim. A highly-motivated, super-skilled human would (likely) take minimum of a week to produce this level of art (click on the photo to enlarge and see the details). My computer rendered it in 10 seconds! The microprocessor age has seriously raised the bar for human artistic expression. In order for our unlimited imaginations to truly 'stand out' these days we have to creatively outdo the number-crunching machines we've created. Not a minor or trivial challenge. The incredible thing is... we can do it!

Photo: Kay and Dennis

perfect convergence

Great capture of the Caribbean sky reflecting on the waters of the beachside plunge pool located at Bliss Beach. Paya Bay Resort, Roatan, Honduras.

Photo: Deirdre and John

automatically humble

Almost any difficulty will move in the face of honesty. When I am honest I never feel stupid. And when I am honest I am automatically humble.
- Hugh Prather

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

photo of the day

Periwinkles rock-climbing. Love the textures in this photo. Paya Bay Resort, Roatan, Honduras.

Photo: John and Deirdre.

Monday, March 19, 2012

payarazzi

Scenes from yesterday's wine & cheese welcome reception at the Ananda Pavilion. Paya Bay Resort, Roatan, Honduras.


be grateful

Begin your day by feeling grateful. Be grateful for the bed you just slept in, the roof over your head, the carpet or floor under your feet, the running water, the soap, your shower, your toothbrush, your clothes, your shoes, the refrigerator that keeps your food cold, the car that you drive, your job, your friends. Be grateful for the stores that make it so easy to buy the things you need, the restaurants, the utilities, services, and electrical appliances that make your life effortless. Be grateful for the magazines and the books that you read. Be grateful for the chair that you sit on, and the pavement that you walk on. Be grateful for the weather, the sun, the sky, the birds, the trees, the grass, the rain, and the flowers.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!
- lessons from The Secret

Saturday, March 17, 2012

overheard

My mother refused to exercise. She was afraid she'd perspire and ruin her makeup and hair.
- Kay, a special guest from Texas at Paya this evening

coming along

Work has progressed on the foundation of the new restroom facilities that will serve Bliss Beach and the Ananda Pavilion. Paya Bay Resort, Roatan, Honduras.


comfy

We just purchased a bunch of super-comfortable floor cushions for the Ananda Yoga Pavilion. Many of our guests have been telling me how much they enjoy going to the pavilion to meditate or simply bask in the spectacular beauty and amazing energy to be found there. These cushions will certainly make those experiences even more enjoyable.

Dennis, a special guest from Texas, relaxes on a couple of the cushions as the sun quietly sinks toward the horizon.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

blue tangs

A school of Atlantic blue tang surgeonfish (Acanthurus coeruleus). These surgeonfish are common to the Caribbean and the greater Atlantic Ocean. Paya Bay Resort is a great base from which to snorkel and scuba dive the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System.

Dory, one of my all-time favorite movie characters, is a type of blue tang.

Dory: I shall call him Squishy and he shall be mine and he shall be my Squishy. Come on, Squishy Come on, little Squishy. 
[baby talk, the jellyfish stings her] 
Dory: Ow. Bad Squishy, bad Squishy.

Monday, March 12, 2012

heighten your frequency

If you make time to list all the things you are grateful for, and you feel the feelings of gratitude, you will feel amazing every day. Your frequency will be high and you will move through your days in love with being alive, bringing joy wherever you go, positively affecting one person after another.

When you live a life like this, everything you want will come before you even ask.
-lessons from The Secret 

Thursday, March 8, 2012

wheeeeeee!


Linda, a special Paya Bay guest, enjoys the view from the Pirates of the Caribbean zipline canopy tour. Roatan, Honduras.

Hi Peter and Linda! I miss you so much!

