Sharing of Place

There always seems to be a crash that comes with the highs. I don't want to muse on about balance, but that must be the explanation. Everything tends towards high entropy, making sure both sides are equal, requiring energy to move packets of down back to the packages of up.

Sharing this place helps me do that. I love to share my place with others. Over the past weekend I shared this natural wonderland with some folks from college. We went to Mount Saint Helens, went into Ape Caves, saw the Trail of Two Forests, and hiked over Lava Canyon. The usual tour. But something this time was different. I unabashedly enjoyed myself.

Lava Canyon Falls

A railing to hike past a waterfall and on down the trail.

At the end of the day, my sides hurt, I worried not, and really let my "true" self shine. We got dinner after hiking, and then went home and played Mario Kart 8. It felt exactly like I was back in good company.

The lovely people who were on this adventure.

I love it when people visit. I can host again. I can create a welcoming and friendly environment where we can have fun, enjoy the same things, and just be.

Friday consisted of me working, and administering a "Bus Training" for some staff at our agency. The goal is to get a better understanding of what the bus system is like, and to get some "on the ground" experience of what clients go through. But I just realized: It seems like even that is a "sharing of place" in a certain way. I was sharing my place of public bus with others who haven't seen it before.

After a tiring trip around Portland that included food carts and lots of walking, we went to one of the best live shows I've ever attended. The Mountain Goats played, and there was a great intro band called Blank Range. Oh god I sang along and danced live I never had in my life. I guess maybe you could call it "losing yourself"?

Sharing experiences with others. I think that is central in what I do. I adventure, learn, and observe. Then I try to show others. Place is a much bigger thing than simply a geography. It involves people. It involves actions. It involves happiness. But most of all, place is interdependent upon all of those things.