explosions of colour

The fireworks last night were great. As I sat there clapping my hands and laughing like a little kid, I was trying to remember watching them as a child but no memory surfaced. I was trying to remember if I enjoyed them as much then as I do now. Strange... It could just be that I am finally allowing myself to experience unalderated JOY but the pleasure that I am deriving from this exposion of colour during the symphony of fire is incredible.

As I sat there watching the crowds build and for those of you who don't live in Vancouver, those crowds are HUGE. It is estimated that about 500,000 people all crowd down in my little part of the world on fireworks nights to sit on the beach and the grass to watch. I have a lot of friends that will not venture down this way on those nights because of the crowds. There are always going to be people who get slightly "tipsy" and/or "high" but at the end of the day, I have never felt fear but this is what I sense from others. Perhaps my level of trust that all will be o.k. is a bit higher than others but at the end of the day, I would not miss these displays for the world.

It is funny too that this year I have watched each and every one of the shows (3 so far and one more on Saturday) from the beach. I just realized that the reason that I have NOT ventured on to the beach or closer to the festivities is that same fear that I just mentioned. Something has changed for me this year.

I am so happy that I have others who enjoy going to these displays as much as I do but I am realizing that I don't actually NEED to have anyone go with me which is a big shift in my thinking. Just like the fear is no longer present while in the midst of the crowds. There was a while though when I realized that the young people next to us, who were already quite drunk and staggering 2 hours prior to the start of the festivities, were receiving another party to their little group who was bringing in some more supplies and, as he threw a bottle of Jack Daniels to his gang...........I knew then that we had to move somewhere else. They were staggering all over the place and with the crowd building I could see something or someone getting hurt and I did not want to be on the receiving of someone elses trip........if you know what I mean. Thankfully Spirit was watching over us as we realized that we would have to move anyway as, according to my friend, last night was going to be the highest tide of the whole year. We sat watching the water get closer and closer to our little spot and then when it hit a log in front of us and splashed over, we knew we had to move. Saved by the water. I did keep watching over to our old spot as those drunk young people finally got completely soaked and staggered off up the hill.

Slept threw the night too and woke up with a smile on my face. Life feels good.

Have an awesome day and I'll be back.