An Actual Blogging Moment...

Peaceful exploration...

I woke up this morning in a very contemplative mood... I have been out of the water for 3 weeks now, which is my usual way of purging life's weight. I think it is the high level of stress that makes the human mind drift and focus on better things. Maybe it is a sanity life saver so to speak.

I am not going to ramble on too bad, but this is a blog and kind of what it is used for. My Wife, Miya, has been battling cancer for the better part of 4 months. She has gone through the surgery, which effectively removed the cancer from her body, as well as the subsequent recovery to let her body heal from the extremely invasive procedure she endured for 8 hours. She recovered quickly and with a smile on her face throughout most of the process.

This surgery has been followed by 5 of the 8 chemotherapy treatments so far... I have watched my Wife battle depression, sickness and the emotional toll. This was not only caused by her knowledge of having cancer, but the changes to her body she is experiencing. Hair loss, mastectomy scars, weight loss... These all take a toll on the human mind. Throughout all of this she has remained positive and in good spirits, sure there have been down days, but overall she is pretty much a super hero. With the remaining chemotherapy treatments and second surgery, along with the radiation needed, Miya is half way to being in full recovery.

Watching someone you love battle such a terrible disease with such a positive outlook has made me change my life and how I live it. I am new at this supporter tag I have been given and really do not ever speak of what is going through my mind, as it seems as though my stresses are minor compared to those my Wife and other people in her position are going through.

When I was growing up in Hawaii, my outlook on others and how I lived was very hippie-like, and I mean that in a good way... After leaving Hawaii at 20 years old and moving to the mainland, I found people treated each other differently here. More anger and stress and selfish behavior. In time, these traits started to rub off on me. Add my career exposing me to the true evil people do to one another on a daily basis and it was a no brainer I had become a changed person. I guess as you get older with more life experiences, you tend to turn on a protective shield and change your views.

Growing up in Hawaii, people waved at Cops, left their doors unlocked and truly cared about each other. True story, I lived in a house on the North Shore where we did not have keys to the front door. No joke. No keys, and yes we were the legal residents! We never had any problems because neighbors were neighbors. Friends were friends. This view on life changed as I became older. Heck, even Hawaii has become a more dangerous place since I left. I go back to visit Family and Friends and do not even recognize some of the people and places I once cherished. The North Shore has become a playground for rich people and a shopping cart for thieves.

I want to get back to the hippie Jeremy I once was... Purge this 2011 state of mind. Full of distrust and stress. There are so many more important things in this life than what it has become; a stress filled world  full of financial stress and distrust for fellow humans. Now I understand there is certain cause for distrust in certain circumstances... That is called self preservation. I am not going to go to the local 'hood with all my camera equipment and ask to take portraits of the nice fellow smoking a cigarette in the dark alley with a bulge in his waistband because he looks cool. Pretty sure that would turn out badly.

It is hard to fight bad habits... It is what I intend to do. There is a much bigger calling than mailing off 10 checks a month to pay off bills for things you don't even know what they are for anymore. Only to realize the 80 hours you worked this week was to pay off the 80 hours before and so on and so on. I think it's time to travel and focus on helping others. This situation has made me realize humans are generally good creatures. We are all dealt a different deck. If we combine all of our cards, we can create a Royal Flush and thrive. Love one another people help out those less fortunate.

I thank you if you indeed did read this or even made it to the second paragraph... I promise there will be more photographs and images up later. I just wanted to share my feelings. Something I have not done in a long, long time. Thank you again for your time. If you want to comment, please do.. I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Aloha - JP