It’s a cool, damp day here in Florida. I’m perched on a chair outside the cabin at the “Hotel California” and keeping warm with my second pot of hot coffee this morning.
Browsing through YouTube for some of my favorite songs and reflecting on where I am in my journey, I came across a video of Coheed and Cambria performing the classic “I Shall Be Released”. I found the performance uninspired and lack luster but the slide work by Warren Hayes was really enjoyable. I appreciate the work of any master at their instrument.
Reading through the lyrics, I can see the obvious story of a man in prison reflecting on his fate or a Christian interpretation of release and deliverance. I can also see an easy metaphorical interpretation that could apply to me or to anyone who is reflective about their life and their journey. We all get caught up in issues and circumstances that become traps we place ourselves in or allow to stand between our life goals and us. To quote the lines from the song
“They say ev’rything can be replaced
Yet ev’ry distance is not near
So I remember ev’ry face
Of ev’ry man who put me here”
We can get distracted. I do so often, it’s like I have ADD. And, in the moment, we head off in a new direction that we think leads to “the sweet tasting good times” to quote Carole King from an earlier blog I wrote. Instead of finding a shortcut, the journey to is the same and sometimes even longer because, we get totally lost keeping track of the purpose and reason for the journey in the first place. The only face we need to look to in order to find who put us here is the one in the mirror!
Today I got up fretting about my own journey and how I seem bogged down and spinning my wheels. Travel anywhere north of Florida seems a dodgy proposition due to the cold and unpredictable weather. I am riding almost every day and I am meeting new people almost every day and deepening my friendships with those who I already now.
There has been heartache and great joy for me. Sometimes, as the lyrics flow, I might want protection for the bad parts but it is all part of the higher purpose I had in mind when I started out. Sure I have fallen down and not lived up to my personal expectations of who I am and who I want to be but when I look up I see I am headed in the right direction and the goal of a life filled with love, happiness, and purpose is there in front of me.
“They say ev’ry man needs protection
They say ev’ry man must fall
Yet I swear I see my reflection
Some place so high above this wall”
“Way Over Yonder” is still ahead of me but it is within sight and grasp.
My impatience with the weather and my desire to get going again on my travels is just binding me up with frustration. I am letting it go. I can travel here and there is a lot I have yet to see and experience. There are lots of people I have talked to online that I would like to meet and get to know. There are friendships started that I need to relax around and let them evolve naturally.
The memo to me for the day is “Renew my rent on the cabin for another month and enjoy your time here”. If I do this as a conscious decision on the journey, it all makes sense and the walls of the prison of my own discontent disappear!
I remember a quote from that earlier blog in the form of a quote a friend sent to me; a line from Dr. Wayne Dyer " Have a Mind That is Open to Everything and Attached to nothing." Those darn attachment! So much of my energy has gone into finding the love part of my goal that everything else has suffered.
There is no need to look. Looking attaches me to a “lack of love” instead of what I really want which is, “to have love”. This pursuit has overwhelmed almost everything to the point my writing output has fallen off and I am not getting out there breaking new ground. Well, today is as good as any day to form the intention to get on with living my journey with balance and letting go of the attachment to a lack of something in my life.
There! That was easy!
“I see my light come shining
From the west unto the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released”
Here is an interesting side note. I don’t have my tarot cards with me but the Facebook version is fun to look at. Today what I drew as the card for my day is:
Temperance
Calm and balance. Need to have patience for events surrounding you as they play out. Moderation. Accommodation. Reflection on your life. Maturity. Draw emotions in and stop overreacting to outside forces. Contemplation and reflection on events, relationships and work. Be the calming force in chaos. Possible to overcome addiction to substance, people or relationships. Obsession passing. Order being restored. Bring calm to mind and behavior patterns. A time of peace is beginning. Let it wash over you.
The journey continues and so will my blogs, the book of poetry project, riding here in Florida, deepening my relationships, and my personal growth.
From the untitled new book
Boot tracks across the sand
Follow me into the dunes
Ahead of me there are no marks
No paths to follow
But the sunlight
Filtered through the haze
Of some distant place to the west
In the distance an eagle soars
Winds outstretched against the sun
Seeing and hearing all
Wisdom in the grip of its talons
My steps continue westward
In answer to its call
***********
Sky
Of gray somber washes
Clouds
Hints of dark on white
Lake
Still water like slate
Trees
Silvered branches frosted
Lawns
Brown forlorn waiting
Streets
Empty anticipating
Storm
Ominous pending
My personal favorite versions
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