My random thoughts on a hodge podge of things that went on this weekend...

Kara is really getting more comfortable driving the Tacoma! Almost every time she drives it, someone in a car pulls up and said, "Wow, are you learning to drive a stick?  Good for you!". The last guy said, in closing, "You'll be able to survive the apocalypse!" 

She comfortably making her way through the neighborhood next to the Buena High School parking lots.

She's smart and is picking it up quickly.  Will it stick?  Will she keep the truck as hers?  Or will I have to sell it and get something else?  Time will tell...

I also did a short Hall Canyon hike with Walt, Jen, Sheila, Kari, and Barb Zerbe.  We went up about 2 miles and then hiked back.  It got a bit hot for Walt, but I really enjoy the hike here.  We saw a lady who used to work at Ventura High who I've talked to before in the stands at a football game.  She volunteers there, and was showing me an app called "Merlin" that will listen to sounds in nature and tell you what type of bird/animal is making the sound.

It's pretty awesome.  I'll be testing that out soon, along with the one my mom uses called "Seek'.

Next up was the Cinco de Mayo + Mother's Day celebration at Encanto Living - the residential care facility that cares for my dad.  All of the mother's had a plaque filled with pictures and a little biography of each.

We had a catered lunch, and Miriam planned a game that uses cards as prompts to create group discussion.

Spike, one of the residents, went on a rant about how he doesn't "understand the women of America", because he's been divorced 4 times and he just can't understand why or how that has happened to him. :)

Ah well, he's got dementia and is in pretty bad shape.  It was hilarious because Miriam had to distract him and move on to the next person.  Everybody was laughing.

The was also a really good Mariachi singer.  She was great and really did a good job and holding everyone's attention for an hour.

Couple final things...

During Jen's admin leave from VHS, she "re-did" our entire stairway banister.  She found a YouTube video that taught her how to remove the finish coat, do minimal sanding, and stain the top of the banister, and then pain the vertical poles white.  It looks great!  She finished that this weekend just in the nick of time for going back to school.

And finally... Walt has been at it again, destroying the "drip system" sprinkler spickets AGAIN!  I had to go to Green Thumb and buy some chicken wire plant root protectors to put OVER the little spickets (after fixing them).  Now he can't easily destroy them. He could if he really tried, but I don't think he knows that yet. :)

Just completed "step 1" of the Clever Fox Purpose Discovery Journal. 

I'm giving myself over to the process, and find I enjoy feeling into the possiblities.  For me, it seems to start from the beginning.  Regrets.  Passions.  How I identify who I am in this world, and with various people in my life.

Especially, it's helpful to explore what I crave, what I feel I may need now that the tethers of personal finance have been severed.

What things to I want to accomplish?  Who do I want to accomplish them with?  What will make me feel satisfied and at peace when an end comes?

It'll never be perfect. All one can do is try to bring into being those things that bring joy and purpose - without knowing exactly what those things are.  Sometimes it's just a "feeling".  You can feel your purpose(s) there, you know they are there, but you don't know what they look like yet.

That part seems to be like most any transitional phase in life. 

Notes From Dan is a tiny space I've carved out for myself on the outskirts of the digital "rat race".  And by "rat race" I mean all the little rats racing to get more clicks, more views, more likes, more engagement, and more of... whatever new word-of-the-day that has been manufactured or repurposed to mean validation.

It's human nature to want validation. Validation that you are a worthy being prancing around amongst all the other humans.  Validation makes us feel as though we belong.  That we are protected.  That we aren't alone.  That we will survive on the strength of the group.

An argument can be made that this instinctive need for validation has outlived it's purpose.  Surely a social media "loser" with few friends and social signals to speak of, is under no threat from animal predators and starvation.

I'm just going at the validation game a different way.  Something a little more "me", and not beholden to 3rd party social media platforms and all of the hallucinations they provide to the masses.

It is said that we die twice.  The first time is when you physically die.  The second time is when your name is said for the last time in all of eternity.

Nobody is immune to this fate.  I suppose, the only real task here is to prolong the inevitable for each of these, for as long as possible.

As Clint said in the movie Unforgiven: "We all got it comin' kid." (It's my favorite western movie of all time.  Out of the few I've actually seen.)

Let's be honest, I'm not promoting this.  Very few will ever hear my voice.  I'm not pitching this anywhere.  It's just me, and it's for those I care about.

With any luck it will outlive me, for many, many years... as long as it's not hijacked by A.I. or held hostage by some strange hacker from a faraway land.

Maybe it'll echo in eternity for awhile... until it doesn't.

And maybe it'll even help someone.

Or at least let them in on me, Dan.

My thoughts, philosophies, hobbies, aspirations, mindfulness practice, musical pursuits, family, my history, and oh so much more.

I know, I know... it's all too exciting.  

However, let's not get ahead of ourselves.  There's no way you're going to read this.  And there's no way you just read this entire page.  And if you insist you did, you are clearly insane, or in a dream.  

Best,

Dan