On the Road: California

5/29/14 : ★

One of the things I love most about traveling, is that it gives you a lot of perspective. 

Bridge over the bay.

Everywhere you go, you encounter the narratives that people tell about who they are, what they do, and where they live. And for the most part, I've found that whether these stories are positive or negative has little to do with relative physical comfort, and more to do with emotional well being.

Dad in front of his home. He retired from engineering and went into medical massage.
He spends a lot of time in farmers markets. And he is so happy. 

To a certain extent, each and every one of us constructs our own personal hell and heaven. And we re-tell ourselves the story of this hell or heaven, everyday.

Berkeley: A man named Rivers, dressed in a flashy silver suit, offers me flowers and blessed yogurt from the Hare Krishna Temple. 

We chose to feel liberated by circumstances, or to be imprisoned by them. We chose hate or happiness. We chose to love or to run.

Flower offering

I can't help but feel that to have power over our lives, we must know that we have power over these narratives. We must recognize that we are the writers of the fictions in our head--and yes, they are fictions. Because almost any circumstance can be re-written to be understood and felt differently.

And these fictions we tell ourselves--they have power. They form the ground from which we make decisions about who and how to love, about what's possible for our future, and about whether we can be happy.

Patty's new hat.

Minette