Friday, Feb 26, 2016
TGIF! …Lol, I guess all my days are Friday anymore.
After my usual “I might die” workout this morning, the rest of the day was pretty non-eventful. We all have Spanish class today so we spent most of the morning doing our homework and getting ready for class.
We went to the H Bar after Spanish and had iced coffee, pretzel bites, and a quesadilla while we chatted with Henry, Victoria, and Dave. Little by little we are getting to know more about our friends who are living here.
The question of “what made you pick Ecuador” always comes up at some point. There are a variety of answers but they so often contain the words “simpler life”.
I think living in the United States takes a lot of energy. It isn’t good or bad, but it is a different rhythm and pace than what I am experiencing here in Ecuador. In the US there is such a bombardment of the senses…with technology, marketing, choices, and information. It’s unrelenting.
And none of those things are bad in and of themselves; it’s more that they create a constant distraction…from ourselves and those around us. I find it’s harder to stay grounded, and easier to lose connection and sight of what is important inside that “noise”.
It’s not like what I am saying is new to anyone, but what is it that even when you and I know about the “noise”, it is so hard to find the time and opportunity to sit in quiet, to sit in stillness, to connect with ourselves and with others in a meaningful way?
Those moments of connection are so cool! They ground us and make us feel good about ourselves and each other. They give us hope that our life can be lived with meaning and purpose. They help us feel connected to something outside of our own self interests, to something bigger than ourselves.
Sunset Tune In
Are you willing to stop the noise long enough to hear what is true for you? I think “hearing” that answer can be scary; it certainly was for me. I also believe that answer, when acted upon, leads to our greatest happiness.
Tune into a sunset tonight.
Chao!
Todd, you are so right about the noise. But you didn’t mention the “actual” audio noise in Ecuador, i.e. The car alarms going off at all times of the day and night, the roosters crowing at dawn, the dogs barking, the buses speeding down the street, the taxis honking, the parades with bands on Sunday morning, and on and on. What I have found in my time here is that I can deal with the actual noise once my mind is quiet of all the extraneous noise that we experienced in the States.
Love your posts!!!
Thanks Annette! I think you make a good point about actual noise vs extraneous noise in the states. I will take a honking taxi and a crowing rooster any day over a talking head telling me what I should want and who I should be.
Thanks for reading.
Todd
Todd, I live at a lake out in the country. We are ten minutes from the nearest grocery store.No Tim Hortens, 50 Miles away. The lake is beautiful. This winter I heard the Noise of the Snow Plow, it starts about 5.00 a.m. And it is loud, I would prefer the Rooster. Then we hear the smaller snowplows go up and down the lane. Sometimes I have cabin fever and would just like to go a few miles to town, but it is as I say 50 miles away. In the summertime I hear the Bull frogs and frog singing in the choir and the birds chirping away. Our lives are so different from you.
The summers at the lake sound really great Gayla. Although I think winter creates beautiful landscapes with glistening white snow a top green fir trees, I don’t enjoy the cold. So, if I heard snow plows I would know it’s time for me to live somewhere else. 😉