by Clay Schmitz | Jan 7, 2017 | adventures, how to videos, surf videos, videos
I spent decades trying to create a safe place. Safety in numbers, safer neighborhood, alarm systems, weapons, and self defense classes. After trying all these methods I still felt unsafe.
Listening to a guided meditation the speaker asked me to imagine a safe place. I thought of all the places I have been to and it dawned on me that I didn’t feel safe anywhere. Now that I was aware of the problem I was actively seeking a new solution. It snuck up on me through a mandatory meditation walk, required training for a martial arts class.
On that meditation walk I felt scared I would get poison oak, and I realized how unnatural it is for a human being to be afraid of nature. As part of a group I saw and heard a broad range of comfort with being in a forest. This showed me where I was at and what feeling really comfortable and safe looked like.
I heard being in nature spoken of as a satisfying sexual experience.
What?!? Really??? At the time I didn’t feel this way, I was however very inspired to continue the practice and see where it led me…
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by Clay Schmitz | Dec 27, 2016 | adventures, articles, how to articles
Did you make a New Year’s Resolution last year? How is your resolve, did you stick with it the entire year? How about prior years? Any resolutions that you made years ago that you are still practicing? Congratulations if you answered yes.
Regardless of our past today is a new day. Here are some simple tips to make resolutions we can stick with.
1. Clearly define what your resolution is and the details of what exactly you will be doing. What does success look like?
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by Clay Schmitz | Dec 22, 2016 | adventures, surf videos, videos
Beautiful day of big, and to my eyes, perfect surf at Ocean Beach, San Francisco. One of the most amazing days I have seen, seemed like the planets aligned to provide big clean consistent barrels. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing these surfers ride these incredible waves.
Here is a the video with music and voice over…
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by Clay Schmitz | Dec 16, 2016 | adventures, articles, how to articles
Meditation for me is like unlocking some secret world where I feel great and I see the truth that everything and everyone is beautiful and amazing. It took me a couple years to find the key or learn the combination, or more like a couple months once I committed to practicing daily.
Making that commitment was hard, why? Well how do I commit to something I don’t understand or really even know what it is? For me it seemed like agreeing to eat a food everyday that I had yet to taste, what if I don’t like it? What the heck is meditation anyway and how do I know if I’m doing it right? I had no clue nor did I know who to ask, nobody I knew meditated.
The first half dozen or so times I tried meditating I sat there feeling foolish and nothing happened…
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by Clay Schmitz | Dec 12, 2016 | adventures, articles
Are we earthlings hard wired to discard and dump our waste wherever we please? Are we born litterers? If we take an honest look at our cities and in nature can we find any evidence to the contrary? What if being litterers is in fact a good and necessary practice? Does the survival of our planet depends on us dumping wherever we want?
As far back as I can remember I saw road signs that said $1000 fine for littering, and along that same road there was plenty of litter. Birds seem to leave their food scraps and poop wherever they want, same with fish and wild animals. Babies, kittens, and puppies make a mess with their food and pee and poop anywhere and everywhere. Judging by all the trash I see on the beach adults are also well practiced litterers…
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by Clay Schmitz | Nov 23, 2016 | adventures, articles
The video below reminded me of why I am committed to surf gear that is renewable (can be regenerated within a generation), biodegradable (the earth can naturally recycle it and it has a healthy place in the food chain), and non-toxic (the collection and production of the materials do not pollute our air, land, water, animals, or people)…
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by Clay Schmitz | Nov 21, 2016 | adventures, articles
We learn to talk by imitating those around us, this is why we speak the same language as our parents or caregivers. It seems to me that relationship is the same way, we learn to relate by copying those around us.
Learning to speak a foreign language is much easier when it is immersion, it’s easier to learn Spanish when living in Mexico. The opposite is also true in that it is much harder to learn healthy relationship skills when surrounded by people who relate poorly.
Speaking our native tongue is easy, even if it’s Pig Latin, gibberish, or Klingon, speaking it would be effortless on our part if we grew up immersed in this language. This is why dysfunctional relating comes so easily and is normal to us, since birth many of us have been surrounded by examples of what not to do. Relationships where no one is getting their needs met nor are they unconditionally loved…
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by Clay Schmitz | Nov 18, 2016 | adventures, articles
After a gorgeous fun day at the lake we tried a new local restaurant with two other families. While eating one father said he couldn’t trade food because they are vegetarian. My wife commented how I don’t understand vegetarianism and asked him why they don’t eat meat.
Internally, as I was listening to him, my ego was in full on battle mode and finding inconsistencies, hypocrisy, and all kinds of reasons why his choice is wrong. If I had voiced my inner lawyer, what are the chances that he would say “oh wow I never thought of that, I’ve been such a fool and I’m going to start eating meat right now, thanks so much for educating me”? Probably about as likely as him convincing me to stop eating meat and changing my diet.
Later that evening I remembered the principle of common ground…
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by Clay Schmitz | Nov 15, 2016 | Uncategorized
Last year’s Ocean Lovers wall calendar was a great success and a lot of fun. Having the calendars in my hands and seeing it on the wall every day has been amazing. Folks have asked me to do another for 2017, here is the link to back the Kickstarter campaign: Reconnecting with Nature 2017 Wall Calendar.
Visiting people who have it on their wall and hearing the feedback and appreciation has been awesome. Also discovering the Little Free Library organization and giving and delivering calendars to the book “houses” around the San Francisco Bay Area was a great joy.
For 2017 I am expanding the concept beyond the sea to include all of nature. A beautiful nature photo for every month of the year. The words of inspiration and encouragement that appear on various days throughout the month will continue the tradition of guiding us to reconnect with nature…
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by Clay Schmitz | Nov 10, 2016 | adventures, articles
I checked Facebook the morning after the election and it was post after post of voting woes. Then I looked away from my phone and saw my 19 month old son playing happy as can be without a care in the world. He doesn’t care who won the election, he probably doesn’t know there was an election, nor what an election is…
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