Keep A Fire Burning In Your Eye

It has been a few days since I last blogged or wrote anything.  Sometimes I think I am heading out for a walk in the park but end up on the big emotional roller coaster of life!  The past few days have been one of those occasions.

When you ride, the ride is what counts and everything else needs to be boxed away until the ride is over so the focus is on the ride and safely getting to your destination.  Sometimes I need to apply that same rule to my life’s journey to keep the big picture in mind amid the details of the moment.

I haven’t been racking up the miles like I have been for several weeks and a lot has been going on in my personal life as I transition into my journey on the highways of North America and my new life as a writer, photographer, and distance biker.  I made some dumb riding errors lately and that was a wakeup call to get focused on the ride and to get into the mindset that let me ride 27,000 miles this year without incident.  So, today I rode and focused on what I was doing and what bad habits I had developed while lazing in Florida then set about making a mental note of what needed to change.

In parallel, my life journey has gotten a little muddled.  Time to take stock and see if there are corrections I need to make to stay with the notion that my life should be fun and fulfilling. And, that I live in a manner that is authentic and represents who I am and who I want to be.  Am I on course and am I having fun with the journey?

As I write I have my favourite singer/songwriter on the Bose Wave.  Jackson Browne’s For A Dancer:

Keep a fire burning in your eye
Pay attention to the open sky
You never know what will be coming down

I don't remember losing track of you
You were always dancing in and out of view
I must've always thought you'd be around
Always keeping things real by playing the clown
Now you're nowhere to be found

I have always lived life with huge intensity: sometimes destructively; sometimes constructively with great creativity and purpose.  I have always had a fire in my eye.  Sometimes I forget to pay attention to the open sky to know what is coming down.

Sometimes in the intensity and emotion of the moment, I lose track of the Dancer.  The notion of what really fulfills me and makes me happy, sometimes dances in and out of my view.  I take for granted some things will take care of themselves without the nurturing and attention required for growth and full realization.  In the meantime I flit and fart around (playing the clown) then realize the opportunity has passed or I have missed out on something wonderful by not paying attention to the open sky.

So I come into a new week after several days of not writing and not working on the book of verse I have in progress.  I need to write like I need to breathe.  It quiets the inner voices and anxieties.  That means putting aside time to make sure it happens or it will dance out of view.  I need to ride and document the journey through photographs and my blogs.  I need to be patient and nurture a special relationship I have so that Dancer doesn’t dance out of view.  And, I need to keep my faith with myself; to be authentic in all that I do.

So this week I will keep the fire in my eye as I pay attention to the open sky.

Listen to For A Dancer Jackson Browne

A parting thought from the new book of verse

Love is like a flower bud touched by the sun and rain

Warmed by the rays

Caressed and nourished by the gentle shower

The flower opens and takes more of both

The sun and the rain

And gives back its fragrance and colorful beauty

Love is the life force implied in these three

Infused with the act

Growing though the continuous interaction

And when one of the elements the flower

The sun or the rain

Is missing or lags they all suffer and fade

The flower fades and wilts while the sun

Grows pale and the rain

Falls to no purpose

And the world is less blessed

By this loss