Ruminator

Photo by: Tim Bindner I am addicted to my thoughts. I need to realize I am not just my mind. I am conditioned to think my mind is who I am and that my past defines what I will be forever. Thoughts about myself are my EGO, and my EGO does whatever it needs to do to protect me. My mind is at risk if my thoughts are challenged or proven wrong.  When challenged or proven wrong, my identity is broken and I become angry or defensive. By understanding I am not my thoughts, I can detach myself from the limits of my EGO. My true self incorporates my mind, but my mind is not my sole existence. I am learning to separate myself from my thoughts after only listening to them.  I must observe my thoughts, don’t judge them (a thinking act), acknowledge them, and let them pass. “ The beginning of freedom is the realization that you are not “the thinker.” The moment you start watching the thinker, a higher level of consciousness becomes activated. You then begin to realize that there is a vast realm of ...

Photo by: Tim Bindner It is good to be in someone’s thoughts.  I recently received a message out of the blue from my good friend Michael.  A simple message.  A quote, actually.  But gracious none the less. John Muir once wrote, “ I don’t like either the word [hike] or the thing. People ought to saunter in the mountains – not ‘hike!’ Do you know the origin of that word saunter? It’s a beautiful word. Away back in the middle ages people used to go on pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and when people in the villages through which they passed asked where they were going they would reply, ‘A la sainte terre’, ‘To the Holy Land.’ And so they became known as sainte-terre-ers or saunterers. Now these mountains are our Holy Land, and we ought to saunter through them reverently, not ‘hike’ through them. ” What does this mean to me?  Well, it is really the way I approach hiking.  I know people who try to get certain miles in, or a cert...

Photo by: Tim Bindner With the notes from our tour guide in hand, we headed for the ocean for a few day’s trip. Well, it wasn’t exactly the ocean, but man, it sure looked like it. My wife and I left southern Indiana the day before our 21 st wedding anniversary and made the 4.5 hour trip to northern Indiana. Our destination was the Indiana Dunes. The trip took us up Interstate 65, past Indianapolis, Lafayette (where we grabbed lunch and gas) and eventually to Merrillville. This was our first agenda item provided by my unofficial tour guide, Mark. This little town is nothing special, but it has one gem Mark persuaded me to visit. The Albanese Candy Store. I was told many times “You have to stop” and was even told if I didn’t I would get “an F on Mark’s travel tour guide class”. With that kind of pressure, I had no choice. Might I say this place is outstanding with so many sugary delicious treats. After arriving at the hotel, unloading and checking in, we quickly departed for one of...

The state of the world today is insane.  People, whether they admit it or deny it, are drawn to anger and hate instead of compassion and love. Society empowers us to hate, voice or dislike of others’ thoughts and feelings.  Society entitles us to be offended and let others know about it.  This reminded me of something I heard from Paul Harvey when I was younger.  For you kids out there, look him up.  He wrote this essay in 1965, but it is so eerily true in today’s environment.  His essay is titled “If I Were the Devil.” “ If I were the devil … If I were the Prince of Darkness, I’d want to engulf the whole world in darkness. And I’d have a third of its real estate, and four-fifths of its population, but I wouldn’t be happy until I had seized the ripest apple on the tree — Thee. So I’d set about however necessary to take over the United States. I’d subvert the churches first — I’d begin with a campaign of whispers. With the wisdom of a serpent, I would whisper to you as I whispered to Ev...

Photo by: Tim Bindner Photography I have been watching many videos on YouTube from various hikers.  Whether they are hiking the Pacific Coast Trail, Appalachian Trail, or thousands of other trails, I have found one simple thing in common.  They give each person who hikes on these trails a trail name.  It is not one chosen by the hiker themselves but given to them.  As explained in this article they can give a trail name for almost any reason.  A hiker’s look, tendencies, something they did or said, how they walk, what they eat, almost anything.  This got me thinking, what would my trail name be?  As is customary I cannot give myself a name so I timidly reached out to my buddy Mark (a. k. a. Deermark), for a name. A trail name can be given to anyone who has hiked one of the major trails.  It does not involve completion of the trail, only that I hiked on it.  Since I have hiked a minute part of the Appalachian Trail a few times, I qualify for a trail name. As my anticipation mounted, an...