Adventure Rover

So basically you're nothing without your 'ride.' Your car is your means of transportation, and some people will invest large amounts of money into their car. Some want them fast, some want them flashy, and some want them comfortable. I've learned that what your car looks like does not matter, but that the biggest deal is what is IN your car. Your car gets you around, and because of that, it is most likely to be where you are. It is sort of like a permanent suit case, and because of this you have an opportunity to have a few choice items with you at all times. Lets take a look at some things that are always in my car:

Deodorant, Discs, Indiana Jones Hat, Skateboard (strictly to look cool), Toothbrush and toothpaste, Wiffle ball and bat, Ski Gloves, Seizure medication.

I'll let the items speak for themselves...

I'm YouTube Famous

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IW8g48aTy5s

I think fishing is way more interesting than it probably really is. Regardless, I caught a lot more female fish than male fish.

Gluten Free World... Is A Starving World

So my adventures in being Gluten free have begun. I started last Friday and am going for a complete week. Here are my thoughts so far:

1. I'm a cheater. Not because I've given in and had gluten, but because I don't eat all that much. But with that in mind it is still a hard task! There are so many things that have gluten in them.

2. Caleb and I made a gluten free pizza on Friday night (and by Caleb and I, I mean Caleb). It was interesting. It was really grainy and such. Definitely tasted different.

3. Corn chips are my crutch. Pretzels, noodles, bread, crackers, etc. are out. What a bummer.

4. This stuff is in everything!!! Some lunch meat! Beer! Soups! Goodness!

It's been fun and interesting so far, and I still have a ways to go, but I definitely appreciate my lack of dietary restrictions. Caleb... I feel for you bro.

On Time Theory and Eternal Moments

The older you get the faster time moves. It all has to do with frame of reference. The best example I can give is this: When you are four years old, to be eight years old is to double your life. Your frame of reference for the next four years is immense. Whereas to a 28 year old, 32 is not that far around the corner. Your perception of time changes, and as it changes it begins to move faster. Have you noticed days go by quicker? Years fly by?

I asked my dad once, "Hey dad, you know how the older you get the faster time moves?"

"Yeah?"

"Well I need to figure out a way to stop that."

"Well you have to change your perception. Stop thinking about the future and the past, and the way you perceive time will change."

So I have been on this journey to discover what it means to live in a single moment, if you have read past posts. To stop looking so far ahead that I miss half of my life. What I have discovered is that when I successfully pull this off, time moves slower. When I succeed I realize that my ability to gauge how much time has gone by, is completely wrong. My life moves slower. I like that. I like it a lot.

There are so many beautiful things to living in a moment. When you are driving towards looming black clouds that are dropping water from the sky... When those same clouds are generating electricity that heats the air up to five times the heat of the sun, which creates a sonic boom of thunder... When you are on a sphere traveling 66,000 miles an hour, around a burning ball of fire... Getting stopped at a red light, really doesn't seem like that big a deal. That person who cuts you off isn't really worth the attention. Each day becomes far from ordinary, and moments... moments become eternal.

Live in the moment. The future will take care of itself.

Banana Gone Bad

Banana Gone Bad Link

And It's Alright

"When Jobs life is about to be taken away from him, he can say one of two things. He can curse God, as he does for a moment, and say, God, why not fifty-one years? Or he can surrender to love and grace and say, God, why fifty years? Why did I deserve anything? When we take on that attitude, weve made a decision for grace. Naked I came into the world, and naked I will leave (Job 1:21). What do I have, brothers and sisters, that has not been given to me? All is grace. All is given. Who gave me this hand? Who wiggles these fingers? Who created this eye that I cannot explain or understand? I cannot even make this hair grow. It is all gift. From beginning to end, everything is grace, everything is given. There is nothing that we deserve. We have no real rights. There is nothing we have to have. When you lose your friend, your lover, your life-giver, you and curse God and say, Why was he taken? Why was she taken? Or you can say, Why was she given at all? You can say, Why is that love gone? Or you can say, Why did I even deserve a moment of love? Why did I even deserve a second of this life? God is creator and I am creature. God created me out of nothing and some years back I did not exist at all. Yahweh gives and Yahweh takes away. Blessed be the name of Yahweh (Job 1:21)." - Richard Rohr

For The Sake of Blood Pressure, Everywhere

What the heck IS stress anyway? I'm constantly amazed at my ability to get worked up. A whole day can be consumed about something I have to get planned, or ready for the night. Instead of living in the moment, finding something to enjoy about what I'm currently doing, I just sit there and stress out.

