Tag Archives: portland

Jeff Flesch 3:00 pm on August 8, 2021
Tags: , act, , , , , , , openheartshavehealed, , pause, , , portland, , ,   

A Blogger’s Diary 8/8/21: On the Week, Writing and Reflecting, Portland, and Living Life as it Comes

The Week

Photo by Maddi Bazzocco on Unsplash

This past week has been full of more change, as the delta variant continues to spread in the State, new cases are being reported regularly, and those vaccinated and unvaccinated are becoming infected. Scary, yet the current reality.

What does this mean for the team’s fall term in-person classes? I have no idea. We have a plan, and will execute on this plan, as possible, and if not? We will pivot, as we’ve done so many times in the past 16 months. Like we all have.

Alright, though a precarious time here locally, and across the globe, it does remind me of a reflection of mine from last week. Taking life as it comes, which I’ll write more about in a moment.

First, let’s take a look at some writing reflections from this past week.

Writing and Reflecting

Photo by Pepe Reyes on Unsplash

This week, the poem The Brilliance of Life, was published in MasticadoresUSA; thank you again, Gabriela and team. A true honor.

I also found out this week that MasticadoresIndia will launch September 1, and will be edited by Terveen Gill. I am super excited for MasticadoresIndia, and for Terveen. Amazing.

Alright, poem reflections, here we go.

The poem, The Brilliance of Life, like many of the poems that come forth today, was a reflection and reminiscence on working through layers and layers of trauma; and just as importantly, the newness, or brilliance, that life takes on as these layers are uncovered, and removed.

Though the process of removing these layers is difficult, there’s always a knowing that I’m (we are) never alone. We are all connected through our shared humanity, and the love and affinity we share for each other and our home, this beautiful planet. 

The poem, open hearts have healed, speaks to the truth just elaborated on; when we work through our grief, sadness, insert any other emotions here, our heart does break; and sometimes, it breaks again and again, yet there is always a healing and wholeness on the other side. It is so clear to me today, yet, as you all know, was not clear to me for a very long time.

Inside of the concept of brokenness, healing and wholeness are already there. Quite simple, yet profound as we experience this reality.

Portland

Music Millennium, Portland, Oregon

Last weekend, I took a quick trip, two nights, to Portland, for a very simple and pragmatic reason; to shop. Where I live in the Willamette Valley, let’s say, shopping for clothes can be difficult. 

The shopping went quite well, and I also got to spend some time with Justin. We went to a lovely vegan breakfast place, called Nectar Cafe. Was delicious.

We also visited a super cool record store, Music Millennium. Awesomeness. The store is huge, and, I think, is the second largest in Portland. There are 5 different rooms, and an upstairs. I found three records, one of which is by John Coltrane. Soul stirringly beautiful.

Living Life as it Comes

Photo by Kate Hliznitsova on Unsplash

As I mentioned earlier, the past couple of weeks, I’ve been reflecting on how life shows up; and how inside the experience of life showing up, we have, as leaders, as human beings on this planet, the opportunity to respond to a situation, or react.

Sometimes reaction is needed and necessary; yet, often, we can pause, breathe into life as it shows up, whatever the situation might be, reflect, and then respond. 

Creating a pause like this in our lives holds enormous power and potential. When we can be with life as it shows up, and hold the knowing that we can pause, breathe, reflect, and then respond; we create more possibility for ourselves and everyone around us.

As life continues to show up for you, and me, today, tomorrow, this week, this month, over the course of the next couple of months, remember, life just shows up; it just is, and we can create the space to pause, breathe, reflect, and then respond.

It is quite beautiful and inspirational, just like each of you.

Have a splendid week, everyone.

#poetry, #act, #blogger, #blogging, #breathe, #diary, #life, #masticadoresusa, #openheartshavehealed, #oregon, #pause, #poem, #poems, #portland, #reflect, #reflecting, #writing

Jeff Flesch 3:00 pm on June 6, 2021
Tags: , , , , california, , , , , , , portland, , ,   

A Blogger’s Diary 5/6/21: On the Week, Writing and Reflecting, and Traveling to Portland and Los Angeles

On the Week

This past week, I’ve been writing quite a bit, yet, as you may have noticed, my blogging schedule has changed. Yep, it was intentional. A few weeks ago, I mentioned slowing down. Little did I know at that time, the writing would keep pouring out of me, yet, I am pleased with developing a new schedule.

My goal is to post about 5 or 6 times a week, with a couple days off mixed in. We will see how it goes.

Oh, and it’s time to travel. Wait, what? Yep, it’s time. I leave for Los Angeles tomorrow morning. Wow. I am very excited to see my mom, sisters, and nieces and nephews, and, of course, to be in LA. More on that in a moment.

First, let’s take a look at some writing that occurred this week.

Writing and Reflecting

The poem Night’s End was first inspired from a WDYS prompt, from Keep it Alive, by Sadje, yet, as I reflected on the poem’s beginning, I had another insight for the prompt, which ended up being the poem My Years. It happens like that sometimes.

Anyway, the poem Nights End then, was a reflection on the trials that we all face, and the knowledge that these tests are a part of the experience of being a human being on this planet. I firmly believe that they are given to us to help us learn. Learn more about all of our shared human beingness. Beautiful.

The poem The Moment’s Prose was a reflection upon how fleeting each moment we have with each other truly is. However, when we are present to this fact, we cherish and relish each of these moments. This was not always the case for me, thus, in this poem, I was reflecting upon the entirety of the concept of love lossed. 

