Autumn is a second spring, when every leaf is a flower. ~ Albert Camus
This evening no big lessons, no great realizations just simple gratitude over a really nice day during my favorite time of year. It’s officially finally fall, my favorite season of the year. I grew up in the Northeast and always absolutely loved this time of year there. It was always a time for me to get out into the woods. Even though you would still get the occasional warm day, the humidity was gone. Walking around, the bugs that swarmed you in the summer woods were no longer there. The trees begin to give back, whether in the form of acorns for wildlife, apples or even just exploding leaves of color, fall is a season for trees to shine.
Fall also means football and although I never played organized football I really enjoy watching it. It’s one of the few sports where I enjoy both the college and professional levels of the sport. The teams I follow are absolutely awful this year but I still enjoy watching them. I even write a fan blog about my favorite professional team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, called Jack Lambert’s Toe. I became a Steeler fan in an interesting way, when I was 8 years old (1972) I went to a Mets – Pirates game at Shea Stadium. In the bottom of the ninth, the Mets, down by 1, had a guy on first, two out and Rusty Staub at the plate. Staub hit a line drive sure walk-off homer to right field, Roberto Clemente climbed the right field wall, stole the homer and saved the game. I was instantly a Clemente fan and by default the Pittsburgh Pirates. Sadly, Roberto Clemente died later that year, while bringing relief supplies to Nicaragua after an earthquake. He had coached a Puerto Rican all-star team there and had lost friends, he wanted to help and lost his life in the attempt, he was a great man.
Fall on the AT
So fast forward a few months later and I’m playing Nerf basketball in my bedroom with my friend Jimmy. He was a couple of years older than me and at some point asked me who my favorite basketball team was, I told him I didn’t have one. He informed me that I was a guy and that as a guy, I was required to have a favorite team in every major sport. I can feel the eye rolls, we were stupid kids in the early 70’s with the ideas of masculinity that existed back then. Since I’d been to a Celtics game they became my basketball team. I used to watch the Islanders on Channel 9 WWOR out of NY, so I became and Islanders fan. Finally, for the NFL, I’d never been to a game, I hadn’t watched any on TV other than the Jets and even then I knew the Jets weren’t very good. So, I had the Pirates and settled on the NFL team from Pittsburgh, the Steelers. That year, 1973, the Steelers came in second in their division. Over the next 5 years they would become arguably the greatest dynasty in the history of the NFL.
So, even though it is often hard to tell it’s fall in San Francisco, it wasn’t today. It was one of those quintessential fall days. Today was 60 and sunny, there was a little breeze that coolish breeze that makes things just a tiny bit crisp. I got up early and ran a couple of quick errands and headed for Mori Point to do my normal Sunday morning hike. But today, I ran smack dab into Fogfest. This left me parking a mile or so from the beach and strolling through all of the festival booths, bands, food and vendors. It was a lovely little festival, so I changed up my walk and never quite got to the Mori. Instead I took advantage of the lower number of folks down at the beach away from the festival. I walked out on the commercial pier and hung with the fishers. Took a stroll along the beach and watched some waves.
I came home to watch the afternoon football games and to cook, something else I love to do. A faculty member had gifted me some okra so I made gumbo and I must say it may be the best batch I’ve ever made. I can’t describe the taste I’m after with my gumbo, but the best I can do is a slightly seafoody sweet taste with a significant afterburn. I nailed it today and I can’t wait to eat some more tomorrow, gumbo often tastes better after sitting overnight, the flavor seeps even more deeply into the okra, shrimp and sausage. I also chopped up a really nice bunch of basil I bought at the farmers market so my apartment smells of fresh basil.
