It’s been just over year since we were kayaking in Mexico. It feels more like twenty years have gone by between now and then. Every day is such a rich visual feast. What I should have posted instead, is a photo from today. It’s absolutely glorious outside with a chilly breeze but the energy of the new greens, the sparkling sea and grasses in motion, makes everything so vivid.

I suppose I could still take some photos of this day, but I’m working on other stuff and decided to just leave it be. It will have to be a memory.  Or maybe not even a memory…I might just have to enjoy it right now as a transient lovely thing. Best not to put too many expectations on myself to actually recall anything. It’s enough to just enjoy it as it is. A purely Pacific moment.

I thought I was going to write about journalling. It seems I’ve gotten off topic before I even got on the actual topic. I have been hand writing my three pages for so many years now. This morning again, I started as soon as I rolled out of bed. Set myself up in the big overstuffed chair looking out over the ocean and wrote about whatever came into my head. There was a snippet of a dream, some thoughts on euthanasia, a segue into Buddhism and then somewhat of a to-do list…oh, and observations about my hair cut the day before. As you can see, there’s even less focus in that mode than on this blog.

But whatever I’m doing or wherever I am, I find my journal as much a part of my routine as brushing my teeth. I couldn’t imagine facing the day without washing my face, having my cappuccino and writing in my journal. It’s just the way things work best for me.  There are occasional mornings where it gets missed, like if I’m traveling with someone in a hurry to get going in the morning, or something like that. But I’d say that in a year, I might miss a total of about six mornings…so it’s pretty rare.

I believe it helps keep my fingers connected to my brain with a lot less editing and self-censoring. I’m hoping it keeps me limber enough to assist with writing some of my travel pieces and other ‘real’ stuff I’m working on.

Like my daily walks, I don’t  ‘do’ anything with them. I just do them because it feels great and gives me a sense of having done something good. Pianists practise scales. They don’t do anything with them except use them to keep their fingers and brain connected.

I used to take mydear old dog for a walk. I didn’t do anything with that either…except to enjoy it immensely.  I highly recommend the practise. Just do it.