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

the first stop

Washington, DC - 79 percent of cocaine smuggling flights leaving South America make their first stop in [mainland] Honduras, and about 80 percent of the cocaine arriving in Mexico from South America destined for U.S. transits through Central America, with Guatemala and [mainland] Honduras as major points entry, said the U.S. government's annual report on world drug trafficking released today.
Translated from Proceso Digital

This information confirms why Hugo Chavez was so hell-bent on getting control of Honduras in June, 2009.

heavyweight in town


Tegucigalpa, Honduras (CNN) -- U.S. Vice President Joe Biden vowed Tuesday to help Honduras and other Central American nations defeat drug traffickers and fight corruption. But at a meeting with Central American presidents in Honduras, Biden stopped short of supporting a proposal that has gained growing attention in the region in recent weeks: drug legalization. Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina said last month that he supported measures to decriminalize drug production, trafficking and consumption. On Tuesday, Central American leaders announced plans to debate the idea at a meeting later this month. Biden "said that he was in favor of an open and genuine debate about the decriminalization of drugs as long as the procedures and possible results are analyzed," according to a Honduran government statement distributed to reporters after Tuesday's meeting.
Source and photo: CNN

Mr. Biden's high-level, message-sending visit to Honduras comes not a minute too soon. It is encouraging to see the Obama Administration finally paying serious attention to my country and the Greater Central America region. Caught in the crossfire of the controversial American-supported "War on Drugs," the entire region is now at a crossroads. Despite the billions spent to eradicate them, the drug cartels (which are really just super well-managed multinational corporations) -- with their thorough societal penetration, indescribable ruthlessness, and immense, overwhelming financial resources -- are winning this widely-questioned "war;" and it is the narcos who are effectively deciding where Centroamérica is headed next.

The drug legalization argument recently tabled by Guatemalan President Otto Perez is interesting. It goes something like this: today Central America is paying for the South to North America drug trade with the lives of a multitude of professional, well-intentioned, and genuinely-committed law enforcement actors; along with a shocking number of (often innocent) civilians caught between the warring sides. Arm-twisted diplomatically by the United States, countries of the isthmus spend significant percentages of their limited national security budgets 'fighting' the drug-smuggling cartels in what has amounted to a futile attempt to stem the northward flow of narcotics. (The illegal substances are - literally - sucked north by the voracious and insatiable demand of the massive end user markets located primarily in the U.S., Canada, and Europe.) Meanwhile, despite the tragic human losses, the denial of a truly safe and peaceful existence for residents of the region, and the onerous economic costs taken on by our governments -- and besides the welcomed (even if miserly and grudgingly-given) U.S. foreign aid -- there is virtually no tangible upside in this U.S.-imposed anti-drug crusade for the seven small states of the region. Instead, Central American authorities have found themselves utterly overwhelmed by the appalling unintended consequences that have resulted from this lunacy of a policy.

According to the United Nations, the global drug trade is worth $322 billion (a 2003 estimate; the 2012 figure is probably over a half trillion dollars). If Central American governments could capture even a fraction of these narcodollars (by legalizing and taxing the trade), there would be a whole lot more financial resources flowing to the region's national coffers (in theory, at least). In other words, suddenly Central America might not be so poor and needy anymore. Imagine that! If used intelligently and appropriately, this potential windfall of "narco-tax" revenues could turbocharge economic growth and help lift the region out of its chronic, historic poverty, and long-standing sub-development. With more employment opportunities available at home, a lot fewer Central Americans would feel desperate enough to illegally immigrate north in search of jobs to support their families. Stateside, tax revenues from a legalized narcotics trade might even help the U.S. Federal Government be materially less dependent on Chinese loans to cover its spending deficits during these challenging economic times.

An aware Central American could understandably ponder, "Damn... We're doing a hell of a lot to help 'protect' our First World friends from these controversial illegal substances they love and desire so much. Yet, the governments in Washington DC, Ottawa, and Brussels have failed to take fair, realistic, adequate, and appropriate responsibility for the horrifying consequences the "War on Drugs" has on Central American societies (and the societies of other regions and countries along the production and smuggling routes. See Mexico, for example.). Our 'smack in the middle' geographic location between the biggest producers of narcotics and the biggest consumers, has forced us (irregardless of whether we wanted to or not) unto the front lines of this much-maligned "war." Continental centroamericanos are paying for this disastrous approach by being submerged in a deep, dark, hope-destroying pit of violence, pain, blood, death, abhorrent corruption, incessant anxiety, chronic insecurity, tragedy, and terror. This is too high a price to be asked to pay for supporting a bankrupt and failed American policy intended to deny - for example - a bunch of carefree twenty-something American college students the ability to score an 8 ball of Colombia's Finest from a drag queen on Ocean Drive and 14th Street while celebrating their spring break in South Beach, Miami."

