Never ever perform gastral travel in an elevator.
Like so many things we do, travel is simply a fact of life.
We move.
Movement can be a product of involuntary forces or voluntary forces.
We can be drawn to move our selfs.
Our physicality makes movement job number one.
From our most base needs to our more abstract needs, we move. This may be as simple as moving our arm to scratch our ear to moving around this old world.
What drives us to move? Asking ourselves if we are drawn to someone or something or if we move away from someone or something. Is it choice or chance? Are we the driver or driven?
What moves you?

Seems like some folks never look up. They walk towards the vision in their mind and let the body take care of journey.
Lost in thought? Maybe or perhaps simply not found.
Ever say to yourself "How'd I get here?" or "What am I doing this for?".
Somehow we get so used to not looking up we miss that old Buttermilk Sky.

We miss those times we lay flat on our backs, in the grass, watching the clouds tumble in slow motion. Tumbling our imagination. Reading the tea leaves of a Spring Day.
Let our imagination bloom and follow the clouds like a Sun flower.

Some of us just look down all the time. We only see the Shadow of the clouds and feel the chill as the Lucky Old Sun hides behind Buttermilk.

Like Hermit Crabs we grow into our shell, withdraw when frightened and come out claws first.
Old Buttermilk Sky sailing above us, dreamily moving from night to day. Take me to what I am and can be in. Clouds are tea leaves of the imagination that our Good Gypsy hearts read.

The Bloom is on and flowers become abundant in the luxury of a warming sun and longer days. The Green becomes electric and skies are Bahama blue over head. Still comes the crisp morning air that reminds of what winter's reign had brought.

We shed in the warmth of mid day and after the blush of morning comes the rhythm of busy.

We color our world with how we dress, what we do, what we say and how we act or not act. We choose colors and lay them out from within.

Let's not break someone else's crayons. Let them color outside the lines.
Enjoy the wonder of expression. Simply turn to the colors of joy.

Should someone try to break our crayons, it is because they fear our joy, and our joy speaks of their lack of joy.

Use your crayons well!

So many lessons can be learned from watching life on this Earth.
We can take lessons from Ants, Grasshoppers, Birds, Fish and all things great and small; even ourselves.
We can find lessons in the movement of water in taking the path of least resistance.
But in all this there is a rub.
Sometimes the lesson from one observation appears to be contrary to another. This would be the case of the Salmon. It would seem that swimming upstream would not be the best way to spawn, especially when the end result is the end of the spawning Salmon.
Looking deeper we see more to this.
What is it about struggling, as the Salmon does in it's journey to spawn, that we can learn from?
What is it that we can gain from "swimming upstream"?
I think that a lesson of this type is for each one of us to look inside for the answer.
May all your answers be a wondrous surprise!

The first time my life passed before me was amazing. It was a swirl of color, emotions and fragments in and out of the previous event of living.

In reflection, what was learned was instrumental in the further progress of living. The lesson was a flash of realization.

The realization was, what often makes the most impact on us and others is often those things we tend to think are of the least significance.

For instance; sometimes we simply acknowledge the presence of another or they recognize us. Simply put: presence with another.

Within that context what is clear, for me, is the importance of being conscious and "awake" as much as possible. What that means seems to be being aware of, and stepping out of "day dreaming", "thinking what I am going to say next" or "being self absorbed".

As time progressed it seemed, at first, a daunting task. The notion being, one must be completely present at all times. As time moved on it was apparent being present is not a one time accomplishment but rather a ongoing process of "exercising" awareness.

It still appears to me few of us can be present completely, all the time.
What I learned I can do is to treat presence the way I treat any of my daily functions; something to work on it moment to moment, daily.

Do I forget and lapse into daydreaming? yes.
Do I only think of myself and my own needs from time to time? yes.
Simply put, it is something to do today and not tomorrow or yesterday.
Tomorrow is the future; yesterday is the past...today is what we have.
Now is what we live in and present is where we are best to live.
Live today.
Reflections on the Water of Life are only on the surface.