Easy like sunday morning?

I woke up this morning to a very sweet text message, closely followed by a hilarious phone call of a story from last night. I did my yoga, read a few pages of my book, and a little cleaning...all of these events helped me have good feelings about today - what a great start.
Then I made my first mistake: I turned on the TV. I watched a bit of "The Soup" on E. I'm not even going to make a link for it, because I don't want anyone to click on it. While I admit the show's pretty big on hilarity, I was soon disappointed in myself that I was looking to the belittlement of others to entertain me. All the show does is make fun of anyone and everyone. I don't need that kind of entertainment in my life.
My second mistake: Opening up my laptop. I usually go the gmail/facebook pages first, which I did. But I also like to check out nytimes.com to keep up with current events. Please do not misinterpret my next statement because I really do think it's important to be aware of what's going on in our world, but sometimes I don't want to know it.. The homepage was filled with bombings, deaths, wildfires, etc...maybe it's not that I don't want to know, it's just that I wish that wasn't our news. Why does exposing myself to this content leave me with feelings of sorrow? I would like to note this "Future of Reading" article, however. It tells about teachers who are allowing their students to choose the books they read in their literature classes. Giving students a voice in what they learn? What a grand, revolutionary idea!

So here's MY news of today: I have decided to create at least one thing every day. Whether it be cooking a new meal, hanging up a picture, snapping a notable photo, learning a new chord on the guitar, or even writing a blog. I am going to do it! Every day should have it's own creation. Yesterday I made my dad a Birthday gift (it's his 49th Birthday today - woot woot! And he has facebook now...you all should friend him and write a birthday message on his wall), wrote a "thinking of you" card to my sister, and hung up more pictures on my wall that I've been meaning to do for a while...


Maybe I just need to retreat back into my own world for a little bit and hope that the happiness inside me affects my immediate world. It won't make the news, but hopefully it will make someone's day :)

I get by with a little help from my friends

One thing that I am most grateful for in my life are my amazing friends. I have decided to share a few reasons. The following is a list of activities I doubt I would have done if my friends weren't so stupendous (keep in mind that these are only examples from the past few months...)

See LA and the surrounding area

Drunkenly walk on the beach
Go to see some of the European Embassies

Camp in West Virginia

Find out how to take sparkler pictures

Eat free ranged, organically fed chicken eggs
Witness the re-opening of the Eastern Market

Go to the Independence Day parade
Ride a segway
See Jason Mraz in concert
See the "Phillips after 5" collection

Play drinking Jenga
Be involved a Photo Project
Visited the Hirshorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Learn about different American Indian tribes
Played in a "golf" party
Go tubing down the Potomac River
Visit local wineries

Meet lovely dutchmen
Watched a DC United soccer game

Wade in the World War II Memorial

There are hundreds of thousands and millions and badillions of other reasons why I am grateful for my friends, and the list does not even scratch the surface of fun, brilliant experiences I have had with them. It took me approximately two minutes to come up with a list of about 20 things. So that means if I thought for 20 minutes, I would come up with about 200!! :)

Agape!

The calm in the midst of the storm

It really was storming today. But I've decided that I love Tuesdays. These are the days I have my guitar lessons, which means a few things. First, I have a reason to leave work early. If I didn't, I would get stuck in traffic and be late...which is unacceptable for me. Second, I get to learn more on the guitar. My teacher really is great, he's taught me a lot in such a short period of time. Apparently I know a few songs...but when I play them it doesn't sound quite right (yet). It'll get there.

I think the thing I like most about my guitar lessons is that it gives me an excuse to take public transportation into the city on a weekday, during rush hour. To most people, this would probably be pretty aggravating: waiting for the metro with hundreds of other people, transferring lines, standing up in crowded cars standing next to different people who all have their own funny smells...but I love it.

It's me time. I could not tell you one thought that I had on the journeys to Dupont Circle and back. Honestly, I just tried to remember what I was thinking, but am unable to do so. It's great. Even walking in the rain and thunder did not phase me. Others complained, I embraced the wetness. It was nice relief from the brutal humidity that made me noticeably short of breath.