Now don't confuse stress with worry. I believe they are two completely different things, although they are probably tied together. I don't sit there and worry about what is coming next, I just let the tension of what it asks of me get in my head.

See here is the tricky thing. My stress doesn't make anything better. It never wins a situation for me. So why then? Is it a habbit? Is it genetic? It's ridiculous. I've often heard the saying 'you are what you practice.' Well if that is true I am going to practice not being stressed out. I'm going to be present in the moment, I'm going to do what situations ask of me, and I'm going to effing enjoy it. That's my goal. Watch me go.

Treacherous Endeavors

So last night when I was driving home at about 11:00 PM I decided that I desperately needed something. So I pulled off at King Soopers and purchased a half gallon of milk and oreos. I walked back to my car, and was baffled at the fact that my key wouldn't work.

Off in the distance I heard, "HEY! What are you doing to my car?" I looked at the car, I looked at him. I realized it wasn't my car. I looked at my car. I reacted.

"We have the same car! I swear to God we have the same car!" He didn't say anything but I was pretty sure he was going to kill me. "Look! Look! My car is the exact same car as yours."

He looked, looked unimpressed, and then finally caved (probably in response to my irresistible charm), "Okay.."

"I swear look!" For some reason I still felt the desire to convince him. "I'm sorry bro I thought it was my car." At this point you're probably thinking to yourself, Sean is overreacting. Not in the least bit. His initial question was really a death threat in disguise. His next statement proves my point.

"You know it only takes (some obscure number) hours to get your CWL in Colorado."

"I don't even know what that means."

"Your concealed weapon license..."

"Do you have yours?" I asked him... when really I wanted to say, 'Now why in the world did you need to say that?'

"Yes."

At this point I was unimpressed, but I played his game. "Well I'm glad you didn't start shooting at me. You scared the crap out of me." This is when the third party member revealed himself. A man with long sideburns, tattoos, and an otherwise rugged appearance, peeked his head up over his car and stated, "Yeah you scared me too." He then timidly walked into the grocery store.

Let this be a lesson to all of you... The kid with the milk and cookies... yeah he plays dangerous games. And he is still at large.

Get It Goin'

'Leavin - Jesse McCartney' Who ever knew the starting the car noise could be so sexy?

'Lazy Bones - Robin Thicke' I shoot airballs from the freethrow line all the time!!!!

Listen.

Stop Running Away

It is horribly disgusting when I sit back and realize how present I am in each and every situation. Not at all. I'm surprised I even know what happens to me throughout the day, because I always have my mind fixed on getting somewhere else, what happens next, or something completely random. My Summer Resolution is to live presently in each and every moment. I want to learn how to find things to hold on to in the moment I am in.
I think the future is so appealing because we are still in control of the future. Whereas in this very moment, you have to go along with where life is taking you. I want to let go and enjoy that ride. So if you want one thing to hold me accountable to, pray for me for, or just do along side of me, being present is a top priority.

Music Update

Listen to these:

Furr - Blitzen Trapper
Elephants - Rachael Yamagata
Once Upon A Rhyme - Max Turner
Candle - The White Tie Affair

Let me know what you think.

To Eat Or Not To Eat

So I'm officially going gluten free for a week. For those of you who know Caleb: he can't eat gluten. For those of you who know me: the only person who is more upset about it than me, is Caleb. So I am embarking on a journey to not eat gluten for one whole week. Which week? Well a week in the near future. Perhaps my headaches will disappear, perhaps I'll learn to appreciate food more, perhaps I'll just be miserable for a week.

