There are several small hotels in Livadia. And many have rooms facing the sea.
And, looking frontally at these hotels, I’m reminded of a photographer of many years back who did a series of building facades called Pleasure Places. Too bad I can’t remember his name.
At this point, there is no place to walk but the road as part of the beach has been swallowed by the sea. It is the part of the walk I dislike the most.
Some drivers act as if they’re preparing for the Grand Prix. And men driving scooters breeze around so fast because they want the women behind them to hold on tight.
I just hope they watch where they’re going.
But, finally, I can start walking on the beach.
The beach and its bodies.
BubblePark, Livadia
Today’s mantra comes from the Doors’ “Roadhouse Blues” and it’s “Keep your eyes on the road” which is another way of saying “stay focused”.
I have a tendency to want to do a million things simultaneously. Last year, here on Paros, I wrote about Pruning a Lifestyle and my need to de-clutter my To Do List. Which meant establishing my priorities.
For my summer on Paros this year, I made a list of things I wanted to accomplish. Initially, the list was very long but I got it down to The Top Five which really meant getting it down to The Top Three (which included this walking project). Making such a list is a kind of Know Thyself process because you must decide what you consider important since you can’t focus on everything simultaneously.
Keep your eyes on the road OM Keep your eyes on the road.
Let me start off by thanking Jo for telling me about Michael Moore’s walks. Moore decided to walk 30 minutes every day. He explained the desire to do so by saying: The path to happiness – and deep down, we all know this — is created by love, and being kind to oneself, sharing a sense of community with others, becoming a participant instead of a spectator, and being in motion. Moving. Physically moving around all day. Lifting things, even if it’s yourself. Going for a walk every day will change your thinking and have a ripple effect.
And I agree–walking does change your thinking. Walking gives your body a rhythm and lets you synchronize yourself with yourself. Body and brain move together marrying the motion within physical space to the motion within the self. Maybe that’s why Thoreau considered walking a transcendental experience.
The promontory in the background is the highlight of my walk.
Walkingwise, the easiest part–a shaded boardwalk at Livadia.
And the boardwalk ends here.
Searching for sea glass on the beach…
sea glass inside a plastic bottle as a door stop
in the corner, more of my sea glass stash
Sea glass is just broken glass weathered and worn by the sea. The constant motion of the waves smooths out the rough edges. It’s what happens to me when I walk–my sharpness loses its edge.
Today’s mantra comes from one of my favorite Greek singers, Eleftheria Arvanitaki. The song is “Δυνατά” (dinata) which can be translated roughly as “strength” although I’ve seen it translated as “might”, too. But the idea is the same. Anyway, Eleftheria sings that, like a woman, night gives birth to day and the impossible becomes possible.
But, luckily, not everyone has the same destination.
In the distance, you can see a row of tamarisk trees creating shade for the sidewalk.
Not everyone shares the same kind of shade.
Two years ago, the red beetle plagued the palms of Paros and many had to be destroyed. This one was born again in the form of tables.
Tamarisks at Livadia.
If I were to write an ode to a tree, it would be to the tamarisk. (As you can see, I’ve already written about them HERE). The tamarisks have long slender branches and even longer tap roots than can suck up water that’s deep in the ground. They even like the salty water found near the sea and for this reason populate so many beaches. I am grateful for their presence as their shade shelters me from the harshness of the sun.
The mantra for today comes from The Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter”. In this song, we’re warned that war is just a shot away and life is threatened. Today, in life outside of the song, there are so many wars going on and indications of an even bigger one to come. Shelter is needed by a multitude of people and in a heavy duty way. I am lucky and have that shelter. So my mantra today is a prayer of gratitude: “I have shelter, I have shelter” chanted with a smile on my face.
In this version, Lisa Fischer lays on the vibrations!
related links: Gimme Shelter Lyrics +Did the manna mentioned in the Bible come from the tamarisk?
And many thanks to Pier for taking Volver to the vet while I took my walk!
I started this series of posts by stating that walking can be a spiritual practice. My walks are not about arriving at Krios as much as they are about walking and what happens to me from within when I walk…The Journey Is The Destination.
It takes me about 30 minutes to get from here to there.
Map of Paros at the Marina
Marina at Livadia, Paros
Boats at the Marina have names like Eleni, Jannis, Anastasia, Apostolis, ΑΓΙΟΣ ΦΩΚΑΣ (St. Phokas), το όνειρό μας (our dream), το κύμα (the wave) and άνεμος (wind).
Blue Star ferry, another departure from Paros
Taverna with a view of docked boats
The fotos for these posts have been taken with a very standard Noikia mobile phone (no smart phone or tablet for me) and, obviously, are of very poor quality. So I try to jazz them up with my limited Photoshop skills which basically means turning up the tonality and using the oil painting filter. While I’m doing all this abracadabra, I often listen to YouTube documentaries. This morning’s documentary was about DMT experimentation. DMT is a psychedelic compound that can be produced in labs but it’s produced in the human brain for reasons unknown. It’s also found in plants used by Amazon natives (see ayahuasca).
In this particular video, people who had participated in the DMT experimentation, explained the sensations they had had. Many of these sensations, for me, were rather spooky but most said at a certain point they felt time no longer existed and that they were one with the universe. This made me think of some similarities found with the teachings of Buddha and of Jesus…the Divine is to be found within us for we are created in the image of God. And this leads to our search for The Way.
There is a universe inside us all to discover and, while walking, I try to find the road to that universe.
My mantra for today comes from Willie Nelson’s “On The Road Again” and is “[I’m] Seein’ things that I may never see again.” The road stays the same but it’s not always travelled in the same way. Panta Rei.
related links: On The Road Again Lyrics + Everything Flows + Terrence McKenna wrote much about the use of drugs in FOOD OF THE GODS, the search for the Tree of Knowledge + Was Jesus a Buddhist Monk | BBC video + DMT The Spirit Molecule FULL DOCUMENTARY + DMT: The Spirit Molecule book
My walk changes drastically after the port going towards Livadia. Finally, a boardwalk and the chance to stop zig-zagging and walk a straight line.
This sidewalk often is populated by fishermen sitting on the ground mending their nets. Mending is something I’ve often blogged about both for environmental and aesthetic reasons (see HERE). But these men aren’t being trendy when they mend. They do it simply because you aren’t going to catch any fish if you have a hole in your net.
Maybe the fishermen feed these ducks some of their catch as the ducks are always there. So many tourists have photographed them that their images exists all over the world!
I’ve been told that many of the fishermen are Egyptian. If they aren’t mending their nets, they can be seen hanging laundry or eating a meal on their boats. So often I’ve felt like taking their foto but don’t because it seems kind of rude.
I love the Parian hills cluttered with sugar cube houses.
The Narrative Within 