Like Great Sex: A Camping Story

It doesn’t matter if it’s been 10 days or 10 minutes, I think most people probably have some version of the thought, “Why did I wait so long to do this?” after great sex. Sex is calming, inspiring, and healthy and we should all probably have it more often.  And only because what happens in camp stays in camp,  this will be more about not waiting for good things than it will be about sex.

I’m a poster boy for the Seth Godin quote, “Instead Of Wondering When Your Next Vacation Is, Maybe You Ought To Set Up A Life You Don’t Need To Escape From.”  I love what I do and nearly every day I experience a type of bliss where time disappears and I’m in the “zone”.  I work for hours at a time without really being aware of myself, just the process within which I reside at that moment.  I feel like the luckiest guy in the world that way.  But the downside (there’s a downside to everything) is that I forget to do other things.  Take a few days off, see other parts of the world, think different thoughts.  Get inspired in new ways.

Not that I/we haven’t taken some time…  In the last few years we’ve been on several trips to South America, visiting 3 different countries, some of them twice.  And yet it’s been many months since we’ve been to the Oregon Coast, only an hour away from where we live in the Willamette Valley.  Going to the Ham Radio convention in Seaside OR doesn’t count.  And it has probably been 20 years or so since I last visited Steens Mountain. Alysia, never.  I was lucky enough to hunt there before it became nearly impossible to get a tag for the area, so for a time, I got to return every year.  But we forget.  We don’t forget how magnificent a place is, we forget to go back.
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Great Sex…Just do it!
But after talking about it for years, we took the time this last week to pack up and go.  Just do it.
What does this have to do with fine, custom-made jewelry, you ask? This is a custom jewelry site, after all.  Well, nothing and everything.  It has nothing to do with it because in this post, I’m not trying to sell you anything directly, nor am I talking about jewelry or the process of making it.  But this also has everything to do with it in that when we go out and experience more, we become a better version of ourselves.  Both as makers, and consumers.  We get a better perspective on what’s important in life; relationships, the quiet-clatter of quaking aspen leaves in a cooling high-altitude breeze, air so clean that you can feel your body smiling, the pure joy of watching your dog-buddy exploring every new scent, cooking being still fun without a fancy kitchen, and on and on.  I’m better…more focused and mindful for having taken this trip.  So I am trying to sell you the idea that one mustn’t postpone things like this.  Having just re-experienced one of my “happy places”, I’m keenly aware now that we all need to do this for ourselves frequently.  Put on your own oxygen mask before helping somebody else, right?
I am hoping you’ve enjoyed this short diversion from our focus on custom jewelry, and will forgive the cheap lure of “great sex”.  I’ll be back on the jewelry topic soon and have interesting news! So stay tuned…