sharing paya

Even watching storm clouds go by on a rainy afternoon can be fun if you do it with friends.

Photos taken this past weekend at the Ananda Movement Center, Paya Bay Resort, Roatan, Honduras. Special thanks to Lisa, Jade, Gary ("Mr. 80%"), "Lempira," and "Dos Lempiras."

feeling the good

Never let a day pass without looking for the good, feeling the good within you, praising, appreciating, blessing, and being grateful.

Make it your life commitment, and you will stand in utter awe of what happens in your life.

- lessons from The Secret

liberation

The reason why the romantic love relationship is such an intense and universally sought-after experience is that it seems to offer liberation from a deep-seated state of fear, need, lack, and incompleteness that is part of the human condition in its unredeemed and unenlightened state.

- Eckhart Tolle

independence doodle

Google is honoring Honduran Independence Day with a retro doodle. I'm not sure if this being seen worldwide or just here in Central America. Today, September 15, Honduras (along with Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica) celebrates 190 years of independence from the Spanish Crown.

spiny-tailed

Endemic to Roatan, the Black Spiny-Tailed Iguana (Ctenosaura oedirhina) has been classified as endangered as a result of habitat loss, hunting, and human encroachment. There is a thriving population of these fascinating mid-sized lizards at Paya Bay.

This healthy-looking, breeding-age female seemed very at ease as I photographed her this past weekend. I've noticed that this rare and unique species of iguana seems to have virtually no DNA-encoded fear of humans. This makes sense if you consider that they -- very likely -- evolved on an island devoid of human presence for (I'm guessing) thousands (perhaps even tens or hundreds of thousands) of years. Ironically, this "evolutionary innocence" makes them easy prey for the modern, hungry, protein-hunting man (and his super-efficient sidekick: the feral domestic cat).

It would be unconscionable for aware, educated, 21st century people to allow these animals to have the fate of the Dodo bird. In an effort to help protect them, I've designated an area of the property where these iguanas are especially plentiful as the Tropical Garden Reserve. As long as it's my decision to make, this multi-acre area of the property will remain deliberately undisturbed so that these precious animals may have a safe place to call their home.

Learn more about the effort to save the Roatan Spiny-tailed Iguana.

faith vs. fear

Faith is trusting in the good.
Fear is putting your trust in the bad.

- lessons from The Secret

ten years later

This police officer's poignant gesture reflects my own sentiment exactly.

Photo: Yahoo News

single most vital step

So the single most vital step on your journey toward enlightenment is this: learn to disidentify from your mind. Every time you create a gap in the stream of mind, the light of your consciousness grows stronger. One day you may catch yourself smiling at the voice in your head, as you would smile at the antics of a child. This means that you no longer take the content of your mind all that seriously, as your sense of self does not depend on it.

- Eckhart Tolle 

f_ck it!

Unable to find a proper shell to use for a 'house,' this hermit crab opted to go with a plastic soda bottle cap.

Sometimes you just gotta say, "F_ck it!"

- Michelle Stryzinski, one of the strongest women I've ever known and one of the most important people in my life. Love, love, love.

"drunk swedish elk found in apple tree near gothenburg"

With a headline like that, I just had to click on this story. The photo is hilarious!
Reminds me of me and some of my friends back in crazier days.

photo of the day

A view from the main deck at sunset. The "alligator head" rock formation can be seen in the background. Paya Bay Resort, Roatan, Honduras.

wow. wow. wow.

Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.

- Mother Teresa

What a profound statement.

Think about this in the context of women's, civil, and gay rights.

Think about this in the context of the way you treat anyone who you consider to be "less fortunate" than you.