Darkness and Light

Sometimes life takes us in a direction we do not want to go.  Backwards.  In fact, it probably happens more often than any of us would like.  And when we feel this shift where we start heading in the wrong direction, we see our goals and dreams slipping away from our grasp.  We can actually feel them disappearing.  The momentum builds as we pile additional burdens on our shoulders, like negative feelings, dispair, and helplessness. 

The burdnen or obstacle soon becomes not just a thing, but a place.  A dark and lonely place.  We dwell on the darkeness that is approaching.  It is all we think about. It consumes us. Suddenly we are not just slowly creeping backwards, but running downhill, backwards, at full force into blackness with our eyes closed tight, knowing that we are losing our way, but unable to focus on anything else.

We get lost. 

We fall.

But we created this place, and we must find the way out.

And we must learn that when darkness appraches, we must face whatever comes our way and be strong. 
We must open our eyes.

For if we do not open our eyes, how will we see the light that will guide us through our darkest hours?

Reflections

 

The untimely death of legendary superstar Michael Jackson has prompted me to return.  It doesn't seem right to mention it on my other blog, but I feel like I have to say something.  No, I didn't know him, never met him or anything like that.  But I am sorry to hear that the King of Pop is no more.  The entire world is in mourning over such a great loss.

Another Hollywood star Farrah Fawcett lost her battle with cancer this morning.  I can relate to her passing a little more because my own mother lost her life to cancer.  Ed McMahon died the other day.  My highschool prom date was killed in a motorcycle accident last week.  I haven't seen him in years but I was deeply saddened to learn of his death.  A few months ago a good friend of mine lost thier unborn child.  All of this senseless tragedy is suffocating.

Sometimes it is difficult to look on the bright side, even on a good day.  So many things are taken for granted, and it takes something so cruel and incomprehensible to jolt us into reality.  WAKE UP!  Live for the moment.  Cherish the time you spend with loved ones.  In just an instant it can all be taken away and can never be given back.  

Go and find someone to hug right now. Tell someone you love them.  May we all find peace and happiness before it is too late.

Where is Paradise?

We've been away from our little island paradise for a month now.  The warm, lazy sea breeze and sandy beaches have been replaced by crisp, foggy mornings and concrete sidewalks with red and golden leaves swirling lazily in puddles of rain water.

I have finally come to realize that Paradise doesn't have to be just one physical location.  It can be anywhere  that the mind, body and soul are in harmonious symphony.  I am there when I feel the grains of white sand in my fingertips and taste the salt of the turquoise sea.  I am also there when I am holding Naimah's soft chubby hand as we sit on a wooden bench at the park, watching the ducks bob their little heads in the pond in search of a snack.  Physically, those locations are 5929 kilometres apart, but somehow they take my spirit to the same place...Paradise.

Matt Damon & Wyclef Jean help victims of Hurricane Ike

Hurricane Ike has left a path of destruction in Haiti, the nation that shares the island of Hispanola with the Dominican Republic.

Celebrities Wyclef Jean and Matt Damon arrived to help hand out food to the people, many of whose homes were destroyed by flooding.  They are encouraging more people to help the United Nations raise more than US$100 million for an estimated 800,000 Haitians in need of aid.  Read the full story here.

It's Hurricane Season

Keep an eye on the latest storm info at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/.

Cocos

Can't reach the top shelf? No problem!

Update

The National Hurrican Center is monitoring a possible tropical storm heading this way.  Last night there was thunder and lightning, which would not have disturbed my sleep too much except that the neighbor's car alarm kept going off.  When it finally finished several minutes of honking and sirens, it started all over again.  This happened several times during the night.  I wonder if the neighbor took some kind of secret pleasure in keeping us all awake.  Surely he could not have slept through all that noise.

We woke up to intermittent electricity and heavy rain.  I walked with Naimah to the plaza, an ordeal in and of itself.  Firstly, the only shoes I brought are flip-flops, which do not work well when wet.  Secondly, the street was flooded in several areas, which forced me to walk in the middle of the road carrying Naimah and my computer.  The drivers in both directions were quite curteous though, passing us slowly and allowing us as much room as possible.

Now we are sitting at a cozy restaurant in the plaza, having salad and fries, and finally catching up on emails and blogs. Naimah is having a nap, and I finally have a few minutes to myself.  Ahhh, peace in paradise...