All in all, just a really nice fall Sunday. A peaceful easy day filled with things I love. I hope you had a happy day as well my friends. ~ Rev Kane
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. ~ Edward Abbey
One night of easy living at the edge of the desert before I head out to camp for five days in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. This park is one of my favorite places and is a bit of a secret despite being voted as one of the best parks in America on a number of occasions. Just to the south of Joshua Tree, Anza-Borrego gets overshadowed by the more well-known national park. For example, I reserved my campsite two weeks ago and in Joshua you couldn’t find a campsite for this week over two months ago. Also, Anza-Borrego is still one of those places that allows open primitive camping.
The other thing about Borrego Springs is that it’s a dark sky city, so with so little artificial light at night and so much artificial space, this is one of the few places in America were the night skies are just layers of stars on stars.
Being out here always makes me think about Edward Abbey, if you have never read his stuff, and you have an interest in the outdoors, it’s time to go get yourself a copy of Desert Solitaire or one of his other books. I’ll leave my own philosophizing on nature til after days in the sand and the dust, there’s always a lot of inspiration in wide-open spaces.
Although I’ll so some hiking each day, this place is not a great training ground for the Appalachian Trail (AT), not enough climbing for enough miles, but it will keep in shape and give me time to continue my decompression. The next couple of weeks are all about getting ready for the AT both mentally and physically. Physically I’m on my way, mentally, I need to keep slowing down, keep easing off of the throttle, becoming less dependent on normal everyday life in anticipation of a simpler new normal. Not an easy new normal, but certainly a simpler one, perhaps a better one. Hopefully you’ll find some time during the holiday madness to simplify, relax and find a new normal for yourself, and have a happy day my friends ~ Rev Kane
We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls.~ Anais Nin
Lately I’ve been traveling a bit and I love it, I love seeing new places, eating new foods and experiencing the different ways the world works. The Cliffs of Moher, pictured above were magnificent. Often, particularly in western countries there are subtle differences that catch me by surprise. Recently in Ireland one little difference was the type of sandwiches for sale at the train station. There were some of the standards like ham and cheese, but the one I bought was chicken and stuffing, after carefully slipping by the cheese and relish sandwich. Now we have all of these things in the United States, we just deem not to make them in sandwiches. I love chicken and stuffing sandwiches and have to admit to having made turkey and stuffing sandwiches after Thanksgiving.
Now sandwich options are pretty minor in life and in our pursuit of happiness, but the beauty of difference and experiences are that they create new possibilities. See, as I said, our lives in the US and Ireland are pretty similar, the differences come from the choices we make with all of the same things. In the same way two people make different choices in the same circumstances, we can choose to be happy or unhappy. So, the next time things aren’t going right, take a look at things from a new angle, get a new perspective and maybe it’ll bring you a new experience and make you a bit happier. As always, have a happy day my friends ~ Rev Kane
The way we experience the world around us is a direct reflection of the world within us. ~ Gabrielle Bernstein
Altered States of Consciousness
In 1980, a really freaky movie came out, called Altered States. It was a crazy mix of sensory deprivation tanks, psychedelics and science fiction. The video below should give you a taste:
So yeah, pretty weird.
However the movie left me with an utter fascination with the idea of spending time in a sensory deprivation tank, and landed it on my bucket list. Luckily for me, “floating” as it’s called, has become a little bit trendy, and now that I live near San Francisco, fairly easy to access. So Saturday morning I set out to have my first float experience.
The Sensory Deprivation Tank
Like I do with everything I do, I spent time researching what it would be like. All of the reading I did said the set up for the experience is pretty much always the same. You come in and you get a little orientation, either by video or like mine was, in person. They explain to you how properly to use the ear plugs, how the pod works, including the lighting options that you have. They explain that music will start you off, and music will be your warning that your time is almost up. There’s a shower so that you can shower before and after, with specific before and after body wash. They show you the little flotation pillows available and remind you which way to lay. Because your last warning to get out is the filter starting and you really don’t want your hair sucked into the filter trapping you in the unit. For those of us with no hair this is not an issue. 🙂
So I showered, and slipped into the pac man looking pod, I alternately thought it looked like the giant egg Robin Williams’s character arrived in on the show Mork and Mindy.
