Monochrome Monday ~ Big Bear
The goal of life is to make your heart beat as one with the Cosmos.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
Big Bear is a cool place to spend a long weekend
in the summer
no way I’m going up there at this time of year
I hate snow
Scenes on Sunday ~ California Beaches
If you like sand dunes and salty air, dream of me and I’ll be there.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
I wish they could all be California Girls Beaches
If you can’t be happy in California, you can’t be happy anywhere
Back to Square One
You can’t do the job if you haven’t got the proper tools.
Yesterday I was very tempted to book a trip to Agadir in Morocco, even though I’ve just returned to England after my recent vacation on Crete. (You would like Crete.)
The Moroccan adventure would have been for a week, departing England on October 11th. The whole deal would have cost me less than it’s costing me to fly the Atlantic for my trip to New Mexico in early November. And, that upcoming trip is one reason I’ve decided not to take the Road to Morocco just now ~ I would probably have spent my whole time in Morocco thinking about going to New Mexico.
That, and the main reason for travelling right now is me not wanting to be here on my own, me escaping from what’s going on inside my own head, not wanting to face the fact that I’m the world’s biggest screw-up, me running away…..
I don’t think I’ve shared that each day I pray to my Goddess, and that I write these prayers on slips of paper about the size of a personal cheque, (check). I save these prayers, and each day I take an old prayer from the found vase I keep them in, and contemplate what I was saying in the past.
Today, the old prayer is from December 1st 2015; …..please help me to learn a way to stop finding the bad things in Life.
That is just as appropriate right now as it was then. I am still right back at square one.
In my life there has been heartache and pain. For most of my life I suffered from undiagnosed and untreated Borderline Personality Disorder ~ a seriously dangerous mental illness. For the past few years I have been striving diligently to be a ‘better man’. And, it would seem that I haven’t had that much success.
Here’s the thing, no matter how hard you try to achieve something, no matter what you do, you cannot succeed if you don’t have the right tools for the job.
Today I have come to realise that I don’t have the right tools to achieve enough significant personality changes to become the better man, the superior man.
And then Serendipity kicks in. This New Mexico retreat I am attending in November has the strapline From Chaos to Coherence ~ The Power To Thrive In Life Extremes. If you know anything at all about BPD, you will know that I go to extremes, but perhaps this retreat will put some more and better tools in my psychological toolbox.
Some say that all prayers are answered, but sometimes the answer is ‘no’. And, that if the only tool you have is a hammer then you see every problem as a nail. All I know is that if you’re fighting with the alligators, it’s difficult to remember that you’re supposed to be draining the swamp.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
Right now the alligators are winning,
so fuck the swamp.
Scenes on Sunday ~ Knossos
The last Western Society to worship female powers was Minoan Crete.
The palace at Knossos dates from 1700 BC
Knossos is Europe’s oldest city, dating from perhaps 7,000 BC
Many legends surround Knossos ~ the Labyrinth, the Minotaur, Daedalus and Icarus.
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Minoan Art is Fabulous
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The site was eventually abandoned in Roman times.
jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
This bull’s head is in the museum in Heraklion,
seeing it is better than my picture.
Adventures New
Embrace the daring adventure your life was supposed to be.
I like the sea and great beaches, particularly in the warm, blue Mediterranean.
Having recently returned from having a great time on the Mediterranean Island of Crete, (which has the longest history and the oldest civilisation in Europe), I decided it was time to look for a new adventure.
So, I’ve found a trip which involves an intensive ‘Wisdom Retreat’ with the catchy tag-line of From Chaos to Coherence ~ The Power To Thrive In Life Extremes. This retreat is to be lead by the New Age author Gregg Braden, and takes place in the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort and Spa, in New Mexico.
The hotel looks great, and the circular pool looks fabulous.
I’ve never been to New Mexico, especially not to a place that’s a 5,280 foot high desert valley. The pre-reading for this retreat includes lots of stuff about how to be comfortable and survive while I’m out in the desert….. It all sounds adventurous, educational, and fun.
And, I wanted to see my friend in California again ~ better known as ‘The Girl Riding Shotgun.
Ergo, I’m flying out to Orange County to spend a few days on the Californian beaches, and then flying to Albuqureque, and driving to the Hyatt where the retreat is being held.
It might have been fun to take the 800 mile road trip from California to New Mexico, but this time that was just not going to work. So, I’ll get to experience all the delights of American short-haul flying, probably in a puddle-jumper.
This trip is not for a while yet, and I am really looking forward t it. I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.
The trip after this one to New Mexico? Back to Turkey I think.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
After New Mexico ~ maybe Turkey again
Scenes of Crete
The people of Crete make more history than they can consume locally.
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The history of the Mediterranean island of Crete Crete goes back to the 7th Millennium BC, preceding the ancient Minoan civilisation by more than 4,000 years. The Minoan civilisation was the first civilisation in Europe to build a palace and roads.
Crete is a very beautiful Island and a great place for a vacation.
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
Inclement Weather Can Kill You
The English love talking about the weather.
It’s odd that we English spend so much time talking about the weather. English weather is almost never extreme, almost always temperate, and usually a depressing grey colour. I’ve just got home from the blue skies and warm Mediterranean sunshine of Crete and the weather in England this morning is manky. It’s not raining right now, but give it an hour.
All that rain and very ordinary temperatures is why England is so green.
Other parts of the world are not so lucky.
The Eastern seaboard of the United States is about to be hit by the monster Hurricane Florence, bringing 140 mph winds and a couple of feet of rain. Right on the coast the storm surge could raise sea levels by 15 or 20 feet. This weather is deadly dangerous and more than 1.5 million people are being forcibly evacuated.
In most immediate danger are the Carolinas and Virginia , but the whole of the Eastern seaboard from South Carolina northwards are in danger. Not only that, hurricanes are fickle, Florence could change direction at any time.
This is weather of catastrophic biblical proportions, exactly the kind of weather we don’t get here in England.
If you are in the danger area, then my prayer is that you will come through safely.
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Jack Collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
Inclement; severe, harsh, cold, wet, and unpleasant
Scenes on Sunday – Mediterranean Seascapes
The Mediterranean breathes a new life into the world.
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Jack Collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
the sun, a beach, the sea, a jug of wine, and thee…..
Crete, the beach at the bottom of our street
Chania is an historic Venetian City
There are no modern beachfront resort hotels here. The hotel I am staying in has only a dozen rooms, and for this kind of singles vacation, (where the group dynamic is important), small is indeed beautiful.
But there is a park and beach right at the bottom of our street.
The park sits between our street and the beach.
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At this time of year the Mediterranean is calm and warm.
I will show you a lot more cool pictures when I get back to the garret and I can connect my camera to the computer.
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Jack Collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
This beach is popular with overseas holidaymakers and locals alike.
Crete, the 5th best place in the world
Crete is a Chic Mediterranean Island.
I fly out to Crete today.
Some say the island is the 5th best destination in the world. And that only Paris, Rome, London, and Bali are cooler places to visit. All I know is that I’ve been to Paris, Rome, and London, (a lot), and I wouldn’t choose to vacation in any of them.
Chania, where I’m going, is the best part of Crete to visit, if you like atmosphere, bars, history, stores, and places to eat. The views are a bonus.
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Jack Collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