I will post the outcome here...

Update: Really?!? No bread?!?! What a joke! Gosh gluten is soooo cool. Why do bodies have to suck and stuff so we can't eat it? Poor celiacs (People who can't eat gluten).

Slap Your Troubles Away

Love Is The Foundation

"The saints are so aware that love is not something to be worked for to be worked up to or learned in workshops. It breaks through now and then, in ways suddenly obvious. Maybe its looking at a sunset or a beloved one; maybe its a moment of insight or a gut intuition of the foundational justice and truth of all things. But when you discover love, you want to thank somebody for it. Because you know you didnt create it. You know you didnt practice it, you are just participating in it. Love is that which underlies and grounds all things. As Dante said, love is the energy that moves the sun, the moon and the other stars. St. Vincent de Paul would thank the poor for letting him help them. Its as if he said, Thank you for letting me see this. You are the window that lets me see the real. I didnt love, you didnt love. Love just is, and suddenly we see it standing between us."

-Richard Rohr

Splayd

What the HECK is a Splayd???

Come Thou No More For Ransom, They Shall Have None I Swear

The longer I live the shorter my life seems. Twenty one years is no longer the mountain it was from the eyes of a seven year old, and forty one will come soon enough. Time never stops. The older you get the faster it moves. And while life never stops moving, sometimes the days begin to drag and drag and drag on.

Whether it be constant headaches, pain pills, seizures, or anything else, sometimes I feel like I'm beginning to slip. I've come to a point in my life where I feel like I am out of control. If I'm perfectly honest, I'm afraid. I'm afraid that the Sean Garton I knew is becoming a ghost, transparent in a bold world. I'm beginning to no longer be able to remember the days of strength. I'm scared and sometimes I feel like I'm letting a lot of people down, including myself in the place that I'm headed. When you can't think, and you can speak, and you lose track of the things you used to define you... that's when you ask yourself if people will one day say to each other, "Whatever happened to that Sean Garton we knew?"

The thing is, this isn't about me. While we may all have days of strength, we certainly all have days where we are out of control, losing track of the core of who we are. But when a group of individuals comes together, when a group of people who have love written on their hearts come together, all of the colors collide. Weak or strong it doesn't matter, because we are the type of people who hold each other up. We are a group of people who when I look around, I see burning eyes, and igniting hearts.

I get scared and out of control. And sometimes I feel like I'm transparent in a bold world, falling away from who I used to be. But because of you all, I never have to do this by myself. And because of that I might get scared, but I will never run away from who I am. Because of that I might let people down, but I will never stop chasing after the hearts of the people I love. Because of that I will fight, fight, fight for the beautiful thing we have together and I will never forget to love, love.

We stick together; that is what makes us different. No matter how many days I feel like the walking dead, I never feel more alive than when I am reminded that never before and maybe never again will I know a love as special as when we stand together. So be bold, fight for people's hearts, never forget who you are, and may we always be the brilliant lightning in the dark night.

"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us." -William Shakespeare

Currently Reading

Okay, this book is by far one of the best books I have ever read in my life. It officially makes top three books status. Read it, soak it in, and tell me what you think.

Love, Love, Love

Fun, Fun, Fun

Link

Vulnerability

"The best thing I have ever learned as a Christian is to just be honest—as raw as you have to be. Then, somehow, God is strong in your weaknesses, and you walk away from it shaking your head because you forgot how amazing He really is. It happens every time." - Reese Roper

Music Update

Listen To These:

Teardrop - Massive Attack
Ginza - Vince Guaraldi
A Phoenix and Doves - Diane Cluck
Protection - Massive Attack

Let me know what you think.

Be Someone Who Burns To Shine

So I have this idea. And it was inspired by something I saw, but it was a really, really beautiful thought. So, I wanted to share it with you:

Music is one of the most beautiful things in the world, if you let it be. Sometimes I like to imagine life as a song, and sometimes I can see myself playing my song in the middle of a street. And that's life, and life is good. To just stand there and play, play, play... What a beautiful thing.

