"Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Practice wellness. Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose with no regret. Appreciate your friends. Continue to learn. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is." ~Mary Anne Radmacher
This is the longest I've been away from the blog in a while I think... needed some time to just be as first I was work-busy, then fun & family-busy, then needed some time to be me-busy. It's been very eventful since I last posted - my cousin's team won the Redbull Flugtag Trinidad and Tobago, my mom's birthday was last Friday and today is the International Kissing Day (or World Kiss Day.. whichever).. am sure if I did some research I'd find that there was a lot more going on than this though.
My dad and cousin are probably two of the happiest persons in Trinidad and Tobago at this moment because ... we won. Team Obi-WANted flew 52 feet, earned 142.5 points and, according to one of our local newspapers, had one of the most original crafts at the event. I've read a lot of bashing of the event on TriniTuner.com but I've also read some good reviews of people that had fun. I can tell you that it was fun, and a lot of hard work.
Once upon a time when I was much younger than I am now, my dad built a satellite dish all by himself (with some reluctant assistance from my mom) because he wanted to and he thought he could (and that's why I was stuck on Sailor Moon for years... satellite tv ftw). It's been interesting seeing him involved with the conceptualisation, designing and building of the craft. He has this ability to visualise how something would work if put together in certain ways... I don't have that ability - it takes time for me to figure out how things work or could work. He's disciplined, dedicated and detail-oriented - again... qualities I don't really think I possess... this is why perhaps I admire them in him. Above all that though... I think he just likes to create - I'd say a big part of his happiness at the moment does not necessarily lie in the fact that they won but that something he'd helped create turned out so well that it surpassed other crafts built by teams with more experience, more assistance, more funding ... just more. We won.
Weeks of planning, designing, building and squabbling led to Saturday and a day filled with scrambling to get everything together. Of course I was there with my dad... got baked in the sun.... soaked by the rain... flooded out a bit... took photos of anything I pleased and was generally around (in case I was needed for anything). Sunday we had an early start to the day and I'm beyond grateful that we stayed over in the area as there was a lot of traffic. I have a lot of respect for all the teams which competed - while some may have been there in a serious way... and some there just to be part of the event and the lime - it takes a lot of effort and work to put together something and to further jump off a 20 ft ramp with that something. We won though and that makes up for whatever drama we had to go through.
The other event which occurred was my mom's birthday (and a new moon in Cancer). Our Guru told her that she'd live to see grandchildren (I feel somewhat pressured now... who am I supposed to have children with??? I joked with my brother that I'd just multiply... a la Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory)... we had a lime with her best girlfriends. We had lots of lasagna and lots of ice cream... and equally lots of ole talking... Hope you had a wonderful birthday mom of mine.
It's International Kissing Day today... I've only gotten virtual ones (who am I supposed to have children with??!)... Spending some time reflecting on my parents - who they've been, where they've come from and what they are now. It's helping me figure out who I am and what I want to be in the grand scheme of things.
What do you want to be? Where do you want to go? If there was one thing you could do at this moment with no repercussions ... what would it be?
peace,
Ren
