Create Our World

Linda, Jessie, Jess, Kate, Stephanie, and I take the plunge in Portland, Maine

Hello friends,

So, it is Over….

But not really.

I am in Portland, Maine and am about to hitchhike back towards Michigan.

I am told that I should feel a sense of accomplishment.  I don’t feel that.  I am told I have seen and done things that most will never see or do.  I know this, but it doesn’t change how I feel now.

Right now, I just feel mildly melancholy.

I also feel an irresistible urge to deactivate my facebook account, close my computer, and stow away my camera.

So I am going to.  It is a little early.  I said I would write everyday for a year and I am few weeks shy.

I just don’t have anything else to say.  And I trust myself that it is best for me and everyone, to just shut up for awhile.

On second thought, here are a few things I picked up over the past year:

*People are not all good.  We are both.  All of us.

*A lot of people are really scared.  Me too, sometimes.

*When you live your dreams, it is not perfect.  You still get sad, angry, etc.  You just feel more alive.  More tingly and smiley. You start to understand what all those mysterious artists were talking about in their quotes.

*There is no end.  No chair to sit in and rest and feel like you will never have troubles again.

*It all matters and it all doesn’t.

*You can’t have anything you have ever dreamed.  But you can have more than you think.

*If you aren’t living how you want, you can change.  And please do.  It is hard to be in your presence.  If you don’t know how, there are people that will help.  Just ask.

*If you are living how you want.  Thank you.  You nourish me.

*Other people can teach you much.  But you have to learn for yourself.

*It feels better to be loving than to feel anything else.  You can feel loving more and if you don’t know how, keep asking people.  You will eventually find someone that can teach you.

*Life is so funny!!! Even when it hurts… actually, more funny, when it hurts.  If you are avoiding the hurt, you are really missing out.  Seriously.

*I miss being challenged and people telling me the truth.

I am sure I could come up with more, but you will be fine without it.

No, I have one more thing to say.

I love you.

Till I have something else to say,

Benjamin

Ps.  If this was a buzzkill for you, here is short poem I read recently that made me smile;

“Your life is your life

don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission.

be on the watch.

there are ways out.

there is light somewhere.

it may not be much light but it

beats the darkness.

be on the watch.

the gods will offer you

chances.

know them, take them.

you can’t beat death but

you can beat death

in life,

sometimes.

and the more often you

learn to do it,

the more light there will

be.

your life is your life,

know it while you have

it.

you are marvelous

the gods wait to delight

in

you.

See the poster here.  It is a beaut.

My friend, Angela and I walk around our Nation's Capitol together.

“Do not think that love , in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary.  What we need is to love without getting tired.” – Mother Teresa

Meet Angela.

Angela and I worked at a school in Virginia together.  We are much different, but get along well.  

Angela has a daily planner that is color coded and she can make her own hummus.  She works at a single mother shelter near Washington DC.  

Angela and I stroll through Washington DC together and take many photographs.  It is good to see her again.

Create Our World.

Ben

“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.” – Mother Teresa

Jim is going fishing.

“No one is perfect – that’s why pencils have erasers.” – Unknown

Meet Jim.

Jim can’t speak or hear.  We communicate by writing on some scraps of paper he has in his truck.

Jim is going fishing near Knoxville.  He is from Edmonton, Kentucky.

Jim and I enjoy our drive through the mountains of Tennessee and use hand gestures to communicate.

After I took a photograph of him, my phone must have dropped into the floor of his car.  He sends me an email and is sending me my phone back.  Jim also caught 7 fish.

Create Our World.

Ben

“Love never fails; Character never quits; and with patience and persistence; Dreams do come true.” – Pete Maravich