This evening was even the first time I noticed I wasn't paying attention to anyone else on the train, I was solely focused on myself and my own being. It was peaceful...a feeling I can't quite place, nor do I want to - there's no need to name it. But it made my heart feel good. I listened to KT Tunstall. Although I'm not sure what prompted this, it really made for the perfect soundtrack of the ride. If you haven't listened to Throw Me a Rope or Universe & U, then please do so now.

Madeline and I reflecting on our reflections in the sculpture garden. We also visited Yoko Ono's Wish Tree for DC, where we saw people's wishes on display for public viewing:

And our own...

I have such great people in my life who are willing to come out and visit me. I am so extremely grateful for all of you. I even think I will have another guest this weekend. :)

crystal in real life

I've been busy living, and not taking the time to write about any of it. It's a beautiful thing. In the next month I expect to be busy with life - I had a visitor last weekend, one coming this weekend, and after two weekends of being responsible for no one but myself, my mom and two aunts will be visiting. My mom, like my dad, has become a friend. And I am looking forward to them coming so they can see what I'm surrounded by every day, and hopefully explore areas that I don't see on a regular basis.

My mama always sends me vitamins and reading materials on healthy dieting - she's a dietitian. Most recently, she send me an article about my new vegetarian diet: not eating meat while still getting the vitamins, protein, iron, etc. that my body needs. I always appreciate that. I try to give my body the nourishment it needs. I figure if I take better care of it, it will take better care of me; it's all about the reciprocity, right?!

I don't have anything of substance to write. Like I said, life is good - life is full. I'm enjoying my time and my company. Although I do wish certain people made more frequent appearances...


Except that I feel like I haven't done anything today. Who said "time that you enjoy wasting is not wasted time?" I think that's the motto of this hot summer Sunday. Which is why I found time to write...about nothing. My thoughts today are not profound, nor very interesting to be honest. But they are my thoughts nonetheless.

the universe is very intelligent

I woke up this morning early enough to see the sunrise. I laced up my tennis shoes and went on a run - making myself aware of the initial darkness that had slowly turned into light by the time I was done. I loved the backwards feeling I got when the streetlights were on when I headed out the door, and then dimmed to zero percent on my way back. Watching the sunrise has been something I've been meaning to do for a while now, and why not choose today to actually do it?

I even had time to do the five tibetan rites when I was done. I have been making an attempt to practice yoga at least once daily. These poses that I have been doing in the morning help wake up my body, especially when I'm not energetic enough at 6 a.m. to venture outside to run. Sometimes I only do the five, but sometimes they turn into a more lengthy sun salutation series...depending on how much time I have.

I finished "A New Earth" last night, and have already started on my next book - "What Should I do with My Life?" by Po Bronson. It's about people who have asked that exact question, and had the courage to direct their lives' courses into what they wanted - they realized they had the power to steer! In the introduction, however, he prefaces that not all of the stories have happy endings. So, although I expect this book to be motivational to help myself find the answer to this seemingly obvious question, I realize that it doesn't always work out.

Also, today is the start of our Photo Project 2009. The first word is "up." This morning, I logged onto my computer and performed my morning ritual of reading my email, checking the weather, and searching facebook. I looked at blogspot, and noticed that my favorite artist had a new blog entitled "looking up." I'm not sure if I believe in coincidences anymore. I've started to think that there is a universal intelligence that can explain everything, but the human mind's intelligence is not capable of comprehending. I have started to notice these so-called coincidences more frequently, which is probably because I've come to just accept them; no questions asked. When I noticed the title of the blog today, I just sat and smiled - thanking the universe for thinking of me today.

On a semi-side note, I think everyone should sign up for the universe's daily notes. Today's Totally Unique Thought from the Universe to Crystal Martin is this:

It's truly a sight to see, Crystal, when the inhabitants of any planetarycivilization cross the tipping point and begin to individually accept completeand eternal responsibility for their own happiness.
Yet, this hardly compares to the mountain quaking, body shaking, polarity-flipping,hero-making occurrences that transpire when such inhabitants graduate to accepting complete and eternal responsibility for their every twinge of unhappiness.

Brings tears to my eyes,
The Universe

Yeah, the second one is a lot trickier, Crystal. Double, gigantic.

So today, I am responsible for how happy or unhappy I will be. I choose to be happy.