Getting into the float
Yes, you go into the pod naked after putting in ear plugs, showering and then putting Vaseline on any cuts you have. You’ll miss something and you’ll know immediately because the salty water will burn the wound. Happily the sensation fades pretty quickly. I started by getting in, closing the lid and getting situated, you’re only in about a foot of water, but you can feel how buoyant you are immediately, but it is still possible to sit on the bottom and get your bearings. I figured out the neck pillow and laid back. Like when I wrote about being in the Dead Sea, it’s an amazing feeling being that buoyant and floating so easily. Then I made the big step and turned out the lights.
Others Peoples’ experiences
It was interesting reading online about other people’s experiences as well as hearing from some friends. Several people talked about falling asleep and honestly, going in tired really seems like it would lead to a lovely, albeit $70 nap. Others talked about feeling claustrophobic and there is definitely a closeness. For me though, it was the same closeness I feel in a sauna. It’s warm at first in the pod, the water around body temperature means the air is also almost a hundred degrees and humid. So the air definitely feels thick, humid and close. Added to the lack of light and the reality of the pod, if you’re claustrophobic or anxious about being in the pod this could be really uncomfortable. For me, it was close, but like in a sauna, I got comfortable in a few minutes.
Some people talked about getting really freaked out in the experience once the music stopped and they were floating, silent in the dark. People talk about freaking out about drowning, or that they were in a coffin or even about death. I think in many ways being in the pod parallels taking drugs. The pod, like most drugs, are mood amplifiers, so take a drug or get into the pod when you’re really anxious about the experience and you’re likely to get even more freaked out once you’re involved. I think the thing people really have to remember, is that you’re in control of your thoughts and the nice thing is, at any point you can reach over and turn the light on, you could sit up and lift the lid. But I do see how someone starting to freak out could be pushed over the edge. You see when I was first floating, I was spinning, ever so slightly and slowly. I didn’t realize this was happening but was getting frustrated because my feet were touching the pod. It was confusing and annoying that the pod was too short, it hadn’t seemed like that. So I sat up and reached for the light, that was not where I thought it was. Then for about a minute I couldn’t find it, the lack of realization of the spin meant I didn’t actually know where I was. It only took a minute to find the lid seam and following it to the hinge and the light button. But if you were already freaking out, I imagine not finding that button could be terrifying. Of course you could always just push the lid up.
What my experience was like
Once I worked it all out and figured out how to steady myself from spinning and fully get the neck pillow where I wanted it, I got into the flow of the float. Being in the pod is very much like meditating. I think you get more benefit if you can calm your mind. I’ve always been a terrible meditator because I really struggle with quieting my mind. I have really good hearing and in the tank, even with the ear plugs there were noises I picked up on. I could hear the pumps on the pods in the other rooms when they turned on, a couple of times someone was talking too loudly in the hall. But the majority of the time it was quiet, absolutely dark and I was extremely comfortable floating.
The first things I noticed was that my body was over compensating for the lack of input. My eyes were doing lots of those light flashes and floating colors that often happen when you close your eyes in the sun. The big difference of course is that in the pod there is no difference between having your eyes open or closed, so you see the colors either way. For a few seconds I had fun blinking and noticing no difference between eyes opened or closed. Early on my feet felt pretty weird, I have some neuropathy from my fluctuating battle with Type II diabetes. I’ve been eating better so the nerves are recovering as my sugar levels are dropping. I think this was the reason, with absolutely no pressure on my feet the nerves were firing off and my feet had some minor pains and phantom pressures.
I get a little freaked out about getting water in my ears, so even though the neck pillow kept my ears above the waterline, I was conscious of the waves in the pod. Eventually the small waves mellowed out and I was floating perfectly still. It was a really comfortable experience. Eventually I was so integrated into the water that I really was losing track of my body and by the end, I really felt like I was laying on the bottom, which of course I wasn’t, it’s just that my body was perfectly supported and my body interpreted that as laying on a surface, not to mention the blood in my body was likely settled to the lowest points of my body.
