At the request of my friend, Doug, in Toronto and through my own self interest I have started to study or explore Zen.  At first it was more about intrigue or casual interest.  Then i discovered that there are a lot of truths in what Zen teaches.  About myself, at least.  i can’t speak for anyone else.  I only know what my experiences have been.  Truth is usually not about someone else telling you how you should or should not feel.  Truth normally is found by seeking it ourselves,  It can’t be forced or given to someone else.  It may have different meanings to different people.

  Over the last few weeks and months I have learned a couple of important lessons in life.

1.  The "moment" IS the destination.  Silly me, for a long time I thought the destination was the goal.  It is not.  Some people say that it is all about the journey.  I would suggest that it is all about the moment.  That moment then becomes part of the journey. 

2.  Moments are like brush strokes on a canvas.  Each moment is a stroke of your life’s paint brush.   Slowly the brush strokes paint a picture – a masterpiece.  Much like seconds on the clock.  Alone the seconds are not worth much, but together those seconds add up to minutes and those minutes add up to hours.  Hours then become days and days become weeks.  Weeks become years and years become decades.  Before you know it your life moments are gone.  Each moment is important.  Actually nothing is more important than the moment.  Where you are right now.  The moment is all we have.  We are promised nothing more or less.  You can OWN the moment.

3.  Searching for happiness is a waste of time.  You never arrive at happiness.  You can’t "find" happiness.  It is not a place.  It is not a destination.  It is not something you can give someone or take away.  It is a place in our mind.  A moment.  It is more than a feeling but it is not tangible.  It is something you can not show someone else.  You can’t tell someone "how" to be or become happy.  You are either happy or you are not.  If you are not happy then a destination to "somewhere else" will not achieve anything except for frustration and regret.  Find happiness in the moment you are in.  Regardless of where that might be or what your situation is.

4.  Decisions are best made while at peace with where you are.  The best decisions I have ever made in life I first knew in my heart were the right decisions.  Every bad decision I ever made was preceded by a feeling of regret (before the fact) or "that little inner voice" that tells you "hey this is not the right direction".   This has been true even when logic would dictate that choice A is better than B – when reality ended up being that choice B was the correct answer all along. 

 5.  Clarity comes from breathing.  When you can find your own space and simply breathe.  Clearing everything from your mind – breathe.  Leaving everything else behind you.  All your emails, mail, phone calls, cell phones, radios, television, and other distractions – leave them in another space for just 10 minutes.  It is a miracle what happens to your body and mind when you learn to simply take the time to breathe. 

Learn to paint with your moments.  Master your paint brush.  It is all you have.  It is all that you truly own.

Beau Dodson Photography

We have conquered Rome

  Here are some photos of all of us…

That would be me 🙂

I don’t think Joey and Mihai would fit into this car!!!!

Mihai – Beau – Joey

Beau at the Colosseum

Beau in Italy

Cheetah needs a new sweater (or t-shirt).  The whole "France" thing isn’t working – not to mention it is
100 degrees.

Joey lisening to the tour guide

Mihai and David lisening to the tour guide

Joey – Beau – Mihai

  🙂  A beautiful day in Rome.  A bit warm…temperatures are near 100 degrees.  40 something degrees in Celsius. 

  We met up with Mihai, our friend from Romania.  He flew in yesterday…actually beat us here because of our plane problems.

  We walked around the city most of today.  We decided to head for the Colosseum.  It was huge!  I can’t imagine what it used to be like before portions of it fell down.  Joey said that it used to have a roof.  I didn’t know that little factoid.  Will have to check more in on that subject when I have some time.

  Obviously, some beautiful architecture here in the city.  We are located about a mile or two from the Colosseum.  Here are a few photos I took today.  Have not had much time to go through them all.  🙂

  We have finally arrived in Rome.  None the more worn or torn from the experience.  We never did get bored on the plane and we never did get tired of the adventure.  It was fun.  A bit sketchy from time to time but still…an adventure to remember.

  We arrived in Rome at 4 AM this morning…at the hotel.  The customs experience was simple – no questions asked.  Stamped our passports and on we were.  It took longer to get the luggage than it did to go through security.  We almost thought they lost David’s luggage because it was the last piece out.

  Anyway, we had a nice cab ride into Rome.  We were able to see several very old buildings and structures on the way into the city.  Some were illuminated with golden lights.  It was still dark out, though.  The moon was nearly full, or so it appeared.  I have not check the calendar to see what stage the moon is in.  Looked nice though from the airplane window.

  We will be exploring Rome tomorrow.  Need to sleep first, of course.  At least a few hours.

  Here are some more photos from yesterday’s adventure and earlier today.

Joey standing around…waiting on the bus to arrive.  The bus will take us back to the airport so we can
leave Newfoundland.

David walking around the army barracks.  Getting ready to head out like the two of us
are.

Our bus driver.  Heading back to the airport.  I love the trees here.  🙂  You can tell we are
at the high latitudes.

The buses the drove us back to the airport from the army base.

Beau in Goose Bay, Newfoundland

This is where everyone had breakfast this morning.

That would be our new plane that is taking us out of here.

The new plane and the broken plane.  Together.  Not many other planes at this airport. 

YAY – WE ARE LEAVING!!!!!

Joey is by the window.  He can keep an eye on the
engine for us.  🙂

  We we have made it just fine to Italy.  It appears that we will have hot weather in the day and mild weather at night.  It looks cloudy this morning but then again I have not had time to check the weather.  Just now getting up and starting to join the land of the living.  A little jet lagged but nothing serious.