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ravendisplayedI am here to write more, to express more, and to say more. I know that it is lonely here on LJ, but maybe that is ok.
Where am I? In the beautiful hills of Hayward, CA, overlooking the San Francisco Bay. I've moved so much in the last year and a half. 1100 miles, a time zone, several cultures, 5000 feet, 3 hours, many loves, unmeasurable internal distances, about 3 inches and into a biome unlike any I've known.
It was time, you see, to leave the desert. There were many reasons, but it came down to just being time. All remaining obstacles cleared, opportunities presented and I was bodily shoved out to the Bay.
It is beautiful here. Beautiful and warm and loving and exciting. Restful seems to be a bit elusive, so I have to forcibly schedule that.
How am I doing? Lets round it up:
Physically
I've lost some weight, gained some muscle and am feeling great about it. I'm eating mostly primal, walking more, doing some bicycling (including the ludicrous hill climb home) and roller skating a whole lot.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
laughingstone convinced me to join up with the Peninsula Roller Girls as a ref. It's been a great time and good for me in several unexpected ways. It's been very cool to feel my balance develop, along with strength I've never really though about before. I still need to find something for upper body though. Regular rock climbing? I have problems working out just to work out, which is why I like to put a bike or hike between me and work or have some sort of social game.
On the down side, I need to get my mousing shoulder looked at. Professional hazard.
Mentally
I've been learning a lot. Since moving here I've embarked on a reading assignment (see spirituality, below) that has had me devouring pages of natural history about the Bay area. Geology, hydrology, ecology, plant and bird identification have all been on my plate, and there is still more to come. I've refreshed some coding skills, learned the ins and outs of CAN/CANopen networking, started developing a mental map of the area, learned a bunch of roller derby rules, started learning some of the Welsh myths.
Emotionally
The big move took a lot. I was scared to pull up and away from so much community. But I left and have found that there is a great, welcoming community here. I'm happy. Work is no longer a constant background stress, but rather a place where I can simply do something that I am good at. I'm no longer worried that I might walk in to locked doors and a bankruptcy sign. That is such a huge relief.
Meditation has been good for me. I've been able to find my way when I was lonely, tired or feeling lost.
And, as it turns out, I have found a support network out here for which I am so very grateful.
Spiritually
I've been maintaining a daily practice and occasional meditation. When I first moved here I was first able to really pick up meditation, but the last month has been a bit difficult, schedule wise. I can fix that though. My order is celebrating its centennial this summer, so I will be travelling for that. I'm still happy with this path, though it can feel like a lot of work and the growth can be tiring at times. I have yet to really make strong connections with a druidic or pagan community here, though I know that there is a large one here. Perhaps soon. I have had a nice attendance for the celebration I ran, so that was nice.
And now I'm sleepy, so I'll just do a quick proofread and head to bed.
I probably missed some typos, but now I'm too tired to care. Enjoy!
Where am I? In the beautiful hills of Hayward, CA, overlooking the San Francisco Bay. I've moved so much in the last year and a half. 1100 miles, a time zone, several cultures, 5000 feet, 3 hours, many loves, unmeasurable internal distances, about 3 inches and into a biome unlike any I've known.
It was time, you see, to leave the desert. There were many reasons, but it came down to just being time. All remaining obstacles cleared, opportunities presented and I was bodily shoved out to the Bay.
It is beautiful here. Beautiful and warm and loving and exciting. Restful seems to be a bit elusive, so I have to forcibly schedule that.
How am I doing? Lets round it up:
Physically
I've lost some weight, gained some muscle and am feeling great about it. I'm eating mostly primal, walking more, doing some bicycling (including the ludicrous hill climb home) and roller skating a whole lot.
laughingstone convinced me to join up with the Peninsula Roller Girls as a ref. It's been a great time and good for me in several unexpected ways. It's been very cool to feel my balance develop, along with strength I've never really though about before. I still need to find something for upper body though. Regular rock climbing? I have problems working out just to work out, which is why I like to put a bike or hike between me and work or have some sort of social game.On the down side, I need to get my mousing shoulder looked at. Professional hazard.
Mentally
I've been learning a lot. Since moving here I've embarked on a reading assignment (see spirituality, below) that has had me devouring pages of natural history about the Bay area. Geology, hydrology, ecology, plant and bird identification have all been on my plate, and there is still more to come. I've refreshed some coding skills, learned the ins and outs of CAN/CANopen networking, started developing a mental map of the area, learned a bunch of roller derby rules, started learning some of the Welsh myths.
Emotionally
The big move took a lot. I was scared to pull up and away from so much community. But I left and have found that there is a great, welcoming community here. I'm happy. Work is no longer a constant background stress, but rather a place where I can simply do something that I am good at. I'm no longer worried that I might walk in to locked doors and a bankruptcy sign. That is such a huge relief.
Meditation has been good for me. I've been able to find my way when I was lonely, tired or feeling lost.
And, as it turns out, I have found a support network out here for which I am so very grateful.
Spiritually
I've been maintaining a daily practice and occasional meditation. When I first moved here I was first able to really pick up meditation, but the last month has been a bit difficult, schedule wise. I can fix that though. My order is celebrating its centennial this summer, so I will be travelling for that. I'm still happy with this path, though it can feel like a lot of work and the growth can be tiring at times. I have yet to really make strong connections with a druidic or pagan community here, though I know that there is a large one here. Perhaps soon. I have had a nice attendance for the celebration I ran, so that was nice.
And now I'm sleepy, so I'll just do a quick proofread and head to bed.
I probably missed some typos, but now I'm too tired to care. Enjoy!