Soft light on the Coast of Maine……and a bit of rambling about stuff

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover” – Mark Twain

For me, there is nothing better than living these words.

First off, I am pretty lucky to have taken this to heart for myself. For the better part of 5 years, my summers off of the South Florida season were my opportunities to pack up the backpack and head to Europe. There were many in my life who I am sure couldn’t figure out why I seemed to flee the country, but until you experience it first hand, its hard to explain.

Its actually a shame that more people, especially Americans, don’t ever take the chance to feel this freedom.

I was having a conversation just this evening and was touching a bit on just this very concept. For some reason, there is this insane rush to get to college only to finish that after a few years and join the rat race. The 3 bedroom house, the 2 car garage, the 2.4 kids (whats with that?), the 50 hours plus a week, the scrawny 2 week vacation (if your lucky) all while sweating out the race to accumulate all this stuff you really don’t need. Kinda silly actually….I mean, who thought of this plan? Of course, after a few years, 50% of us have to go thru the pain of splitting all the stuff up, getting to know yourself again,and reinventing your life all while figuring out why you were running this absurd race in the first place!

Of course, not all the world feels this way…..

I’ve enjoyed numerous conversations with people I have met in my travels over the years (Brits, Australians, South Africans, just to name a few) that do not subscribe to this plan. For the most part, we are ridiculed for our lack of time exploring the beautiful world we live in. Two weeks a year? You silly silly Americans. Yeah, I heard that more than once!

Take for example, the gap year. For the most part, its a term seldom heard in America. A break between high school and university. Makes logical sense to me. Get out, explore the world, grow up, volunteer, get to know yourself……live!  Why do we skip this precious time to create life experiences that we can draw upon as we continue to build character throughout our college years. Will this eventually be the norm in the country someday? Is this perhaps a trend in the future? Will the institution of college even be around in a few years? Does any of this have anything at all to do with the images below?

Oh yeah…..not really…….forgot…..tangent, major tangent…..sorry for the ramble.

So about the image…..

I originally posted this shot on flickr last night and never got around to posting a blog. I noticed a comment about the excess red, and I must say, it bothered me a bit as well. I posted another image below that took care of that just so you could see the difference. I like them both, but I guess it all depends on your monitor.

 

As you must know by now, I tend to do a little bit of rambling here on the ole’ MDSimages blog. Its a bit of therapy I guess, perhaps. Kinda strange to work out a thought in such an open forum, but I ramble on…..

I’ve got a couple of ideas for a couple other blogs that I hope to get started on soon. This one will surely continue to be the cacophony of verbal diarrhea that it has always been, while the other ones will be a bit more focused on techniques and information. I’m still getting a few ideas together, but will let you know when those are live.

In the meantime, I’ll see ya back here soon….

Love to hear your thoughts on this whole gap year and perhaps mid life sabbatical thing. Google it for yourself. Makes alot of sense to me!