I Needed That

 Waxing Gibbous Moon

After a string of twelve-hour days trying to meet a self-imposed deadline to finish my book, I pronounced it done and took off for Moss Landing State Beach yesterday to shut up and walk. It was practically perfect. To breathe freely and soak in the familiar colors of sand and sea and sky was precious. Plus I brought a delicious sammie from Lolla for a halftime picnic. What a a great day!

I ran into a little snag with respect to my book title. Evidently someone already used Spirit Walker as the name of a fantasy fiction series, so I had to go to Plan B. The new title is Walks Far Man: In Step with History on the Pacific Crest Trail. I am waiting patiently for the cover art to be finished and expect the book to be available on Amazon (paperback and e-book formats) by the end of the month. I hope you all read it and enjoy it. I think this is my best effort so far.

As for the title, when I got home from my coast to coast walk in 2016, my friends and neighbors Laynee and Sonne gave me my Indian name, "Walks Far Man." I was humbled to receive it and I kept it to myself as something special. They didn't tell me they got the idea from Raquel Welch!

In the process of re-titling the manuscript, I googled Walks Far Man, not wanting to make the same copyright mistake twice. Nothing came up for that, but Walks Far Woman did. That was the title of a 1982 movie starring Raquel Welch as a Blackfoot woman in a serious pickle. I won't spoil it for you, but you can watch it on YouTube if you want. The sound quality is comically horrendous (sounds like everybody was inhaling helium the whole movie long) so I recommend clicking the Closed Caption button right away, haha.

Anyway, the beach was great. I saw sea otters and sea lions, cormorants, pelicans, snowy plovers, curlews, and gulls, a long, hairy beach caterpillar, and assorted beached jellies. I had the stretch of the beach between the jetty and the Pajaro River to myself for the most part so I was able to coast along (bad pun intended) for a few hours with the aforementioned halftime picnic providing the fuel. 

The surf was so-so, but the sound and the rhythm of the waves were perfect. Just what I needed.

Peace, Love, and Relaxation,

Jim

P.S. Cud'n Mindy sent me this yesterday. Her timing was excellent for my book release and my beach walk:

“When Einstein gave lectures at U.S. universities, the recurring question that students asked him most was: - Do you believe in God? And he always answered: - I believe in the God of Spinoza.

Baruch de Spinoza was a Dutch philosopher considered one of the great rationalists of 17th century philosophy, along with Descartes.

(Spinoza) : God would say:

Stop praying. What I want you to do is go out into the world and enjoy your life. I want you to sing, have fun and enjoy everything I've made for you.

Stop going into those dark, cold temples that you built yourself and saying they are my house. My house is in the mountains, in the woods, rivers, lakes, beaches. That's where I live and there I express my love for you.

Stop blaming me for your miserable life; I never told you there was anything wrong with you or that you were a sinner, or that your sexuality was a bad thing. Sex is a gift I have given you and with which you can express your love, your ecstasy, your joy. So don't blame me for everything they made you believe.

Stop reading alleged sacred scriptures that have nothing to do with me. If you can't read me in a sunrise, in a landscape, in the look of your friends, in your son's eyes... ➤ you will find me in no book!

Stop asking me "will you tell me how to do my job?" Stop being so scared of me. I do not judge you or criticize you, nor get angry, or bothered. I am pure love.

Stop asking for forgiveness, there's nothing to forgive. If I made you... I filled you with passions, limitations, pleasures, feelings, needs, inconsistencies... free will. How can I blame you if you respond to something I put in you? How can I punish you for being the way you are, if I'm the one who made you? Do you think I could create a place to burn all my children who behave badly for the rest of eternity? What kind of god would do that?

Respect your peers and don't do what you don't want for yourself. All I ask is that you pay attention in your life, that alertness is your guide.

My beloved, this life is not a test, not a step on the way, not a rehearsal, nor a prelude to paradise. This life is the only thing here and now and it is all you need.

I have set you absolutely free, no prizes or punishments, no sins or virtues, no one carries a marker, no one keeps a record. You are absolutely free to create in your life. Heaven or hell.

➤ I can't tell you if there's anything after this life but I can give you a tip. Live as if there is not. As if this is your only chance to enjoy, to love, to exist.

So, if there's nothing after, then you will have enjoyed the opportunity I gave you. And if there is, rest assured that I won't ask if you behaved right or wrong, I'll ask. Did you like it? Did you have fun? What did you enjoy the most? What did you learn?...

Stop believing in me; believing is assuming, guessing, imagining. I don't want you to believe in me, I want you to believe in you. I want you to feel me in you when you kiss your beloved, when you tuck in your little girl, when you caress your dog, when you bathe in the sea.

Stop praising me, what kind of egomaniac God do you think I am?

I'm bored being praised. I'm tired of being thanked. Feeling grateful? Prove it by taking care of yourself, your health, your relationships, the world. Express your joy! That's the way to praise me.

Stop complicating things and repeating as a parakeet what you've been taught about me.

What do you need more miracles for? So many explanations?

The only thing for sure is that you are here, that you are alive, that this world is full of wonders.

- Spinoza”