I had one auditory hallucination in the pod, I heard the name Scott clearly yelled. I had no visual hallucinations and thought my thoughts drifted around and even daydreamed a bit, there was nothing extraordinary that happened. The biggest surprise was that I really expected the time to go by incredibly slowly and that really wasn’t the case, the hour, felt like an hour, maybe a little less.
Was it worth it?
Some people have talked about the experience being the most relaxing thing they’ve ever done. Some have talked about great meditation, and others about really having extraordinary clarity of thought. I think for a lot of people, this is the only time they actually try and meditate in a truly serene and quiet environment which should help their meditation. For others, I wonder how often they ever just lay down for an hour and do nothing but think. I’m betting that’s really rare for most folks, but it’s something I make time to do from time to time. Typically on my back watching clouds or stars. In many ways my time in the pod really felt like an hour in my hammock looking at stars.
I think if you’re curious about the experience it’s worth giving it a try. You might get some deep meditation time, you might just get an hour alone with some downtime which is really missing in your life. I came out relaxed but not exceptionally so. One of the other things people have reported is heightened senses after leaving their session. I didn’t get that although the slice of pizza I had afterwords was really good. In the end, I think for me, a good hour long or 90 minute massage, particularly from KC, the best massage therapist in the world, is a much more relaxing and beneficial experience.
So what’s the happiness lesson from this post? Well it’s a simple one, the same as my lesson from my Bucket List post. Get out and check things off of your bucket list. Even if the experience doesn’t measure up to the fantasy you created 30 years around taking hallucinogenic drugs and floating in a sensory deprivation tank until you can travel out of your body across time. It’s still worth it to chase down your dreams, to get out of your comfort zone and to really feel like you’re taking advantage of everything life has to offer us. Doing that, I promise my friends, will bring you many happy days. ~ Rev Kane
As always the words of his holiness bring both heat and light ~ Rev Kane
The ultimate source of a happy life is warm-heartedness. This means extending to others the kind of concern we have for ourselves. On a simple level we find that if we have a compassionate heart we naturally have more friends. And scientists today are discovering that while anger and hatred eat into our immune system, warm-heartedness and compassion are good for our health. ~ Dalai Lama
Man is fond of counting his troubles, but he does not count his joys. If he counted them up as he ought to, he would see that every lot has enough happiness provided for it. ~ Fyodor Dostoevsky
So we have fully entered into November and as if Mother Nature thought we were doubting it, the mercury dropped like a snowball this week. I like the fall, I like the feel of cold air on my skin while standing in the sun. There is nothing better to me than to be outside working hard in the cold air, nothing better than starting early in the morning and coming in to a big, hot breakfast and a nap.
In the last couple of years there is a new tradition that seems to have begun amongst people I know and I’m sure others, and that is of giving thanks each day in November. Perhaps this has grown out of Thanksgiving being in November, I don’t know and frankly it’s not important because it is a great idea. It is good for us to be thankful for what we have, no matter how bad things may be there is always something in our lives worth focusing on, worth being thankful for.
It is important to focus on the good things in our lives; we can often overlook the good things in our pursuit for even better things. While it is great that some of us have dedicated a month to do this, to me it should be an everyday activity. So today my friends take a second or two, a think about something you are grateful for, you don’t have to do any great pronouncement, it is good enough just to give thanks. However, if it is a specific person you are thankful for why don’t you go ahead and let them know, you’ll certainly make their day.
While we’re at it my friends, today I’m thankful for all of you for reading this and for the opportunity to help in some small way to bring some additional happiness to your lives. As always, have a happy day my friends ~ Rev Kane
The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.~ Oprah Winfrey
I remember writing my first bucket list, it was almost thirty years ago. I only put on twenty items, my thinking was not as expansive as it is these days. I would write additional bucket lists over the years as the items on my earlier lists were completed. Not that that I’ve ever completed all of them, the first item on the list has always been on the list.
