The Power of Asking Questions

My sister and her family left yesterday and what a fantastic visit it was. We had so much fun exploring Savannah, the beach, the swamps and going to Florida to Kennedy Space center, where we even got to see a live rocket launch. We played, we talked, we walked, we ate good food, and we played some more. It was wonderful!!

By the way, my sister Caroline took all these gorgeous photos on our recent visit to Okefenokee Swamp!

Last night, they left to return to Germany and I thought I'd need to rest for a while, but instead I was filled with ideas, especially for this blog. I feel on fire with inspiration! Let me explain.

Caroline and I were talking one day about how as we get older, the limiting thoughts we take for granted start defining our lives and determine what we think we can and can't do. We basically become our fears if we don't question them our lives can become small even though we sometimes wish it could be different.

I was watching her boys who in some ways are still their full potential. They are learning some limiting thoughts from their environment, especially school, as we all do and did, but for the most part, in their minds everything is still possible. I love that! And I hated the thought that for me that time could be over. I don't want to accept that.

I remembered a workshop I went to a few years ago that taught transformation based on quantum physics. Basically we learned to connect to "the field" and affect change where everything exists as possibility and pure potential and hasn't become "real" yet. One of the most powerful tools we learned about was the use of open-ended questions.

When you ask a question that can be answered with yes or no, it is usually based in what we think of as fact, but when you ask an open-ended question, anything seems to be possible as the answer.

My favorite open-ended, thought-provoking and change-evoking questions start with "What if." So, last night, feeling incredibly inspired, I started writing down "What if" questions and within probably 15 minutes I had come up with over 80 of them. Eighty! And that was without even trying hard.

Each one of these is connected to a limiting thought I have about myself, about my life, about life in general, about other people, about success, about aging, my health, etc.! What a box I am starting to put myself into and I don't like it. I truly do believe that each of us are unlimited potential and that it is never too late to become all that we want to be.

So, for the next foreseeable future I am going to explore on this blog these questions and their corresponding limiting beliefs I have created in my life. I am determined to reprogram my thinking so to speak and to allow for the future to be as bright and shiny and exciting as I believed it to be when I was my nephews' age. And I'll be eager to hear your take on some of these!

Here's the question I'll ponder in my next blog post: 

What if the best was still to come? 

What if?!

❧ Silke

Swamp and Gator Pictures

I am still not quite in my groove yet, but I thought I'd better show you some photos before it feels like yesterday's trip to me. Wow! So much is happening and I can barely keep up. But more of all that later...

For now a picture heavy post with many alligator photos from an adventure that was amazing!! Pictures were taken by all four of us and some of them Jim and Tia took on the second day when Daniel had to take me home because that bug I caught was really bugging me...

Not much explanation is needed, so just enjoy...

Alligators were everywhere! Our friends, Jim and Tia, counted over 120 of them the second day...

Tia spied this gorgeous barred owl on the second day. My aunt and uncle took a boat tour in the swamp the morning of our arrival (they were coming back from a road trip to Florida) and they actually saw the owl hunting.

After a long day paddling, our nice big campsite was a welcome sight!

Foil dinners... yum!!

And me feeling pitiful already. Good thing nothing keeps me down for long... all healthy again!!

Tomorrow, I'll have some more photos for you of Savannah and also Fort Sumpter we visited in Charleston yesterday. 

Checking in!

Well, dear friends, we are back safe and sound from our adventures in the Okefenokee Swamp, our friends have left for their home in New Mexico, and our minds are still spinning with all that we've seen and done in these few short days.

I will have amazing photos to share with you, as we saw more alligators on this trip than we've ever seen before and the weather was simply amazing! Truly an incredible adventure!!

However... I picked up a little bug along the way (better than picking up a gator, right?) that had me out of commission for a whole day and then some.

If you click on the photo, you can see an alligator in the picture.

So I'm going to take a few days to fully recuperate and get my old energy back. And when I do, I have much to share with you!

I hope you are all doing well!! I've sure missed connecting with you all...

Another Pastel Sketch

In between getting our house ready for our guests and tomorrow our house sitter and getting everything together for two days of camping tomorrow, my pastels were calling to me. Very persistently!

So, I gave up and did another quick little sketch. These fast drawings are fun for me. I don't have much time to think and they often turn out quite expressive.

Well, tomorrow we are going to the Okefenokee Swamp to canoe and hopefully see some alligators. I would also really like to see some snakes, which last time we didn't at all. We'll be camping there as well, but a little outside and in an alligator-free zone. I've been nervous about it for the past few days, but today I feel excitement and I think I'm just going to go with that. Last time we went, we had a wonderful time and I expect the same for this trip. Plus, we get to share it with good friends!!

I'll be sure to take lots of photos and share them with you when we get back.

In the meantime, I've really missed checking in with you and am looking forward to doing so again very soon!! Wishing you a great few days!!!

Canoeing in Okefenokee Swamp

I had a few comments yesterday about the Okefenokee (don't you just love that word?!) Swamp canoeing trip Daniel and I did in March of 2008. So, I thought I'd post a few more pictures and a couple of videos.

Now, those of you who've been reading my blog for a while know that I am pretty much a chicken (no offense to chickens everywhere). I grew up in a country where people are very cautious and in a family that was more than cautious. Which means that I am not only a worry wart, but also have the uncanny ability to always imagine the worst possible scenario, which can make me very fearful.
So, who knows what possessed me when Daniel suggested we canoe in the Okefenokee Swamp to see the alligators...
What struck me most was the calm and quiet of the dark waters. It made for incredible reflections, which I took pictures of at every turn.
We saw many alligators sunning themselves, all of them very docile and some of them coming quite close. This next one was so close that my hand was shaking a bit while taking his picture. He couldn't have cared less.
It was the perfect season to be canoeing there - still cool, but sunny, no mosquitoes yet, but hundreds and hundreds of butterflies. It was magical!
Now, at first I seemed to have trouble with the paddling. In my nervousness I mixed up how to paddle to turn right or left. So we landed in the bushes a few times, until Daniel figured out what I was doing. After that it was smooth sailing...
We did see lots of frogs, dragonflies and alligators, but only one tiny snake. I was imagining snakes hanging from the branches in bundles, so I was a little disappointed!

I loved the big and tall cypress trees!

Here a couple of videos for you. This first one is just the quiet of the little canal we were paddling on. It was so peaceful.

And in this next video you can actually see a gator swimming for a bit before it quietly disappears under the surface.

Even though I was nervous at first, I relaxed a ways into the trip and ended up really enjoying the six hours we spent on the water. It was one of the most memorable experiences of my life!

And - in a weak moment - I committed to going again! (As I was just looking online about camping in the swamp, I came across a great article in the New York Times about just that. Click here to read it.)

I've had a busy couple of days and not as much time to check on your blogs as I'd like! I will be back soon and can't wait to read what's new with you! In the meantime, thank you so much for all your wonderful comments! You make me smile every day!!