It's a Fine Day

Thursday, August 11th was my 26th birthday. Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes, it was really a great day spent with great friends. Every year my stepmom Jaz asks me what I had learned that year and I've been putting some real thought into what exactly I have been learning lately. Now lets face it, I'm just a spring chicken barely hatched and wandering around a bit lost, but I guess wandering is just my way. As long as I keep my eyes open, there's no telling what'll happen. So here it is:
Presenting:
"What Rachel Holan Has Learned From The World,"
or
"What Would Willie Do?"
or
"It's A Fine Day To Make A Mess Of Things."

1. Smile at whatever life throws you. Smile when you wake up, when the sun is out, when you feel a bit down, and when you meet old ladies. Smile at rude people, it will really piss them off. Anything is obtainable in this world with a smile. Smiling is contagious, spreads joy, has no race, color or religion and costs nothing.

2. Put down the clicker and read a book. Or listen to some good music that really touches your heart. I am convinced that it would greatly benefit humanity if everyone threw their television out the window and went outside to enjoy the day. If you would like a book suggestion, I just finished a great one. My brother gave me "The Tao of Willie," a little book by Willie Nelson talking about life and relating to the Tao Te Ching. We all have a lot to learn from the original Cowboy-Hippie who can jumpstart your heart with his smile and his song. If you don't know who Willie Nelson is, please, for the love of everything sacred, do yourself a favor and go look up "Nightlife" or "Still is Still Moving" or "Whatever Happened to Peace on Earth." And if anyone needs any other book suggestions, I can send you a list of a hundred or so to choose from that'll change your life in a very positive way.

3. I severely dislike earthquakes. It definitely feels like I've filled my quota on natural disasters this year, but seeing as how we're mistreating our planet, I can see how Mother Nature is a bit pissed off. At the same time, the Earth has been around for millions of years, whereas our small industrial revolution has only been going about 200 years. To quote the late, great George Carlin, "It's not the planet that's in trouble. It's the people who are fucked!" There has got to be a balance where humanity can responsibly co-exist with the rest of the planet before we get wiped out for our insolence. I intend to spend my remaining years figuring out that balance and living with what this planet has graciously given.

4. Speaking of humanity, we really need to pull ourselves together people. It's just all getting a bit ridiculous and sad. A few days ago I saw two kittens sitting in the sun next to the biggest iguana I have ever seen. I cannot think of two species more different, but if kittens and iguanas can get along then dammit!-we should be able to as well. It's high time to set aside petty differences like religion, color and sexuality or we are just not going to make it. To quote Willie Nelson, "I learned: If you forgive your enemies, it messes up their heads."

5. Love is definitely worth fighting for. This year on New Years Day I took a flight back to New Zealand to be with a man I truly love. I went back with almost nothing and risked a lot but it was worth every minute to be with him again and now we're planing our adventures all over the world. It took me 25 years to realize that dating a nice man who cares about me was a good idea. They should be teaching this in schools instead of abstinence.

6. Give back to your community, even if you're only there a short while. The day before my birthday a group of friends got together to clean up the beach in Luquillo. It amazed me what people we dumping on this stunning beach, and how much disrespect they had for their own neighborhood. We picked up everything you could imagine in a trashcan from beer bottles, plastic forks, styrafoam cups, and glass shards to a couch, a toilet seat and a heroin needle. The worst was the cigarette butts. Five cigarette butts to every other piece of trash on the beach. I truly believe that there is a special circle in Hell designated for flickers-of-cigarette-butts. Listen up butt-flickers! If you are truly ignorant of the harm you are causing, or if you simply do not care, maybe it is time to wake up. Please stop flicking your cigarette butts on the ground, we all share this world together.

7. Follow your bliss. Traveling is the only thing in life that ever made sense to me. It keeps me calm and grounded, wild and saucy, and makes me happy every day. I could not ask for a greater gift than the knowledge of how I'm supposed to live my life. There are people in my life who do not understand, who feel I should come off my cloud and back down to the "reality" they live in. To them I say thanks for your concern, but no thanks. I'm just fine where I am.

8. No worries, mon. "If a situation occurs in your life that worries or concerns you, stop and think! Is there anything I can do about it? If yes, then there's no need to worry. If no, then there's still no need to worry." -Dalai Lama. Enough said.

9. There is always a balance, a middle-ground. Exercise vs. Laziness. Vegetables vs. Ice Cream. Work vs. Play. Beer vs. Liquor, etc. Trying to find the balance in all aspects of life isn't easy but I'm doing what I can. I still haven't figured out that last one though.

10. Shake it up! Make a mess of things. Call your boss or an immigration official "Bro." Throw away all your shoes. Dance and sing in the street. Hug strangers. Smile at homeless people and ask them how their day is. Get your phD in Anthropology if you are so inclined. Whatever makes you happy. Happiness is, to me, the most important thing there is. Once you have it, share it with the world.

In my own way, that's what I'm trying to do here. With you.