I was also very honored and humbled at being placed in the top 8 of Soni’s Writing Contest this past week. I am so grateful to Soni for facilitating such a lovely writing contest, and am so honored to be selected alongside all of the talented writers. Congratulations to all of the writers that joined Soni’s contest. You are all inspirational and amazing. 


If you’ve not visited Soni’s blog, please do. Soni’s site is inspirational, motivational, and hyper-creative.

Traveling to Portland and Los Angeles

Well, as you may recall, I visited Justin in Portland last weekend, and it was a lovely trip. We enjoyed a lovely hike, visited and talked about a book we are reading together, had some wonderful food, and generally just enjoyed each other’s company.

Here are a couple pics from the trip.

And, yep, next week, tomorrow, in fact, I’ll be boarding an airplane for Los Angeles, for the first time in over 15 months. I am both anxious and very excited. As you may recall, my father passed away about 6 months prior to the pandemic, so seeing my mom will be wonderful.

I’ve no definite plans, will need to work a little while I am there, yet will get to the beach, for sure, and do some shopping, places I cannot access here, and then? Visit and love my family.

Alright, that’s all for this week, my dear friends.

Have a lovely, lovely week.

Image Credit

#poetry, #bloggers-diary, #blogging, #blogs, #california, #life, #los-angeles, #love, #oregon, #poem, #poems, #portland, #reflecting, #travel, #writing

Jeff Flesch 6:00 pm on April 25, 2021
Tags: apnachatbhavan, bhagavadgita, , , , , , , indiasupermarket, , mahabharata, , , , , portland, , resturants   

A Blogger’s Diary 4/25/21: On Writing and Reflecting, Portland, Reading, and Breathing

I’ve been thinking more this week about how important it is to take time for ourselves. It is interesting, as I know this truth viscerally today, and have written about it several times in the past few months, and yet as life continues to move, I am continually present to the need to stop and breathe. Important.

Alright, more on that in a moment.

Writing and Reflecting

Photo by kevin turcios on Unsplash

First, let’s take a look at a few reflections from the week.

Flush

The poem Flush occurred to me this week after I dropped off my guitar to be worked on at the local music store. I hadn’t realized how much I’ve loved learning to play the guitar until, all at once, it was removed from my presence for a couple of days. 

I actually went to the music store one day, while they were working on my guitar, just to play the guitars on display. I love the feeling that comes with playing the guitar. In fact, I’ve always loved music, which has been a large part of my life, for, well, always. Moving, deeply satisfying, and inspirational. Lovely.

Hug

The Hug poem was inspired by the WDYS #78 prompt from Keep it Alive, by Sadje. As I pondered the picture of a small table, set for two, it reminded me of times as a child and youth at my grandparents house. Being around all of my cousins, and feeling that deep sense of connection and love you get when you are near so much family.


Though I don’t get to see much of my extended family today, I relish these memories. Beautiful.

Next Week

I don’t have much to write about the writing that is coming. That’s fun.

I know there will be more poems, and I do have plans on a post about purpose, yet have not begun to write this piece. All of this unknown is part of the process and joy of creation, which I adore.

Portland

Photo by Sean O. on Unsplash

My oldest son has an internship with Intel in Portland this summer. Yes. Exciting. I went up to visit him yesterday, which was my first time in Portland in over 15 months. It was an amazing experience.

We went to a wonderful local grocery story called the India Supermarket, and ate at an equally lovely restaurant called Apna Chat Bhavan. Delicious. We then played guitars for the afternoon. It was so lovely to see him and spend time with him doing things we love to do, two of which, we’ve been unable to do, or have chosen not to do, for a long time. Lovely.

Reading

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

The remote book club is still alive and well. We just finished The House of the Spirits, by Isabel Allende. An elegant and descriptively written book about war, violence, oppression, love, family, and life. I highly recommend this book. Just know that the book does contain many violent scenes, which may be disturbing to some readers. The book contained about as much violence as I can handle these days.

I am now reading the Mahabharata, by Kamala Subramaniam, which is part of my continual spiritual and devotional development. I am only about 100 pages into the text, and am already seeing parallels to all of life, which I know will continue.

Breathing

Photo by Le Minh Phuong on Unsplash

Have you ever had someone ask you if you are breathing, or, have you had someone say, don’t forget to breathe? Yep, me too. In fact, I am the one that often says to people, remember to breathe. Yet, more context is needed.

When I say to someone close to me, remember to breathe. These words come along with a historical conversational context about what remembering to breathe really means. 

It means creating time in all of our days to stop. Stop working, cooking, cleaning, erranding, working, etc., and just be. Creating time to focus on our breath and be with ourselves. As I’ve written before, you can accomplish this by taking 5-minutes away from everyone and everything, and just focus on the inhalation and exhalation of your breath. 

And, as thoughts arise, such as I need to do this, and I need to do that, just let that be. And, return to the breath. If you choose to walk during this time, count your steps as you inhale and exhale, which will help keep the mind at bay.

The point?

We all need time to let ourselves be. Away from all of the “needs” that are arising within us.

When we begin to learn that, in fact, those “needs” never really cease, and that we can take actions to slow down the reactivity of the mind to stimuli; by, for example, taking a 5-minute break away from everyone and everything. Using this time to just breathe, we begin to deepen our understanding of how our minds work. Helpful.

Alright, that’s all for this week.

Have a lovely week.

#apnachatbhavan, #bhagavadgita, #blogger, #bloggers-diary, #blogging, #breathing, #contemplation, #diary, #indiasupermarket, #introspection, #mahabharata, #mindfulness, #oregon, #poem, #poems, #portland, #reading, #resturants