Life according to me

I've been feeling like writing something for a while now.

This is a topic I feel I am far from an expert on, but here it goes....

Whenever life is good, we have a tendency as humans to flow with it, enjoy it, and revel in it, but not to tell anyone else how great we feel so that they can share in it. But we don't do that, we more often scream bloody murder wherever we can when things are "bad" in our opinion. Most oftentimes, in our interactions with others, we see the negative in people's lives, the "oh woe is me, look what's going on NOW....." that you hear every day you go to work, or talk to someone at the grocery store, here on Blogger, just about everywhere.

The reason I've mentioned this is because I am one of the guilty ones, especially when it comes to writing in my blog. If you look back over my history, the posts come few and far between when things are good, and almost daily if things are bad. And the real kicker, what I consider "bad" is really not that bad at all, considering what I have read and heard about from others. I have been blessed to have good health, myself and my family included, I've had no major accidents for as long as I can remember, and even when the weather in this area turned bad and many lost their homes due to flooding, I was unaffected.

Now granted, one could say that tomorrow may be different, and yes I'm sure it could, but my point here is that I really don't have a bad life at all, and never really have. I am aware that it is useless to compare my life to the life of ANY other person, as we are all on our own path, but while I am traversing my own path, I can't help but see the plight of others and wonder why for so many years I thought that I had "problems".

Some of the earliest memories I can recall, from about age 3-5, were of things that scared the daylights out of me, and most of the memories from all of my childhood, including into my early adulthood, are of things that I found to be either traumatically "bad", or made me feel excessive amounts of fear. These memories shaped the person I turned out to be as an adult, until very recently, i.e. the last year or so, but to look back on all of it, I'd have to say my life up to this point has been very mild.

My point (or points) in all this is that I have discovered, or should I say I believe, is that the way we live our lives here in these physical bodies is for the most part mapped out ahead of time, before we get here, and for most of us, this life is not our first, nor will it be our last. We choose our lives with the help of our guides, to learn life lessons to help us achieve spiritual enlightenment, and depending on the lessons we choose to learn, we choose challenges for ourselves to overcome as we live that life to facilitate learning those lessons.

Basically what that mouthful means is that the life you are leading right now may very well be the life you chose to lead. There is an element of free will of course, after all we are not just mindless automatons, but for the most part the people and situations in your life may be there because you were the one that chose for them to be there, to help you to learn what you set out to learn this time around.

In my case this means that this life I am leading is the one I felt would best teach me what I wanted or needed to learn this time around, so I feel good knowing that no matter what happens, it is happening exactly as it should be. So looking back on my childhood, and remembering what made me what I am, leaves me with a sense of my life having a very structured step by step process towards a goal, one thing follows another, till at some point the desired results are hopefully achieved. Provided of course that my liberal use of free will has not so deviated from the plan that it has become unsalvageable, in which case, I believe, I (my higher self) would then abort this attempt at learning the lessons, and choose to try again in another life.

This is just my rambling, putting thoughts on "paper", so take it with a grain of salt. But for me, it sure does make a lot of sense to say that whether things are "good" or "bad", it is supposed to be that way. And furthermore, the things I see happening in other people's lives, whether "better" or "worse" than in my life, is happening for the exact same reason, so there is no comparison to be made, no questions as to why, only that it is what it is, and the only question to be asked is "What can I (we) learn from it?".

So maybe I should write more when things are "good", as those experiences are in no way less important than the "bad", and can teach just as easily.

I choose to learn from my experiences, and from those I see in other's lives, how about you?

The park

In my last post I told you about the state park I've been visiting on a daily basis, and I thought I would post some pics so I can share what a beautiful and serene place it really is.

It's called Bledsoe Creek State Park, and it's only 7 miles from where I live, near Gallatin, Tn, northeast of Nashville.

A pic of the "wildlife viewing" bridge/path in the picnic area. This is the same pic I have on Facebook as a profile pic.
I really see it as symbolic of me finding the right path to be on.

