The day started at my 5 o’clock hour as per usual. Morning pages, yoga, meditation. I rapidly dressed and jetted out the door at 7. I was going to meet my high school friend Tavia for breakfast in Santa Cruz and I knew she only had a limited amount of time before work so I wanted to maximize it. I cruised over 17 with a long list of tunes to keep me company. Driving is really enjoyable, especially on that curvy road. My early start got me there early so I parked on the side of the road with my laptop and took care of SFari (Engineers Without Borders fundraiser) tasks until Tavia got there.
We had a wonderful breakfast at Linda’s Seabreeze Cafe then a lovely walk by the water. I realized when I was there that there really aren’t that many places to walk. It was enough though. Once we parted ways, I found a parking spot overlooking the bay in Santa Cruz to ‘work’ for the afternoon. With the work I had to do for SFari and the Toastmaster Fall Conference, there was a lot to attend to. I sat there and wrote emails and organized myself until Joe called. A conversation around shame emerged and off we went until he had to go. Never a dull moment in those conversations.
We had a wonderful breakfast at Linda’s Seabreeze Cafe then a lovely walk by the water. I realized when I was there that there really aren’t that many places to walk. It was enough though. Once we parted ways, I found a parking spot overlooking the bay in Santa Cruz to ‘work’ for the afternoon. With the work I had to do for SFari and the Toastmaster Fall Conference, there was a lot to attend to. I sat there and wrote emails and organized myself until Joe called. A conversation around shame emerged and off we went until he had to go. Never a dull moment in those conversations.
My Vehicular Office on the Beach
I eventually looked at the time and realized I needed to get myself in gear if I was going to finish the 2 recommended chapters of Byron Katie’s new book (A Mind at Home with Itself) before the talk that night. I was meeting Logan for dinner so only had a limited time. I managed all but 8 pages. Enough I think to enrich my absorption of the pearls of wisdom I was going to witness that night. Logan and I had dinner at Cafe Gratitude. I caught her up on my goings on and she talked to me about how her new married life in Santa Cruz was going.
We got to the talk and there was not a seat in the house. We couldn’t even find a spot to stand where we could see Katie. After about half an hour of barely being able to hear her, we decided to cut out and find ice cream. We strolled over to the Penny Ice Creamery where I had been a few days before after my kayaking in Elkhorn Slough. I was hesitant because I had already sampled a lot of the flavors but when we got there, they had 50% new ones and one of them was cookies and cream, my favorite. Synchronicity strikes again.
Logan and I had a great conversation about the importance of building the skills necessary to fulfill our goals and ambitions. In that conversation, I realized that the skills I work to build with Engineers Without Borders and Toastmasters support this end. It was interesting to hear put into words the ideas that had been tumbling around in my mind through the past few months and hearing them spontaneously from someone I don’t keep up with on a regular basis. Those moments are validating because it feels like you’re on the right path when similar thoughts surface in random places. We decided on seeing each other again soon to continue our idea exchange.
I toured back to the bookshop after that to have my book signed by Byron Katie. I had intended to ask her questions and talk with her but realized that she must have already been exhausted by her evening. It was slightly disappointing. When I thought about it though, it felt like my purpose for the Santa Cruz visit was to spend time connecting with Logan. That was much more valuable on this night. Hoping in my car after that, I rang my friend Richard who is the one who recommended going. We spoke about thoughts and the chronic human attempt to disengage with them. I felt the need to increase my daily meditation time by sitting in that state for a duration in an evening.
There are so many, many things to do in a day to increase your effectiveness. There are also only so many you can do in a day. I am so grateful to be able to have this pocket of time in my life to explore new methods of grounding and going deep. Crawling into bed felt blissful. Off to the Land of Nod then into another fantastic day.
We got to the talk and there was not a seat in the house. We couldn’t even find a spot to stand where we could see Katie. After about half an hour of barely being able to hear her, we decided to cut out and find ice cream. We strolled over to the Penny Ice Creamery where I had been a few days before after my kayaking in Elkhorn Slough. I was hesitant because I had already sampled a lot of the flavors but when we got there, they had 50% new ones and one of them was cookies and cream, my favorite. Synchronicity strikes again.
Logan and I had a great conversation about the importance of building the skills necessary to fulfill our goals and ambitions. In that conversation, I realized that the skills I work to build with Engineers Without Borders and Toastmasters support this end. It was interesting to hear put into words the ideas that had been tumbling around in my mind through the past few months and hearing them spontaneously from someone I don’t keep up with on a regular basis. Those moments are validating because it feels like you’re on the right path when similar thoughts surface in random places. We decided on seeing each other again soon to continue our idea exchange.
I toured back to the bookshop after that to have my book signed by Byron Katie. I had intended to ask her questions and talk with her but realized that she must have already been exhausted by her evening. It was slightly disappointing. When I thought about it though, it felt like my purpose for the Santa Cruz visit was to spend time connecting with Logan. That was much more valuable on this night. Hoping in my car after that, I rang my friend Richard who is the one who recommended going. We spoke about thoughts and the chronic human attempt to disengage with them. I felt the need to increase my daily meditation time by sitting in that state for a duration in an evening.
There are so many, many things to do in a day to increase your effectiveness. There are also only so many you can do in a day. I am so grateful to be able to have this pocket of time in my life to explore new methods of grounding and going deep. Crawling into bed felt blissful. Off to the Land of Nod then into another fantastic day.
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