But I'll tell you what hermits realize. If you go off into a far, far forest and get very quiet, you'll come to understand that you're connected with everything.

Alan Watts

I have been thinking about writing this blog recently. There has to be some value to the process. It take’s work and when I look at the traffic statistics I am not even sure it is worthwhile. I would love to think that I am touching someone’s life. Inspiring them in some small way. But unless I figure out how to get these thoughts in front of more people that is hardly realistic.

There was an ah-ha moment recently though. By writing I contemplate words and struggle to make my sentences shorter and to the point. What happens during this process is that my ideas become sharpened and more concise. Sometimes as I pare words I find that the idea itself changes and becomes more accurate or more relevant.

A case in point was last week’s post on dreaming. As I tried to describe what dreaming was I decided I did not like the sentence and trimmed it down. The result. “Dreaming lies at the cross roads of imagination and reality." As I ponder on this I realize that I had redefined what I believe dreaming to be. Dreaming became a different state. One, where you take things you have experienced and know to be true. Then, combine them with things from your imagination. It is way more than a memory. It has more validity than a fantasy. You see yourself doing things you are not yet able to. You see yourself in places you do not yet know exist. You see things happen that haven’t yet. Sometimes they are completely outlandish. Sometimes they are mundane. The thing is you create a picture of possibilities grounded in something you know to be real. The other piece of this is that I can now replicate the process. It used to be that dreaming was something that happened when the muse was with me. Now I understand what is going on I am more able to make it happen at will.

When I write I am often brought to a place of clarity. One where I am able to slot my ideas together. There is a beauty to this. I am able to explain my thoughts to others more easily. I am able to stand with conviction. These concepts are no longer groundless, I have examined them. I take my thinking beyond whimsy, sketch out the evidence and consider the proof. The more I write, the more convinced I become.

As I am writing this I realize it does not matter if no one reads it. What matters is that I am a person of conviction. It matters that I speak my truth and that I do it with integrity. It matters that I share these ideas. And then. My thoughts are urged to go further. It matters that we have more adventurers in the world. It matters that we raise young people who know what life is like without the hamster wheel. People that see with clarity and not through the lens of their wallet. People who want to leave the world a better place. People who realize they are connected with everything. People who want to lift and enhance rather than destroy. People who consider what the manifestation of their actions are. People who want to make the world a beautiful and just place. Adventure is a great place to come to terms with this. It creates strong, trusting relationships, harmony and the desire to steward.

So yes I do need to keep this blog, whether anybody reads it or not. I have to have faith and relax and float.

To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you don't grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax, and float.

Alan Watts