Agape.
-Crystal

Mr. A-Z

I can't believe I haven't written about the Jason Mraz concert yet. Well, yes I can - it's because I am still having a difficult time expressing the way I was feeling that night. I always think it's funny when someone says that "words can't express" something - because that's what words are supposed to do! Although, I do realize that words are extremely limiting and that feelings can sometimes be indescribable. Take love, for example. Love is a form-based word that humans have given to something that is formless. Eckhart Tolle describes the feeling as being "when you are in touch with that dimension within yourself - and being in touch with it is your natural state, not some miraculous achievement - all your actions and relationships will reflect the oneness with all life that you sense deep within. This is love." (I'm reading his book "A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Inner Purpose" which is extremely powerful, and has given me much material for some quiet introspection)

I've also been introduced to a new word for a different kind of love - agape.

Anyway, this blog was going to be about the concert, not about love. Or, this blog is now about my love for the concert. We sang, we danced, we stole things - if only it was time away from our "real lives" to live in a dream world full of beautiful music and gratitude for one evening.

Introducing the show with his friend and host, Bushwalla.


Singing with his bandmate, Toca Rivera. Who carries a gnome around with him on tour.

Singing Details in the Fabric - and the crowd sang the part of James Morrison. So technically, I've done a duet with Jason Mraz.
A little blurry, but still wonderfully delectable.
Singing Butterfly, which is is my favorite song on the album. It's a sexy little jam. He sang it last, so I'm pretty sure it's his favorite too.
As you can see - we were pretty close. Just the way I liked it. It was wonderfully magnificent and stupendous. And the pictures captured above don't even do justice to the pictures I took with my very own eyes that night - the ones whose prints will only be displayed in my mind.

I even took a few videos (during the slow songs, since I was too busy enjoying myself and dancing during the more upbeat ditties).







And of course I had to take one for my dad...he loves "I'm Yours"



Anyway, I really have him to thank for me starting a blog (and in turn, gently forcing some friends to start one as well). His words are a source of positivity and inspiration. His curiousity spurs some of my own, and those are the kind of people who are good to have in your life. I realize that he is completely unaware of my existence, and that is fine. When someone is in your thoughts - in your head - that's the closest they can be, isn't it? This can all seem very silly, to allow someone who you don't know affect your life in some way, but the way I see it is that if it's doing my life good, I shouldn't be ashamed as to where it's coming from.

I have likened my interest in Jason Mraz to my mom's interest in Bruce Springsteen. She has seen him probably almost 20 times in concert, and has travelled as far as New Jersey from Illinois to see him on his hometown stage. I told my mom this, to which she responded "Ok, well we will see how you feel about him in 30 years, then we can talk."

waking empty, but i'm settled down

Waking up alone is definitely different than waking up lonely. Today I am just alone. I have had a lovely day with myself in the past 3 hours I have been awake. Although I was a little more hungover than anticipated this morning, I went for a refreshing jog (I would not classify what I was doing as running). I watched the end of a TV movie, and made myself a wonderful smoothie, finishing off my blueberries and strawberries, avocado, flaxseed, and coconut water - this kind of smoothie has become one of the things I look most forward to in the morning. (Although I think Dorothy gets a bit annoyed at the blender at 7 a.m... ) I have showered, played a little guitar, tried on three outfits, and ate a tuna sandwich. Now I'm waiting for a friend to get here so we can go get manicures and pedicures.

The funny thing is that I have not spoken one word out loud yet (spell check tells me that "out loud" is actually two words? is it not right to push them together into one? For some reason I was really thinking I could...). I just thought about that - so many thoughts about countless things since I've woken up, but no words spoken to express them. These conversations are existing solely in my head! I'm not counting texts, because I have sent a few of those. Today is August 1 (seriously?! time keeps unfolding at a more rapid pace everyday), and my dad used to tell me to say "rabbit, rabbit, rabbit" as the first thing to say on the first day of the month for good luck. I just said it. My first words of the month - if you don't count talking last night after midnight.

I might make an iced coffee today. I'm also thinking about napping. I'm going to have a dance party tonight. I'm going to wear my big girl heels I think.

Time to go - I will be back with much softer hands and feet.