Aurora while photographing Polar Bears in the Arctic
However, I knew even when I wrote the first list, I knew as a child that I always wanted to travel. My curiosity is immense and likely insatiable, I have always realized that I’ve wanted to see everything, know everything, as impossible as that obviously would be in a single or even multiple lifetimes. But that hasn’t stopped me from trying and that will be obvious from my list. The list is heavy on places, but that shouldn’t be seen as limiting, because the journey to these places, that travel, provides experiences that are priceless. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t trade my first view of the Treasury Building in Petra, peeking through the Siq, camels kneeling on the ground for anything. But as amazing as that vision was, it was the journey to Petra that was so fantastic. My first time in a Middle Eastern country, my days in Wadi Rum with the Bedouin, conversations with cab drivers and locals, almost driving into an ISIS attack that killed 30 people, and bobbing like a cork in the Dead Sea. All of those experiences were wrapped up in the seed of one item on the bucket list, going to Petra. Although swimming in the Dead Sea had also long been on my list.
Rev Kane at Petra
So, I’m sharing my list with you tonight (in no order of importance), using this post as a reason to reconstruct a new one, in hopes it will inspire you as well my friends. Not just to draw up your own list, which I hope you will do. Writing the list is a fun little dreaming exercise of its own. But even more importantly in hopes that in creating your list, in reading my own adventures, that you’ll start checking off items on your own list and have happier days my friends. ~ Rev Kane
My Bucket List
See the Great Pyramid at Giza
Travel to outer space
Complete the Appalachian Trail
Hike at least 500 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail
Hike the Western Highland Way in Scotland
Hike in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco
Hike the Overland Track in Australia
Hike 500km on the Te Araroa trail in New Zealand
Hike to Machu Pichu
Hike in Patagonia
Do a walking tour in Kenya
Hike at least 500 miles on the Trans-Canada Trail
Bicycle across the United States
See Stonehenge
Walk on the Glaciers of Greenland
Go to Iceland
See Mount McKinley
Take an Ocean Voyage
Kayak the coast of California
Kayak the Zambezi River
See mountain Gorillas in the wild
See an elephant in the wild
See a lion in the wild
See a hippo in the wild
See a right whale in the wild
See a grizzly bear in the wild
See a tiger in the wild
See a snow leopard
Go on a bigfoot expedition
Photograph the great migration
Swim in the Devil’s Pool at Victoria Falls
See Iguazu Falls in Brazil
Do a cage dive with Great White Sharks
See a Rhino in the wild
Go to Marrakesh (done)
Go to Tangier (done)
Hike the Muir Trail
Hike Rim to Rim at the Grand Canyon
Photograph the Wave in Arizona
Go to Tonga
Go to Tuvalu
Go to the Cook Islands
Visit Cappadocia, Turkey
Go to Up Helly Aa
Go to Angkor Wat
Go to the Great Barrier Reef
Visit Australia
Go to Antarctica
Visit the Galapagos Islands
Visit Vietnam
Go to Carnival in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil
Surf a sand dune in Fortaleza, Brazil
Visit Italy
See the Taj Mahal
Backpack in India
Backpack in Thailand
Go to Bangkok
Hike Rainbow Mountain in Peru
Visit Norway
Attend Diwali in India
Run with the Bulls in Spain
Visit Cuba
Take a hot air balloon ride
Skydive
Do Peyote
Do Ayahuasca
Search for a buried treasure
Do a century bicycle ride
Float in a sensory deprivation tank
Go to Timbuktu
Go to the Louvre Museum
Go to the Van Gogh Museum
Climb Kilimanjaro
On the same day, sunrise from Mt. Whitney, sunrise from Death Valley
Go to Glacier National Park
Watch a game at Wrigley Field (Done)
Swim in a Great Lake
Learn how to surf
Go to Spanish language school in Oaxaca (done)
Oaxaca for Day of the Dead (done)
See an Orca in the wild
Meet a penguin
Photograph Antelope Canyon in Arizona
Hang with Grey Whales in Baja
Visit Bhutan
Photograph the race track in Death Valley
Go Parasailing
Learn how to play the saxophone
Learn Akido
Publish a book of fiction
Catch a stage of the Tour De France live
Swim in Jellyfish Lake – Palau
Start a business
Too personal to post
Hike to Kuang Si Falls in Laos
Take a boat from Manaus to Fortaleza, Brazil on the Amazon
Vagabond for at least 3 months
Create an art prank like fairy houses
Find a meteorite
Swim in Iceland’s Blue Lagoon
Have any better suggestions, add them in the comments ~ Rev Kane
When I started counting my blessings my whole life turned around ~ Willie Nelson
Sometimes we make things harder than we have to, we look for complicated ways to get the things we want, even happiness. Maybe if we just paid attention to the little things, the good things that happen to us each day, we might find we have all we need to make us happy.
