Reality

I am still quite sore from my 8.5 miles of walking yesterday, but it was so worth it. Something about Seattle just makes me want to walk!  Wandering from the bustling Pike Place Market down to the ferry terminal was a welcome adventure.  I followed the steps I had taken four years before and as I walked, the memories of the path started coming back to me.

The ferry itself is not to be missed.  Even without picturing myself as Addison from Grey's Anatomy riding to work from island to corporate hospital, the view of the skyline shown above is breathtaking. Getting off at Bainbridge Island felt the same, walking down the main street to where the knitting shop is and exploring the fancy yarns until I lost track of time.

Seattle is a corporate city.  Even sitting in this coffee shop, every table near me hosts a group of people conversing about their newest and brightest business idea.  But it's a corporate city with the feeling that if you walk just a few blocks away from the center, you could lose yourself in a mystical energy that's not quite in sync with reality.

We make our own reality.  That's why it's never truly productive to call anybody crazy.  There will always be gaps between any two people's realities, but that is a beautiful thing, because we can use mediums such as art to try and fill those gaps.  In fact, I often say that art's main purpose is to fill the gaps between our own realities and the standard reality we are supposed to adopt to function in this world,  Is there a standard reality?  It sure seems that there is sometimes.  Or at least that we are expected to shake off our own perceived realities in favor of fitting what is deemed "normal" or "functional" by the people around us.  I definitely use my songwriting and blogging to help me accomplish this, rationalizing my way away from my need to push on with my own desires.

I used to be of the opinion that everything I feel, I should do.  It's not that I realized that was my thought process.  I just never questioned my methods.  My opinion was that if I feel intensely about someone, I should pursue them, even if it's only a temporary feeling.  If I felt hatred or a strong negative emotion towards someone, I could feel justified.  There was never the option of deciding not to engage with those emotions and feel empowered to move away from them.  I'm still working on it. Everyone seems to be.  Our feelings are often the strongest compass we have in making decisions and they tend to overwhelm our senses with more impact than rational thought ever can.  It's a matter of controlling them, using them when they are productive as a powerful tool and stepping away from them when they seem destructive.

I feel that walking around a new city is the best way to find grounding within oneself.  The thoughts that come into your head merge with the stimuli from new atmosphere you're taking in.  I look forward to more Seattle walks within the next few days and am intrigued to witness and share what types of thoughts come into my head.