Time Flies When You’re Having Fun

Posted on by Harlon

sky

Here we are September 1st, 2015. Here I am on my 51st, birthday and at times it has felt like a long hard journey and at other times it’s been one hell of a pit stop.

As I reflect, as I stand still and as I look ahead I know that I have the wisdom of lived experience and I still have hope and I know that life is full of ups and downs, and for me, the downs are a place I have never gotten truly stuck in.  As I age, I struggle with hope but now that I’ve said that I think it’s less age and more about what I see going on in the world around me.

The one true thing I know is that I am here, and I am able to locate joy, even if it has, as it does, at times fall out of my back pocket.

What do I want?

I want to pull over for a while, get out of the car, have a picnic and relax, stay a  while.

Life is starting to feel a bit too much like a quest and I want more of those moments, those extended disco remix moments of saying “I’m good here for now, I don’t need anything more, my hunger is filled, my pains no longer ache and I just want to stay where I am right now, put my feet into the water, let them dangle, look for minnows, listen for bullfrogs and just be.”

I’m finding that harder to do than I would like, but at the same time I am smarter at knowing what I want and clearing the clutter of the obstacle course. Some things in life are just not worth the finance.

The there that I want is already here, it’s just some of the stuff that is here, I would rather be over there.

I’ve been enjoying the last few weeks with road trips to the Shaw Festival, the Butterfly Conservatory and more on the agenda, including a fun day ahead and more fun days ahead.

I’d like to thank those that read my blog, for some time I compartmentalized these connections as they were only virtual but with time I know that I have created true friendships with some of you, and many of you have helped me from taking the shopping cart of life that has the wheels that are always crooked to a different cart that took me in a straight and purposeful direction.

Fly Harlon fly.

I’ve also been sleeping a lot because I am in a lot of pain or it feels like there is too much time ahead of me in the day and I can’t kill that time, so I sleep through it. It seems like a gentler way of getting through things, yet it conflicts with my desire to be present.

The sleep that I find myself present in can be turned around so that the dreams that I find myself in whilst sleeping are no longer dreams, they are my reality and I am living the dream.

I can do it.

I already am.

Sometimes I just don’t know it.

Sometimes I feel like I am just trying to understand and other times I get it. In this crazy mish-mash we call our mind, it always feels like I am trying. Six of one, half dozen of the other.

The devil may care, but I don’t care much for him, so I am off to the races; to better places and sometimes that may mean, a few steps forward, a few steps back because I am already here.

Excuse me, while I kiss the sky.

29 thoughts on “Time Flies When You’re Having Fun”

  7. Hello my friend!!! Happy belated Birthday wishes I offer to you!! I love this post…so honest …so truthful. I feel you are in a place that is grateful and yet longing…and I get that. And that is okay…because the important thing is to be aware of it ALL. I send you so much love….and I wish you many things that you want ‘here’ as opposed to ‘over there!’ ❤

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  10. Happy Birthday, Harlon! Thank you, too, for reading, sharing and connecting. I feel as though you’ve blown Virgil a kiss, in that sky overhead. The Universe would not be the same without you in it, and that matters…

    Peace
    Michael

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  15. You have captured the essence of what I’m feeling as I approach 60. Tired of the quest, sometimes, needing to rest more and have a picnic, smell the roses and the jasmine….but also still wanting to fly. Rest when you want to rest, play when you want to play. We still have the heart of the peaceful warrior within us who will come out from time to time to do what we can to make our corner of the world a little better. The good fight is not over, but it’s okay to rest more too, and build our strength to fly when we are able.Best wishes in the year ahead, Harlon, whether dreaming or awake.

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  17. Happy birthday:) YAY!!!

    I don’t think about living, I kind of just do it. Thinking makes one miss surprises and fun things can often pass you by, if you have an agenda or a plan. I don’t sleep much because I figure that life is short and since I’m already here I may as well be awake for it. My only goal is…have fun. The world has changed a lot, during my lifetime, and I can’t do anything about the atrocities or violence that exists. I can’t stop the poisoning of our water, air, and soil. I can’t stop our government from doing the terrible things it does. So, I can be upset and depressed or have fun. I’m having fun (I never watch the news and rarely watch TV).

    I’ve been an activist all my life. In the streets, demonstrating, picketing, writing letters, leafletting (which our government now wants to make a crime and call peaceful protesters, American Terrorists). I’ve marched on Washington, time and time again…done any number of things. It’s over. Few care anymore. The rich and powerful run the world and there’s little room for us (they call us the herd), unless it’s to serve them. I don’t know how long our species has left. If the bees die, not long. At any rate, it’s my opinion that our extinction would be the best thing that ever happened to the Earth. Everyone and everything would flourish and the destruction and suffering would finally end. We are the bad guys. Really, really bad.

    If you’re sleeping a lot try to figure out what you’re avoiding. Being awake? Bordom? Shake up your life. Eat out. Dance with a cat. Find new authors…Jim Butcher/the Dresden Files, listen to music and SING at the top of your lungs. Be SILLY. Let yourself have fun. Know that we are here for a short time and do everything you can to fit in lots of fun /interesting stuff before it’s over. Take a pottery class:) Paint your garage door a wild color. Move your furniture around. Get new bedding or dishes. Learn to cook different foods. I’m going to give French a shot (Argg…LOLOL). Remember how to play. You never wanted to go to bed when you were a kid, right? Too much to do, too much fun to be had. Do that again. Write a book, or at least try. Go to movies and plays. Move. Go to Italy or to a different state. Work at an animal shelter…adopt cats and dogs. Start to paint. Volunteer to teach a class at the park or a senior center. Learn a different language (really hard). Or, just lay around and watch the clouds float by. Either way, find your path. No one can help you find the way. The point is…find out how you like to have fun and then…DO THAT. 🙂 Gotta be awake to live out loud, my friend, otherwise you’re just sleeping on the job. 🙂

    Again…HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!

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  22. Happy Birthday, Harlon! What a beautiful and poetic birthday post. I agree with you, nearly every day I wake up to a life that seems a lot more like a neverending quest than a place where I can settle in to live happily everafter. Maybe that’s a good thing, because we are quest seekers. Without the quest, we’d never evolve. 50 is the beginning of a very different evolution, and in some ways I cherish my life more at 60 than I ever did when I was younger.

    Many warm wishes to you.

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  28. Oh Harlon! 51 is a PRIME number! Nothing can divide you except the divine and yourself which is divine! Cyber HUGS as you celebrate the Day! Special thanks to your Mom for bringing you into the world, and for you finding your way into mine!

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