Taste Them Again...For The First Time

Thursday, August 28, 2014

I ventured way back to the distant year of 1990 to find a commercial I have been thinking about this morning.  Check it out here on YouTube.  This slogan used for a Corn Flakes commercial has been running through my mind lately.  I feel as if I am seeing the world again...for the first time.  I have a sense of childlike wonder that most people of my age bracket do not exhibit.

I am adjusting to working my two part-time jobs now.  I generally find them relatively enjoyable to go to each day.  Yesterday, as I rode the train to my therapy appointment, I noticed the plethora of new students wandering all over the University of Minnesota campus.  As the campus passed by the windows of my train I had this unexpected realization.  These new students do not know a world without the Internet.  Read that statement again.  These new students do not know a world without the Internet.  The youngest undergraduates now studying at the University of Minnesota were born around the year 1996.  I had finished college by that time.  It's a bit surreal to think that there are now people of legal age seeking a higher education who have grown up in a world in which the Internet has always been a part of their lives.  The world has never been so globalized and interconnected.  

As for me I find myself wanting to take time to tune out a world very filled with lots of technology and tune in to the world I perceive through my senses.  For such a very long time I was functioning in the world somewhat like a person who attempts to listen to the wind or see the sky from deep inside a house.  In this metaphor the house symbolizes my body.  It's as if a portion of my consciousness was hiding away inside me.  But I believe it would be more accurate to state that a portion of my awareness wasn't actually with me.  A portion of me was in some sort of exile.  Psychotherapy combined with shamanic journeywork made the mending of my full consciousness possible.  I am still adjusting to living in a way in which I am present to the present moment.  It's a true discipline to remain present and not get lost in thoughts connected to other times and places.

In early October I will enjoy the gift of the opportunity to travel to Hawaii for approximately nine days. I have been invited to assist in the preparatory work for the annual opening of the Hui Ho'olana Center.  I am excited to return to Hawaii...to see it again for the first time.


I will be going away for the Labor Day weekend tomorrow afternoon.  I am looking forward to a long weekend near a lake and enjoying what remains of the summer season.  It's been my experience that autumn does not hesitate to announce its arrival here in Minnesota.  In a few short weeks the leaves will be turning.  I will take a brief pause from writing while I am away.  You can expect my next entry on September 1st.