My good friend Alison just came to visit last weekend, and it just reminded me how important I think it is to have a good, close network of friends nearby. Or at least within dropping-by distance.
Speaking of having Alison here for the weekend, we had a few little adventures on Saturday.
Adventure #1: Surfing! I had been surfing a few times in the past, but had never made it to actually standing on the moving surfboard. So, we signed up for a lesson with Surf Diva in La Jolla- a great company designed by two ocean-powered sisters who make surf classes completely relaxed and empowering. Needless to say, we had a blast (and I will be the first to mention that Alison stood up on her very first wave of the lesson- she rocks), and I did make it to standing up a few times. I'm hooked, and can't imagine how much more fun it will be once I get the hang of it.
I'm going back for more waves as soon as I recover from...
Adventure #2: Tattoo! I've been thinking of getting a tattoo for quite some time now, and had been mulling over a design idea for a couple of years- so I finally decided to go for it, and got "inked" on Saturday. My tattooist worked on my design idea over the week, and then after a few tweaks from me, the design was finalized. I was very nervous about the whole thing, especially since the design I wanted was rather large- I kept wondering if after a few minutes under the needles I'd chicken out and have to stop...but with the support of Alison and Arash (who stayed by me through the entire 2 hour ordeal), I made it through. I'm really happy with the result, and can't wait until it's healed! I imagine that this will be my only tattoo- people always say that it's "a mile to the first tattoo, and an inch to the second", but as it turned out, my pain threshhold turned out to be lower than I thought it might be, and I can still remember the "fight or flight" instinct that kicked in about 5 minutes into the tattoo process- I found it really hard to stay calm and although I'm thrilled with this one, I can't see myself doing it again. Anyway... here's the tat!
The design is a tree-woman, who symbolizes so many things that I aim to embody- strength & stability, connection with the Earth, simplicity, and the idea that humans are just as much an integral part of nature as are insects, apes, clouds, and . . . trees.
“You did not come into this world, you came out of it.
You came out of it, like a wave from the ocean.
You are not a stranger here.”
--Alan Watts
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