5150 vs. Area 51: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

“Some lose all mind and become soul, insane.

Some lose all soul and become mind, intellectual.

Some lose both and become accepted.”

― Charles Bukowski

Sorry for the delay in writing this blog.  I'm currently having difficulty getting my site to appear on Google.  If you type my URL there, an "Error 404" may still pop up.  I've spent all evening trying to resolve this.  Luckily, I'm still able to write using other search engines.  Hopefully, the issue gets resolved soon.

Anyway, today is my birthday!  I have officially turned 51.  I was trying to come up with an interesting title.  I thought about "5150", since I'm a rock guitar player and a fan of Van Halen.  Then I thought about "Area 51", since I love sci-fi (e.g., X-Files, Star Trek, The Twilight Zone, etc.).  Finally, I just said, "Fuck it!  Let's have both."  So, 5150 represents rock music and Area 51 is that highly classified USAF facility, that is a hard place to access.  Couldn't decide between them.  Hence, the idiom.  Get it?

I did have fun today, despite the URL hiccup.  It's one of life's curveballs that we roll with.  My motto when shit happens is: "Seriously?...Of course."  They come in Divine timing, for reasons that we sometimes can't fathom at the moment; if at all.  Whether we like it or not, they present themselves to make us better.

So, yesterday I went to the beach on a clear sunny day to meditate and exercise.  One of the things I did was Shavasana ("Corpse Pose") directly on the sand near the shoreline, secluded away from passer byers.  It was one of the most blissful experiences I ever had.  It would be the last time, for the rest of my life, that I'd be at the beach as a 50-year-old man.  Tomorrow, it will be the first time in my entire life that I set foot onto the beach as a young man of 51.  

Today, I cleaned my turtle's tank.  I proclaimed today is her birthday as well.  My mom had rescued her (on a rainy day from falling to her doom on the edge of a sidewalk drain) when she could fit in the palm of my mom's tiny hand.  Because of this little one's surprising agility and quick wit, mommy named her "Speedie".  When asked how old Speedie was a couple of years back, my mom immediately said, "22."  That makes it easy, because the suffix of this year and the age of the amphibian are both 24.

After cleaning the tank, I went to get my first Michelada ever.  I had it with the Camarones Costa Azul (Blue Coast Shrimp).  It was some of the best Mexican food I've had in a while.  Wait, I did have an amazing Mojarra Frita at a different place a couple of weeks back lol.  Still, when you compare it to a year or even an entire lifetime, it sure has been a while.  It truly is a matter of perception.  After that, since it was such a nice clear sunny day, I walked around for a bit and picked up a couple of avocados and kiwis before heading home.  

It was a good birthday.  I'm grateful for all the birthday wishes from those that remembered.  Muchas gracias!  Disfruta tu fin de semana, Todos!

AMOR FATI

Thank you and good night.

P.S. I share the same birthday with the late Jimmy Kim (1988 Olympic Gold Medalist - Taekwondo - Men's Heavyweight).  We also went to the same school (Cal).  I'm honored to have met such a kind and wonderful human being.      Rest in Power...

Wikipedia: Jimmy Kim

The Total Eclipse: A Cosmic Reset Button

"You have to take risks. We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen."

-Paulo Coelho

So, tomorrow April 8th, 2024 will feature the globally much anticipated Total Solar Eclipse.  Let's take a moment and appreciate just how awesome it is that the Sun, Earth and Moon are at the right distance and positioned in the right order for us to witness this thing we call an "eclipse".  If that's not mind-blowing, I don't know what is!  

 

The eclipse will be in ambitious Aries, in alignment with Chiron or Χείρων (pronounced "HEE-rown"), a small solar body named after the centaur in Greek mythology (son of Cronus: God of Time [Roman: Saturn], mentored by Apollo, and teacher to Achilles), who is also known as "The Wounded Healer".  This means that anything significant that remains unresolved will likely rise to the surface of our consciousness.  

Don't be too surprised if people whom we haven't been in contact with suddenly reach out during this time.  If there is anything that needs to be addressed, either with that person and/or within ourselves, this provides a great opportunity to let go of any remaining negativity, if it still exists.  We can choose to enhance our path to healing this way.

With this new chapter, we must make space for the arrival of positive abundance.  This means letting go of the attachment to things and people that we have outgrown and/or have said goodbye to.  When one of our dogs would die, my mom would always say that our time with them has concluded.  They were in our lives to enrich us and teach us, but when the purpose of that relationship has been fulfilled, then either they will pass on or we will or both.  

The same goes for our possessions.  I lost my garnet stone necklace of many years last week; its purpose to booster my confidence.  With my recent growth and self-discovery, along side the help of my therapist, the garnet stone simply vanished.  Its job was done, so it had to be no more.  Of course, I'm both puzzled and upset that I lost it, but those are the facts.  I'm learning to let go.  Life is so transient.  Why waste time with the life I have remaining fretting over something now gone, that I would've lost anyway when I die?

We certainly can draw parallels to our lives and the eclipse.  There is no real separation between us and what happens in the Universe.  Hence the name, "Universe" ("One Song").  Our attachment to what no longer serves us is the darkness (like the Moon covering the Sun), because it can be scary to detach, even though it keeps us from the enlightenment of our true greatness.  When we do let go and take that step out of our comfort zone, that now becomes our shadow behind us; as we walk towards the light that is in front and ahead of us. 

AMOR FATI

Thank you and good night.