But what if we were to walk into a dome and play our song? What if we were to go into a place, where the acoustics were amazing? Not only that but when you play the lights catch the notes and change with the melodies. Illuminated you play your song, and the music reverberates through you. The sound bounces and echoes and comes to life. While you play the colors change, and everything lights up. Colors collide, and in a swirl of sound, you get so lost. Everything comes together and disappears at the same time, and in that moment you know that everything is going to be okay.

Half of the dome is cut off, and in the auditorium sits all of the people in your life. And they look at you with eyes the color of love, and they sing along. You never have to play alone again, and together you get lost in the place where colors collide, illuminated, playing, playing, playing.

See, we can stand and play in the street, and it can be good. But in the realm of real true life, in the realm of what it really means to live, everything changes. We can stay in the street or accept the invitation for something so much bigger. And I hope, I hope that we answer the call to play our music somewhere loud.

Live, sing loud, and with the music inside of your heart, play, play, play.

- I've reminded before but I'll do it again, "Seize life! Eat bread with gusto, drink wine with a robust heart. Oh yes -- God takes pleasure in your pleasure! Dress festively every morning. Don't skimp on colors and scarves. Relish life with the spouse you love. Each and every day of your precarious life. Each day is God's gift. It's all you get in exchange for the hard work of staying alive. Make the most of each one! Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily! This is your last and only chance at it." -Ecclesiates 9:7-10 (Message)

- "The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars." --Jack Kerouac

- "Someday after mastering the wind, the waves, the tides, and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And then, for the second time in the history of the world, we will have discovered fire." -Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

I love you.

Be Someone Who Burns To Shine

So I have this idea. And it was inspired by something I saw, but it was a really, really beautiful thought. So, I wanted to share it with you:

Music is one of the most beautiful things in the world, if you let it be. Sometimes I like to imagine life as a song, and sometimes I can see myself playing my song in the middle of a street. And that's life, and life is good. To just stand there and play, play, play... What a beautiful thing.

But what if we were to walk into a dome and play our song? What if we were to go into a place, where the acoustics were amazing? Not only that but when you play the lights catch the notes and change with the melodies. Illuminated you play your song, and the music reverberates through you. The sound bounces and echoes and comes to life. While you play the colors change, and everything lights up. Colors collide, and in a swirl of sound, you get so lost. Everything comes together and disappears at the same time, and in that moment you know that everything is going to be okay.

Half of the dome is cut off, and in the auditorium sits all of the people in your life. And they look at you with eyes the color of love, and they sing along. You never have to play alone again, and together you get lost in the place where colors collide, illuminated, playing, playing, playing.

See, we can stand and play in the street, and it can be good. But in the realm of real true life, in the realm of what it really means to live, everything changes. We can stay in the street or accept the invitation for something so much bigger. And I hope, I hope that we answer the call to play our music somewhere loud.

Live, sing loud, and with the music inside of your heart, play, play, play.

- I've reminded before but I'll do it again, "Seize life! Eat bread with gusto, drink wine with a robust heart. Oh yes -- God takes pleasure in your pleasure! Dress festively every morning. Don't skimp on colors and scarves. Relish life with the spouse you love. Each and every day of your precarious life. Each day is God's gift. It's all you get in exchange for the hard work of staying alive. Make the most of each one! Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily! This is your last and only chance at it." -Ecclesiates 9:7-10 (Message)

- "The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars." --Jack Kerouac

- "Someday after mastering the wind, the waves, the tides, and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And then, for the second time in the history of the world, we will have discovered fire." -Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

I love you.

To Covet

This is so sickly ridiculous!

This dude has to be dizzy like, all the time. He's the guy who stumbles into a restaurant and everyone thinks he drunk. But no he's not drunk. He just spent 2 minutes and thirty seconds flipping around in the air like gravity doesn't exist. Really?!?! Goodness. When I watch this I find my legs moving along with his legs, as if, maybe just maybe it's really me doing the flips.

Lets Live Life Like This