Center Camp is 671 miles away

This year, I'm camping with a new Burning Man camp. Our infrastructure is solid, dude. It's a Seattle-based camp and it is 671 miles away from Center Camp, somewhere at like 3:15 and zzzzzzz. In other words, I'm staying in the Default World this year but that doesn't mean that I'm not "Going to Burning Man." For me, Burning Man is a dusty place full of some of my favorite people, amazing art  and many evenings of dancing, stars, and laughter. It is also a state of mind that this year I will cultivate in the Default World. So, I'm doing (almost) all of the things that I would do to get ready for Burning Man: new costumes, gifts, prepping food, prepping to be off the grid for 10 days, planning to see art and planning to let the moments take me where they may.

This year, instead of waking up at dawn, dressing in white and riding my bike to the temple to meditate, I'll wake at dawn, dress in white, take a ferry to Whidbey Island, and ride my bike to the Earth Sanctuary to meditate. Instead of riding my bike out to deep playa to look at art, I'll bus and bike downtown to SAM and the sculpture park to look at art. Instead of taking a day to set up my hexayurt, my temporary home for the week, I'll take a day to prep the garden for next spring's veggie seeds. Saturday night, instead of joining the 60,000 other citizens of Black Rock City to watch The Man burn, I'll join a couple dozen friends at Golden Gardens to watch [something yet to be determined] burn.

I'll disconnect from Facebook, twitter, email...I'll use the phone to make plans to see friends. Or maybe I'll just head out on my bike and see who I run into. I'll make music, I'll go to a couple parties, I'll meditate and write A LOT. I will imagine what my ideal world looks like and live it for a week, try it on for size and see what I can bring home from the playa with me.

Wendy 3.0: 5 year retrospective

16 August 2014 marks the 5th anniversary of the Wendy 3.0 system. As we prep for the anniversary, I  want to celebrate the progress made in the system and do a post mortem on what has gone well and what could go better, and what the future looks like for future releases of Wendy 3.0.

First off, what has gone well.

1. The spec It has required little change as it set out a broad range of features to be developed, deleted and merged. It's the spec of a lifetime of evolution, it sets a good north star for our long range plan (LRP). 
2. The development process Has been steady and made great progress. 
3. Beta testing The testing process surfaced considerable issues with the system. Some issues were so extensive, we had to take some aspects of the system offline to address the issues. Unexpectedly, by taking those aspects offline, we discovered features and strengths in the system that we had not anticipated. Overall, beta testing has been an excellent feedback loop in maintaining and evolving the system.

What could have gone better?

Since this was our first attempt at such a systemic overhaul, we think things have gone pretty damn well. We have no regrets and will continue to execute on future issues with the same methods, openness and trust that we've developed the last 5 years.

What does the future look like?

The future is so bright, we'll need to wear shades. Seriously though, we envision a lifetime of evolution, continued agile annual releases and many new challenges and opportunities.

While I've done most of the work, it would not have been possible without all of the beta testers, sysadmins, PMs, developers, designers and other systems/applications that the Wendy 3.0 system interacts with and relies on. Thank you so much for your data, your cycles, your energy and your feedback. 

Light

Each breath
an opportunity
to be
here
now.
To feel the tight-hearted-shell-crack
and let the light come in.

Emotional burka

At a red light
in a Seattle suburb
watching cars pass.

A large black SUV
tinted windows
in the driver's seat
a woman in a white burka.

I wonder about her life
and realize
I am in the process of removing the veil of an emotional burka.

Exposing my skin, my hair, my body...
my CORE:
emotions
spirit
wants
fears
desires.

For a friend

Something about
the fear of losing someone
of not knowing how much
time
you have left
together
makes every breath sweeter
  every raindrop wetter
  every breeze softer
  every hug longer
  every look linger.

My dear friend,
  I was saying goodbye
  letting go
  (trying
    not succeeding).

You've decided to stay
  ...for now.

You for whom savoring
  is a way of life.

You don't know
  the chatter
  the anxiety
  the depression
  the heart pounding fear.

You know
  the smells
  of leaves
  of sage
  of earth
  of smoke.

The smiles
  that broaden your face
  at rest
  on a ridge
  surveying
  with your eyes closed
  standing
  in front of me
  waiting
  to catch up.
 

Year 6 is off to a snowy start

Zeb's birthday present? A snow day.

For breakfast we had chocolate pancakes. We built 2 lego sets. He played a kinect video game while I got some work done. Then we set out to hike to Golden Gardens to play in the snow with Iko. We had many stops along the way to sit in the snow, tip it off of tree branches, slide down steps, roll down the trail, eat "snow cones" (from the top of wooden fence posts in the park), slide down the slide, then walk the hill and stairs back to the coffee shop for hot chocolate (and they even had rice milk and non-dairy chocolate to make him a hot cocoa!). We took the bus for the last leg of the trip home then warmed up with dinner and a movie.

Photos from yesterday are in the Year 6 set.

Happy Birthday, Zeb!

Farmer's Luck

On New Year's Eve, I posted the following to Facebook and want to share it here as well:

I've been living "The Farmer's Luck" story the last few days. You know the story? The farmer had a horse. It ran away. The neighbors said, "such bad luck." The next day the horse returned with two more, "such good luck." The best example from the last few days: as I'm driving, my car starts beeping and flashing an oil container symbol. The owner's manual says, "pull over. stop driving. call your dealer." Dealer says put in 1 quart of oil and bring it in. Get to the dealer, "Are you prepared to leave your car over the weekend?" "Um. No. Could you help me arrange a rental?" "I can do better. Here's a loaner. We're closed Monday so the soonest we'll get your car back to you is Tuesday." The free loaner? It's a bright red, 2011 Audi A4 with 900 miles, Sirius radio, heated leather seats, and goes really really fast. "Maybe good luck and bad luck are all mixed up. You never know what will happen next."

Looking back, being now, hoping forward

2011 was a year of empty spaces: creating them, exploring them, letting go of the need to fill them. Twelve months of new moons: darkness, letting go, purging fruitless thought patterns. It was a year of self-love: acupuncture, therapy, practicising saying "no." A cycle around the sun of expanding spirit: playing piano, meditating, spending time with me. A year of parenting: kindergarten, swolphins, my son as a mirror shining light on my inner child.

My hope is that 2012 will be a year of clearer spaces: less dust, discernment, welcoming what is desired. May it be twelve months of full moons: lightness, joy, receiving blessings. A year of love: myself, my family, opening up to "yes." 365 days of: shining, joyful, bold bountiful beautiful being.  A year of mothering: first grade, coaching, a cycle of meaningful and memorable rituals.

And, I intend to take Neil Gaiman's advice and make mistakes...and enjoy the wisdom that comes from learning rather than the criticism of imperfection.
Happy new year and much love to you all.