the eXternal mind

I haven’t been posting much lately for some reasons:

1. I work full time.
2. I use the computer a lot at work so when I get home, I tend to do non-computer stuff like play the guitar and piano.
3. The recent rainy days serverely hindered my attempts at getting online though my dial up connection (I can’t connect since my phone lines are messed up).
4. I’m reading Bleach manga.
5. When I’m on the computer, I get kicked off, because, well, “my eyes need to rest for being on the computer all day.”

Blah. Enough with the poor excuses. So there were some stub posts I wrote and saved as drafts but never released them because they were not finished. So I decided not to make this camping trip post a draft and just post a fraction of how it was. Instead of recapping the whole trip, I’ll just write what I thought about it. If you want a recap from Eugene’s point of view, just head over to his site.

So I got back four days ago from a camping trip with Euge, Steve, Dave, Ricky, Christina, Ally, Carli, Leah, and Ashley. It was exactly what I needed to regain my energy. Too long have I felt very listless, bloated, and tiresome. I wasn’t in balance, my energy was low, I felt weak, and my body was always tense and stressed. After coming back from the camping trip, I feel very relaxed and like I have more energy than before.

I think being in nature gives one a higher sense of connectivity to the ambient energy that exists around the living things of the forest (according to Eastern thought). I don’t think this kind of energy exists around the city of the suburbs. I was very impressed by the waterfall we visited. I don’t know why, but I got this feeling that the water carried strong chi with it, and so when I placed the palms of the hands on the surface of the water, I felt like I was absorbing energy. This feeling also occurred when I was walking around in the water. I imagined that the chi from the ground and water flowed through Kidney 1 (Bubbling Spring) which is a point about an inch above the center of the bottom of the foot. It was very cool. There was this spot around the center of the waterfall that was dry so I sat there and tried some meditation. It was a perfect spot. In stories and legends, there is this stereotype that the martial arts masters meditated around waterfalls. The sound of water combined with the crisp air and cool water adds a spiritual element to meditation which goes back to my point about accumulating energy.

Saturday was great. Besides the waterfall, we went to Boulder Field which was a very strange field covered maybe for 1/2 sq. mile with round large rocks. The way to navigate the fields is to hop from rock to rock. Almost immediately, I was reminded of this being a great training ground. Imagine post training but with tons of rocks instead! Also, as we followed each other hopping around, I amused myself by having flashback to Naruto where the characters hop from tree to tree. I was very happy with the two places we visited. Even the rain didn’t get me down! Also, there’s nothing like the heat of a self-built wood fire!

So, I got some energy back. I did rock training, and balance training (by standing on logs and rocks whenever I got a spare chance). I practiced a few katas with Dave and meditated at night. I think I improved a bit. Oh, I also tried to practice throwing sticks, but I didn’t advance much in that field.

The people there were, of course, awesome. The girls seemed to know everything and put together a fine camping trip. It was fun to be around them. Us guys had a good time joking around. It’s too bad we might not all get to hang out much longer.