Under closer analysis, President Otto's proposal to legalize the narcotics trade doesn't seem so far-fetched. It's pretty obvious the status quo (i.e., the "War on Drugs") is a resounding failure that has only resulted in a dreadful loss of human life; the ghettoization of Mexico, Colombia, and Central America ("Oh no! We can't go there! It's too violent!"); and a monumental waste of tax-payers' resources from Canada to Bolivia, and every country in between.

Monday, March 5, 2012

an inside job

Whatever feelings you have within you are attracting your tomorrow.

Worry attracts more worry. Anxiety attracts more anxiety. Unhappiness attracts more unhappiness. Dissatisfaction attracts more dissatisfaction.

AND . . .

Joy attracts more joy. Happiness attracts more happiness. Peace attracts more peace. Gratitude attracts more gratitude. Kindness attracts more kindness. Love attracts more love.

Your job is an inside one. To change your world, all you have to do is change the way you feel inside. How easy is that?
- lessons from The Secret

Saturday, March 3, 2012

the sky trail

I went for a walk on the Sky Trail yesterday afternoon and took the photos that follow. The Sky Trail is the newest addition to the growing network of nature trails at Paya Bay. It was named "Sky" because it runs through the higher elevations of a rocky ridge that runs through our 22-acre property; as a result, it has several remarkable vistas of the sky, the ocean, the barrier reef, the beaches, the coves, and/or the green hills of Roatan island.





wow

I have to admit, I used to loathe Ken Mehlman. His self-hatred was extremely intense and obvious. You could practically see the hate emanating from his pores.

Surprisingly, I'm finding a compassionate place in my heart to say to him, "Welcome to the love side, Mr. Mehlman."

Like you, eventually most people will realize the fear side really, REALLY sucks.

Friday, March 2, 2012

benefit others as much as I can

Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others; to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. I am going to have kind thoughts towards others, I am not going to get angry or think badly about others. I am going to benefit others as much as I can.
His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama

100 billion stars

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image obtained Feb. 3, 2012, of the nearby spiral galaxy M74. Bright knots of glowing gas light up the spiral arms, indicating a rich environment of star formation. Messier 74, also called NGC 628, is a stunning example of a grand-design spiral galaxy that is viewed by Earth observers nearly face-on. Its perfectly symmetrical spiral arms emanate from the central nucleus and are dotted with clusters of young blue stars and glowing pink regions of ionized hydrogen (hydrogen atoms that have lost their electrons). [...] In its entirety, it is estimated that M74 is home to about 100 billion stars, making it slightly smaller than our Milky Way.
Source: Washington Post

Some very misguided people focus on (and -- in extreme cases -- live for) the supposed 'end of the world' phenomenon. A very pessimistic path to be on, at the very least. Meanwhile around us, in stark contrast and clear contradiction to this limiting "it's all going to end" line of thought, the Universe is in a perpetual state of creative effervescence, constantly creating new and ever expanding life. Note the example above: brand-new stars (and, most likely, their accompanying planets, moons, asteroids, comets, etc.) are popping out of the infinite ether, somewhere in the Universe, at every given instant.

Having put good use to our (God-granted?) gifts of logic and scientific reasoning, we have deduced that life here on Earth -- at least the carbon-based stuff we are currently familiar with -- still has a half billion or so good years to go (in other words, another 500,000,000 12-month revolutions around our still quite young and healthy Sun). The 'planet's end' is nowhere near "nigh." Our cute little solar system is going to be around "long time."

Like it or not, the carnival that is humanity is just getting started. It's critical we discard from our collective consciousness the idea that we will destroy ourselves and/or our planet. (An idea which - tragically - has become a self-fulfilling prophecy). We must choose a much more optimistic and inspiring "greater good" for ourselves. We can do it. To paraphase President Clinton, "There is nothing wrong with [humanity] that cannot be cured by what is right with [humanity]."

As I step off my soap box, I highlight the timeless wisdom contained in Bob Marley's revolutionary 1973 Get Up, Stand Up song:
Preacher man don't tell me heaven is under the earth
I know you don't know what life is really worth
Is not all that glitters is gold and
Half the story has never been told
So now you see the light, aay
Stand up for your right.