The Net

photography by karen kuehn
John Kelly in Hawaii, he made this net as a young man and he was one of the Islands biggest environmental activists, artist and world class surfer. 

"When we continually live our life with a safety net
 it creates a barrier to our freedom."

- Daily OM
Is Freedom for Some being Caught in the NET ?

As the sun rises and my roosters crow I m up reading client and friend emails online.  News and a few daily spiritual inspiring blogs. 
 This morning one such blog is called Without a Net and it reminded me of a Steve Jobs quote about trusting in your future and karma.
http://karenkuehn.blogspot.com/2012/03/steve-jobs.html 
Some of the freest folks I know are those whom work in the earth and play in the water.
There's something about getting your hands dirty and being in the water that changes ones' perspective about life.  
When is the last time you were actually in the ocean, a lake, under a waterfall or swimming in love with your partner?
Spring, now planting new seeds for summer growth, California Poppies, I'm a native, snap dragons, red hot pokers, and yes For Get Me Nots!
I miss living near the ocean.  Traveling for surf expeditions has been my option since my move to New Mexico. 
I may one day move back to Northern California or somewhere on a shore break where the weather is warm.
My life is not written in stone but rather open to what feeds it love and growth.
I am in the land with my hands and heart growing things in between making art and a living.
The concrete jungle is hard, makes people harder, unknowing they do it...accept it and make it good.  It has to be good whatever we has humans choose...that is the way we survive. Our minds make it so.  The Holy part of a brain particle that says its so!
Being from both life styles I tend to want to share the cross over with my friends...its like being in heaven a part of my life here in New Mexico, compared to living in a large loft like studio in Manhattan.  That life was amazing but it was "ON" all the time.
Some folks thrive on that edge...I did but I craved nature more.
I love all the things city folks love, the art, the museum's openings, the foods and friendships kindled.
Cities are full of MORE...more love options, more consumers more of the good the bad and the ugly.
I've had my fill and I can see more in my future of both life styles.
Making art is pretty much the passion.
City life is exhilarating and exhausting.Leaving NYC as a photographer became necessary to live my life freely.
The money is not the same nor is my career but my life is rich with other options and freedoms.
I don't live with a voice of  competition and failing but rather living and exploring and I have huge faith in each day.
Ups and downs I'm trusting that the Universe will provide exactly what is suppose to be the life as an artist, mother and friend to many.
Sustainable green living, love, my ties to the cities are strong but not the end all to be all.
Lovely connections.
The internet has made many things possible and it has robbed many from the true texture of life as well. 
Walking down the streets of NY, LA and SF you see folks holding phones texting, never lifting their heads.
The technology has absorbed there souls. 
Take a break and enjoy nature, leave you phones at home, shut them off and live.
 Living through the internet has created a society that touches less.
Are we loosing our human connection ?
Not the live I want to life.  I have the skills and use it all the time to keep a thumb in the pie.
Living more remotely I choose it.
But I choose to be in a physical life as well. 
Bless the souls stuck in traffic living under floresant lights.
That old idea of one week or month to live....how would you like to see it so?
Who would you share that last breath with if givin a choice?
Who makes you laugh and expand your mind?
Family, friends and lovers
Whose gonna hold your hand on the way out?
Whose lips will grace yours and make your heart shine?
I know I have my loves, my special places , friends and family.
(the daily OM thoughts shared below)

Without a Net

Living  Life with Trust

- The Daily Om

As we create the life of our dreams, we often reach a crossroads where the choices seem to involve the risk of facing the unknown versus the safety and comfort of all that we have come to trust. We may feel like a tightrope walker, carefully teetering along the narrow path to our goals, sometimes feeling that we are doing so without a net. Knowing we have some backup may help us work up the courage to take those first steps, until we are secure in knowing that we have the skills to work without one. But when we live our lives from a place of balance and trust in the universe, we may not see our source of support, but we can know that it is there. If we refuse to act only if we can see the safety net, we may be allowing the net to become a trap as it creates a barrier between us and the freedom to pursue our goals. Change is inherent in life, so even what we have learned to trust can surprise us at any moment. Remove fear from the equation and then, without even wondering what is going on below, we can devote our full attention to the dream that awaits us. We attract support into our lives when we are willing to make those first tentative steps, trusting that the universe will provide exactly what we need. In that process we can decide that whatever comes from our actions is only for our highest and best experience of growth. It may come in the form of a soft landing, an unexpected rescue or an eye-opening experience gleaned only from the process of falling. So rather than allowing our lives to be dictated by fear of the unknown, or trying to avoid falling, we can appreciate that sometimes we experience life fully when we are willing to trust and fall. And in doing so, we may just find that we have the wings to fly. When we believe that there is a reason for everything, we are stepping out with the safety net of the universe, and we know we will make the best from whatever comes our way.