A few unlooked-for urgings/longings/thoughts/satisfactions:
- Living on the water. I first started sailing in 6th grade, and there's no going back. I find myself incredibly content sailing around Newport harbor, propelled by the wind and suspended by water.
- Sitting. Outside. On the grass. Under trees. Try it.
- Eating foods as natural/not processed as possible. As much as I feel like I'm in an informercial saying this, it's true.
- Recognizing that ugly things are manmade. Buildings, roads, cars, signs, pollution, fences, etc can all be incredibly ugly. Trees, oceans, mountains, deserts, weather are things of beauty. The only ugly animals I can think of are those with manipulated genetics (think chihuahua). Of course, buildings, cars, etc can be beautiful. They should be.
- M favorite place in the world: on a peak in the Sierras, high above treeline, mountainside dotted with snow, air cold and clear and crisp, nothing man-made in sight, and no sounds but the wind and the marmots.
- Rain. I'm obsessed with it. Rainy days cheer me up. When it rains, I go outside. And if I have to study, I'll study in my car, where I can see the rain and hear the rain and (with the window down a crack) feel the rain.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for technology. I'm an engineer, for cryin' out loud. But it's no coincidence that I'm in a field (bioengineering) where the goal is to restore natural conditions, not manipulate them cyborg style. We lose some of our humanity when we become disconnected from nature. As such, this blog entry is not a rallying cry for everyone to ditch their clothes, hug a tree, and buy a Prius. It is a crying out for truth.
R
