Reblogged from A lifetime's exploration:

Wandering the geyser area of Geysir in the Southwest of Iceland is like walking across another world. Steam wisps up from hot pools of perfect turquoise water, puddles bubble away heated by the Earth’s core and huge vents of H20 blast out of the ground every few minutes.

Waiting for the Strokkur geyser to blow feels like being a kid again; the anticipation of seeing something so unusual, the excitement of watching the huge bubble swell up from the ground and then shoot 20ft into the sky is exhilarating, and I let out a big cheer and laugh with all the other young-at-heart spectators as the water is sucked back into the seemingly bottomless hole.

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Reblogged from TribeVibe:

Reblogged from Broken Light: A Photography Collective:

Photo taken by a woman who has suffered from severe depression. She hopes that by telling her story that she will help fight stigma, and help people to understand things like self-harm that seem so hard to understand. She would also like to help other people suffering to feel less alone, and maybe even share the spark of hope.

About this photo:

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There’s no doubt that this has been a long winter for us in New England. The days were cold. The nights were even colder. The snow was, well, let’s not even talk about the snow. The fact of the matter here is, that sometime after forty inches, we grew anxious for spring to come, and quite frankly what was another couple of inches on the ground this past week in Connecticut to top things off.

Yes, winter. A season we all love to hate. As a skier, however, I usually live for winter! Not so this season as I was out due to a medical condition. Oh sure, it was great to look at, but now I know just how all you snow haters feel; exhausted!

Like many, I got out to enjoy the tease that mother nature threw at us. Saturday was nearly fifty degrees and Sunday was nearly sixty! All this after having a foot of wet snow dumped on us on Friday. I mean really, I don’t know what that nutcase we call a mother was thinking. Clearly she just needs to be medicated and thrown into rehab. Actually, a padded room sounds more justifiable.

I took a walk around the trails here at home in Torrington. Burr Pond offers a fantastic setting if you’re looking to unwind and unplug a bit. A nice trail that, unfortunately was still very snow covered, ropes around the entire length of the pond and offers some pretty fantastic views of the area from it’s upper slopes. I do this walk quite often, though due to my condition as of late, I’ve had to make sure I bring along a hiking partner in the event that I collapse…in the snow. Thanks, mother nature. Natural padding. I get it. You’re looking out for my best interests. You can stop though, really.

On the horizon, however, there’s talk of more snow for next week. I can hardly contain my enthusiasm. Am I the only one dreaming of summer nights on the beach with a tent and a bonfire? That day still seems so distant.

Reblogged from alexnyup:

Image courtesy of Weighty Winds via flickr.com

          On the seventh day, God created Facebook, and He saw that it was good. Circa 4.6 billion years later, social media experts attempted to isolate and split a single Facebook atom in order to clone its success. The result was an unanticipated and enormous success. Instead of creating a new Facebook, two opposite descendants arose; the witty Facebook status and wall post chromosomes formed a new site called Twitter, while the mobile upload and photo album DNA became that which we refer to as Instagram.

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Reblogged from The Runaway Mama:

The other day, Dylan said to me, “Six years ago I was dead.”  We were at the gas station.  I was pumping gas, and Dylan and Riley were hanging out the window.

I replied, “No, you weren’t dead.  You just weren’t born yet.”

Then he said, “I was dead when I was in your belly.”

I replied, “No, you weren’t.  You were growing inside of me.”

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Reblogged from The Buzz - Investment and Stock Market News:

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Paul R. La Monica. Other than Time Warner, the parent of CNNMoney, Abbott Laboratories and AbbVie, La Monica does not own positions in any individual stocks.

The Dow is at a record high and the S&P 500 is thisclose to joining its blue chip brother. But as investors become more and more giddy about stocks, bonds have suffered collateral damage.

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Since opening it’s doors back in 1962, the hospital has an average of 260 patients passing through it’s doors each day, which averages out to a total of 5,700 patients annualy. An impressive number, but what’s even more impressive is the amount of work they do. They continue to help treat and prevent catastrophic diseases in children. It goes without saying, but taking care of children is of upmost importance. After all, these are the leaders of tomorrow. If we don’t take care of them, who will? Who will give our children the strength and hope they need to move on? It’s people like you and I who have to come together to help those who can’t necessarily help themselves.

This fantastic elegant event will feature some familiar faces as Chaz and AJ from 99.1 WPLR will be emceeing while guests enjoy cocktails, a silent auction, a five course dinner, and of course a lot of dancing. A world of fun for all while giving children suffering a world of hope, which is just one of the most important ingredients needed in recovery.

The recovery process since my motor vehicle accident has been a long one. Each day, there seems to be a new bump in the road of life. Through it all, however, I have found a great sense of therapy taking in the fresh air as I hike along the trails by my Torrington, CT home. It is here that I am surrounded by nothing but an ample forest and solitude. Hiking along the trails is something I normally do, though as of late it has allowed me to reflect on life and be thankful that I have been given yet another day to walk along the trails.

We take so much for granted. Waking up is not always guaranteed. We live such busy lives. We often forget to unwind and enjoy what we have around us before we simply lose out on the opportunity, then we live with the regret. I believe one of the biggest take aways from this whole experience has been to unwind. Stress plays a major factor in the disease. There’s just something so great about getting up in the morning and hitting the trail, each day seeing something totally new that you didn’t see the day before. These are the little things in life that make us smile, and often because we’re so busy, we don’t take the time out for ourselves to enjoy it.

So many of you have asked me what is my secret to remaining so strong in the recovery process. While there is no doubt this is one of the ways, I am also fortunate enough to be surrounded by such great company on this road of life. Wether it’s going out to dinner, or sharing a few laughs together on social media, I feel truly blessed to have each of you in my life in some way, shape, or form. They say you are the company keep, and that couldn’t hold any more true.

When life comes at you fast, take the break you need. Go out and find yourself. There’s a whole world outside your door just waiting for you to explore, and here in the Torrington backwoods, the exploration has continued to help me remain positive while appreciating the present and looking forward towards the future.

“I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.” – John Burroughs

With vasovagel syncope, I’m supposed to experience my symptoms when my blood pressure drops, and I do. We found out, however, that it also happens when my blood pressure increases, which is a whole new mold of vasovagel syncope. My blood pressure climbed to 190. It was there that I experienced the onset of lightheadedness which eventually led to passing out. Not even ten minutes into my treadmill run and I had to be taken off and laid on a bed to regain consciousness. My cardiologist was stunned, at a loss for words without any answers to provide. I’m one of the rarest cases of this disease, and quite possibily a whole brand new kind of it entirely.

My cardiologist has now suggested I see an athletic cardiologist at Hartford Hospital, one who specializes in treating athletes. My hopes are that he may have some kinds of answers as to why I’m experiencing these symptoms at both levels of the spectrum. Will he? We can’t say for certain.

Through it all, I’ve been standing strong. It’s obvious that this condition continues to grow worse as doctors are working quikly to find out the answers in this extremely rare case. In the meantime, I’m on medication to help keep my blood pressure from dropping to rapid levels in the event of an attack. My blood pressure usually sits at 120. It’s now sitting at 140 with taking this medication three times daily. During an attack, my blood pressure has the tendency to drop to 60!

Over the next month, I’ll continue to be tested on the medication as well as be equipped with another heart monitor. I wish I knew where to go from here, but one thing is for sure, I’m not going to let it get the best of me.