Handmade Clay Tiles Everybody!

I had a request to see the latest tiles I made, so here they are! (Although pictures hardly do them justice.)

This is a recently developed hobby so I'm all for comments and questions. Comments or questions anybody?

Peace. 

Say Hello to the Magic.

Check it.

Nostalgia of a Scuba Diver

Here I am in a Starbucks, sipping sugar coffee and browsing the internet for an interesting anthropology article. I woke up earlier than usual today so I could do just this before I work at 10am. While I meant for this to be a fun way to start my day I find myself disappointed by the rapid flight of time. Its 9:21, I have a 30 min drive ahead of me to work, and all I want to do today is read an anthropological articles on yacht tourism in the Caribbean and think of creative ways to incorporate scuba diving into my career and lifestyle. Check it out:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0160738383901147

I love the way Anthropologists think. Maybe until I can gain the liberty to transform my life into the scuba-diving, world traveling, social researching adventure that I want it to be, I'll write myself into that life. Start a book. Creatively visualize what I want using my imagination! That'll sustain me for the time, right?!

Check out this photo my dad (Greg Holt) took while scuba diving in the Philippines:
(He should work for national geographic, am I right?! Priceless....)

The Crux

Dictionary.com defines crux as:
1. A vital, basic, decisive, or pivotal point
2. A cross
3. Something that torments by its puzzling nature; a perplexing difficulty.

     Is it too far fetched to believe that we constantly live in a crux? After all, at what point in life are we exempt from making decisions, from moving forward in time and space? Perhaps the whole concept of time, the whole feeling of some intangible force of nature moving and moving us is truly the feeling of our perpetual return to a crux, a crossroads. Imagine a birds-eyed view of dirt road in the woods. A woman strolls along the path until she reaches a crossroads. She chooses right. The next day, a new crossroads. So on, so forth with varying circumstances. We leave one circumstance to arrive at another. Each circumstance, a new environment, a new travel companion. We're constantly on the move, looking for meaning in our journey, purpose, maybe a flower, maybe a companion. The only thing that remains the same in our journey is the repeated arrival at these crossroads. We are strikingly distracted by the luscious wonders of the forest that we don't realize in the midst of all the wonder, movement, and changes, there exists a very obvious constant that encompasses our version of reality but exists for all intents and purposes outside of our comprehension. The crux that defines our existence that we tread on and encounter at countless intervals in our journey.

     The problem with using a crossroads as a metaphor is the question that arises: (Not only who paved the road, but...) Why don't we pave our own roads? Why don't we take some genius advice and take the road less traveled. Or better yet, take the road never traveled? BUT, then again if paved our own roads...what would become of the forest?
Ugh...metaphors...



    Anyway, Mike Doolley writes:
   "Every single day comes loaded with its own brand new and exciting experiences. Traveling to faraway places like Cairo or Istanbul is fascinating, but even from the comfort of your own home, there's more romance, exhilaration, and challenge in a life well lived. Adding still more to the adventure, each and every day, contains an abundance of the unknown. And isn't it the unknown, the uncertainties, that make an adventure and adventure?"
     In his next chapter, "Getting Your Groove On," he talks about maximizing your adventure. We all have imaginations, we can all imagine how its done. Do it. Throw some rocks in the soil and build a new path. Plant a garden. Paint a wall. Stand up for what you believe in. Make a difference. Contribute. You're at the cusp of the crux of existence. I don't know everything, but based on this particular train of thoughts, I can only imagine that we have two choices. First, embrace the capacity to participate in the mysterious perplexing cycle of existence. Second, refuse to accept the unstable and confusing nature of our existence, and thus create our own sick cycle of fear and rejection in which remain on the cusp of the crux that defines our experiences. Choose already!