Third time’s a……charm?

Here we go again. Join me over at http://www.leafandsea.wordpress.com as I pick up the conversation for personal musings, rants, and photo-documentation of new life in (mostly) sunny Colorado!

MTB Evidence

Today I rode trails with a couple of dude friends of mine. This was the result. I posted the “evidence” on Facebook, to which my friend Megan questioned why such a photo would ever be posted while there are still novices running around (ahem, rolling around), trying to simply enjoy themselves without graphic reminders of possible injury. I responded with something like, how I AM a novice, which is why I’m the bloodiest/dirtiest. And that the trail is named the Back Yard Trails, (imagine the kind of play that takes place in a backyard filled with rowdy neighborhood kids, then amp it up to a power of ten, and throw in some rusted old cars, a snake, old drainage system, and fallen trees. And then build some sketch ramps all over the rusted and fallen bits). Which of course is to say BECAUSE IT’S FUN! And that there are definitely more places to ride that don’t risk tetanus or gouged knees.

Not Just A Free Bike

Today marks day two of voting for the Foundry Cycles Trades(wo)man contest. As of this moment, I have 141 142 votes! Thanks everyone! I’m still behind (wah wah), but voting is open until April 30th—this girl is not giving up!

In the questionnaire that was given to finalists, we were asked what winning would do for us, how it would affect our lives—other than “getting a free bike.” Yes, we all love getting free stuff, and a sweet, no frills-hardworking carbon cyclocross bike is certainly on the list of ‘stuff’ I’d happily claim. But winning this contest isn’t just winning a contest–it’s about becoming a spokesperson for something you believe in; for promoting a brand whose principles align with your own. I have yet to ride a Foundry bicycle, so I can’t say how great the ride is, or even what the ride is like. I can say that as a company, I’m compelled with the simplicity of their brand–let you speak for you, your riding speak for you—not the logos of the fancy gear you’ve purchased. I’ve met Jason Grantz. I’ve heard about his passion.

I want to win this contest, and yes, in doing so receive their cross bike (the Auger). But it’s more than that. I want to be another voice that shares the passion of Foundry Cycles.

VOTE FOR ME!

VOTE FOR ME PLEASE!

www.foundrycycles.com

Southeast Region, JESSICA MOORE

My application video: http://vimeo.com/m/39569909

“Perhaps acting in poor judgement can be forgiven.  Seldom exist those who never fail common sense.  Yet, when one is aware of one’s own poor judgement, perhaps the benevolent mercy of excuse is no longer appropriate…” http://doctorquack.wordpress.com

Thoughts to move forward with

The thought manifests as the word; the word manifests as the deed; the deed develops into habit; and the habit into character. So, watch the thought and its ways with care and let it spring from love born out of concern for all beings. As the shadow follows the body, as we think so we become.

–The Buddha, from the Dhammapada

Such a strange existence it is, to be constantly ripped open; broken wide so as to accept the world, to make room for all its offerings of love. Wildly, delightfully strange.

new from old

because sometimes you want to start over and make new from that which once only harbored your demons.

thanksgiving always precedes the miracle

“gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.”  -sarah ban breathnach

I am learning to live a life full of thanksgiving. I feel the change taking place within me, and I want to nourish it. I want to be transformed, for this new way to be second nature. I want it to be so rooted within me that in every encounter whether bearing offense or receiving praise I give thanks. Some days are easy—when you wake up early because you can, and your smallest jeans fit perfectly and the coffee’s just right and you receive an encouraging letter in the mail from your best friend detailing how wonderful and beautiful you are. Give thanks? A thousand times over.  But when you wake up vomiting at 3am on a day you have an interview and you have a flat tire on your mountain bike noticed only moments before a ride yet you don’t have a means to fix it and people you love and trust betray you….give thanks?  Only if it sounds like cussing and riotous outbursts of frustration akin to a two year old’s tantrum (the riotous outburst, not the cussing). But as with learning anything, it takes practice, and although practice is the hardest part of learning it is a training that is the very essence of transformation.

I recently read encouraging words, a reminder that change takes intentionality, “like a woman bent over her garden beds every day with a spade and the determined will to grow up something good to strengthen the heart.” (Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts)

As a declaration of gratitude, an intentional list of thanksgiving:

-the recently found bag of yarn and a new project idea

-borrowed books and purchased books and books given as gifts that speak truth into my life

-jeans that fit well, worn with old shirts and perfect cardigans

-not flavored coffee

-the warm breeze that rustles fallen leaves

-candlelit porch talks over wine (or coffee, or celebratory cigarettes, or plantain chips)

-shared studio space (and it’s just across the driveway)

And they are everywhere, aren’t they, these simple reminders of joy, of things to give thanks for, if only we choose to acknowledge them.

Sights Seen