This first picture shows where I started when I first went to the park, on the viewing path, observing nature, and I found immediately that it was a place that I would want to come back to, on a daily basis, and having this so close to home just makes it so easy. I leave work a little after 7 each morning, and by 730 I am barefoot and in shorts walking the trails, wading in the creek, or just sitting, experiencing mother earth in all her splendor.

There are actually several creeks in the park, and the one you see in these pics is called Raccoon creek, which is odd actually, because I think raccoons are about the only creature I've NOT seen since I've been going.

View to the right at the end of the path

View to the left

I've taken some pics along some of the trails, but I can't really describe where they are in the park, as you might imagine they wind through the forest much like the creeks do, so they are basically all over the map. Here are some pics of some of the things I see and do while I'm there:

I sometimes sit here, at the base of this tree, the roots are sorta like the arms of a chair. You can see the trail to the right, and the wildlife viewing path/bridge/pier in the left background.

I see these ducks pretty often, I've been told they are called mandrakes, these 3 just walked up to me one day as I sat , I'm guessing they assumed I had food, which on that day I did not, unfortunately.

I see deer just about every day I go, and this one was good enough to pose for a pic. That electrical box you see on the right is feeding the park office I assume, it is behind me and to the right from where I took this pic.

This is a pic of the creek where I wade most often, or sit, on those rocks, all the way on the right there's a particularly large and flat one that makes a good seat, and the creek flowing by my feet feels really good. The "road" you see in the right foreground is actually a part of a paved path that winds 3 miles throughout the park, with no vehicle traffic access.

These are just a few pics, I will be taking more in the future, but I hope these have given you an idea of the beauty of the area, because for me, there is no better place to be to connect with mother earth.

New name, new path, new life

I've decided to change my name to reflect my new path in life, and with it, I've changed my blog to suit, with a new layout. It's like me, a work in progress, but soon I hope to have it completed, with everything where it should be and colored so everything can be read easily.

I am now Perthro Pathfinder. Perthro is the rune of lots, the "lot cup" in many definitions, meaning the sign of chances, unforeseen and unexpected changes, and I think that fits my thought process and way of perceiving my path at this point. Pathfinder I chose because I know now that I am on the right path, the one I am supposed to be traveling, without the expectations I had before, things I felt were the "steps" I would achieve on the road of spiritual growth.

Life, nor especially spiritual growth, isn't about expectations, things don't and won't go as you expect, life is for living, being alive, and letting fate decide what happens, along with making your own choices for how you will think and act. Your path is your own, and while there is a sort of "destination" in the form of the ultimate spiritual enlightenment, it's the journey that's the most important. Sure you can have goals, aspirations, but I believe that you should not expect that along the path to spiritual growth that things will happen in a particular order, or in a specific time frame that you "specify", and that, my friends, is where I was so wrong.

If you are one of my facebook friends (if not, send me a request and I'll add you), you may have seen the pictures I posted from the state park I have been visiting on a daily basis. It's become a ritual of mine, to leave work in the morning (I work 3rd shift) and go out and just sit, relax, and connect with nature. I can't tell you what it's done for me, it's just something that has to be experienced. I meditate, and I usually go walking barefoot on the wood chip laden paths, which at times is painful lol, but I've been surprised at how quickly my feet have become desensitized to that and it has become the way I feel I it should be, no shoes, feeling the ground beneath my feet, much as our ancestors did, and the sensation is one that cannot be described. The whole thing is just a very sacred, spiritual experience, and I intend to continue to go out there each morning I can. I will go ahead and post some of the pictures I've taken at the park here on blogger, but at a later date, in another post.

I'm alone when I go, but I feel no loneliness. My path is leading me to a new sense of wholeness, a way to see that I need no one but myself to feel loved and connected, for we are all part of nature, and nature is within us. For so many years I looked to others to make me feel complete, to have that sense of belonging, of being loved, but being alone with nature is teaching me how to find those things all around me, and within me. It has been the greatest experience of my life.

So, with a new name, and a new path, I wake up each day happy, and full of joy for what the day will bring. No expectations, no preconceived notions, just living, being alive, and it's the most wonderful life ever.