Just a few of the things that made me smile today:
* Seeing a post I missed with my little niece in her Halloween costume
* Having a Ministry of Happiness post go viral
* Having a few people tell me that my leaving my job is a loss for my school
* Potstickers
* A pleasant walk on a surprisingly warn November day
* Packing for a mini vacation I’m taking for the next few days
Take a few minutes and make your own list and have a happy day my friends ~ Rev Kane
Tonight a poet recommended to me by Adrian Manning, his name is Wolfgang Carstens. Wolfgang is a seriously interesting guy, his words are angular, sharp, they seem revel in the terror of honesty, good stuff. He’s also interesting in the different formats he uses to show his work. So here’s a written piece, a series of his work being read by him and finally an illustrated poem. Take a look, enjoy and have a happy day my friends
~ Rev Kane
Wolfgang Carstens was kind enough to provide us with some more material, so here’s a live reading of Enjoy Oblivion, in front an audience at Brittany’s Lounge, enjoy!
Hello friends, recently I was made aware that a friend was celebrating the 30th anniversary of her Alive Day. What she was celebrating was 30 years from a failed suicide attempt. This really hit me, I have no idea if I’m unique given its prevalence, but there has been a lot of suicide around me in my life. Growing up three kids in my neighborhood killed themselves within weeks of each other, years later one of their nephews would also kill himself. Two of my friends have had sons who have committed suicide and I myself at one point as a teenager stuck a shotgun in my mouth and happily/luckily couldn’t pull the trigger. Having been someone who has suffered from depression in the past I know how deep the well is that people can find themselves in, and how impossible it seems at that point that you’ll ever get out.
The reason why my friend’s Alive Day is such an awesome thing is that it shows that not only is there hope, not only can things get better, but that they can get so much better that you actually can celebrate being alive. My friend is a sampler of life, one of those people who is at the fire hose of life experience with her mouth wide open trying to drink it all in. She has a great life, a job where she helps people, great friends and a wonderful partner! Pretty much the antithesis of someone who sees no reason to live.
I think friends if you never have before, or never choose to again I’d like you to share this post. If this idea, if the reality that there are real people out there who have come this far, gives one person enough hope to not try and kill themselves, we’ve all done an amazing thing together.
Ideas like this are the reason I started the Ministry of Happiness, my hope is that we all can help each other live happier lives, have happier days. I have also learned that combat veterans also celebrate Alive Days , based on near death experiences in combat. So here’s a thought I have, it doesn’t have to have been a suicide attempt, but I think we all have a significant day or event in the past that made us realize how precious life is, what a gift it is for all of us. Take that day, or pick a date that’s near enough and celebrate your own Alive Day! Let’s spread this idea and all have happier days my friends and thank you all for being part of this. ~ Rev Kane
Autumn is a second spring, when every leaf is a flower. ~ Albert Camus
All in all, just a really nice fall Sunday. A peaceful easy day filled with things I love. I hope you had a happy day as well my friends. ~ Rev Kane
The Ministry of Happiness 