Throwback to 1996

23 years (and 1 week) ago, my parents and sisters and I immigrated to the United States from Hong Kong. What a journey that has been. For all of us.

Well I'm flying somewhere far again, but this time I'm not moving. I am headed for Oslo on my first trip to Scandinavia. On my first evening I'll be hosted by a Couchsurfing (CS) host named Eivind who has hosted over 1,000 travelers in his apartment in the past 8 years.

I've been on the CS network since 2009, and it's been a string of fun-filled encounters and new friendships, to say the least. Look out for content from beautiful Norway very soon!

Hyperlapse over the California coast

Oh, California.

As nomadic as I may have been in the last several years, I do still call California home. It is, afterall, where I've spent the most time in my life. I associate rather deeply with this land, its many peoples, the mixture of cultures, the apparent and underlying issues, and even its geology.

This is a primer to a longer post tomorrow. This home state of mine is gonna be a theme. The week-long trip I have just gotten back from has really provided me a whole lot to reflect upon and opened up new perspectives, ideas, and I'd say opportunities as well.

PS: this hyperlapse video is a newer thing I'm learning to do. It's time-lapse pumped up to the next level.

Big Sur - aerial boomerang

To be amongst these old, wise, beautiful trees. 🌲

What a fun, lush Spring day running through the streams and forests around Big Sur. I caught the perfect sunny and mild weather window a few days ago. The Spring rains are back in full force today and it's a welcome contrast while continuing to provide the land, the plants, and wildlife more precious water. 💦

Let's see if on my southbound journey I'd be able to swing through the region again and catch a bit more sunshine and outdoor time. ✨

This boomerang-style aerial video is a carbon copy of what Johnny Harris does (and does so superbly). He makes top-shelf, inspiring, informative content for Vox, with his wife Iz Harris (who I'm more than happy to support on Patreon), as well as on their own channels.

Christchurch

Having spent half a year in and around Christchurch, New Zealand, I have stacks of vivid memories from this little city.

From my experience, it's colorful, and though it may not have the ethnic diversity of Los Angeles, London, etc., it is a place where humans of various backgrounds, appearances, and beliefs co-exist, mostly in great harmony.

I remember it feeling like a breath of fresh air as I met the locals - through their questions of who I am/where I am from/etc. - rather than placing assumptions and judgements onto me by my appearance and accent like I've experienced in California and the US in general, that the inquisitiveness stems from genuine curiosity. I don't recall ever feeling out of place or any social anxiety being a POC in New Zealand.

The side of Christchurch I got to experience as I landed into the Social Enterprise World Forum and PechaKucha all within the first several days is one of innovation, action, global solidarity, reconciliation, and community. Although there's no doubt one could see and feel the effects of destruction, grief, and loss from the earthquakes 8 years ago, there is a certain energy and sense of personal and communal purpose unlike ever before to (re)build a city for its people by its people. That spark has fostered neighbors to get to know one another better. That has allowed community gardens to pop up and sprout their seeds in the soil as well as the minds of many. That has gotten folks to work together in putting "we" before the "me."

Last year this time, I was right there in the city, enjoying the heck out of Holi with hundreds at the largest park in Christchurch Central. Holi is a Hindu festival of love or colors that signifies the victory of superior over immoral. All of us in this photo were born in different countries. We are united by our similarities as well as differences. And that is where all of us will keep going. Victory of superior over immoral. Celebrate culture and embrace diversity. White nationalist rhetoric, fear, and hate has no place. Period.

Deep deep love and support to everyone affected directly as well as indirectly by this horrific event. 

Gathering for a meal

Gathering for a meal. A human phenomenon that all of us, no matter our language, our religion, social status, dietary preferences, gender associations, rich or poor, inherently share.

To be invited into someone's home for a meal can be an extraordinary experience.

I've been going through the Nepal archives lately. It's part of the process of picking myself back up from the slump that a number of you have read about and seen. I'm most thankful for those who have dropped some love and phoned me directly. I promise I am significantly better now. I've got a lot to look forward to, and a good chunk of that is seeing/catching up with/venturing with some of you.

Nepal has been such an immense part of my life since 2015. When I say Nepal, I refer to the whole experience - the land, oh that sweet, sweet chiseled mountainous terrain we call the Himalayas, the elements, the people, the generosity, the chaos, smells, sounds, textures, the juxtaposition of life and death, deep ancient traditions with modern influences, and the squat toilets.

The meals, too, of course. The shared meals with the locals are something else.

More desert magic

On a roll now, don't ya think? 😉

This is what I would call desert glow. Spring bloom. Super bloom. Mega bloom. Or mega glow, spring glow? Alright, I don't actually have a name set, but WILL YOU JUST LOOK AT THAT?

Nature never ceases to amaze in its creation and beauty. The flowers in the first photo are called lupens. To my knowledge, they are one of the first blossoms in the spring and they are nitrogen fixers. They intake nitrogen from the atmosphere - and most of our atmosphere is nitrogen - and pump it through their leaves, plant body, and into the ground. The nitrogen is made bio-available for other microorganisms and plants to utilize for their cellular magic-growth. In the spring, as the temperature warms and the conditions become conducive to sprouting or regrowth, this nitrogen, along with carbon, phosphorus (and other trace minerals too), and water, allow plants to do their thing.

Lupens only hang around for around 3-4 months from my observation. They come first and die first, but they give other plants and living beings what they need to thrive. Seeing them in the desert helped remind me the resilience and cyclical regeneration of plants and all the living systems that sustain our earth, and us.

Do swipe through, because there are 2 more accompanying desert glow captures. Oh I love these.

So this glow that got me to write in caps - I woke up at the crack of dawn to witness and capture these scenes. I had slept in my car the night before because of the semi-crazy winds and desert rains. Some people may think this is rough. However, consider this - I rolled out of my vehicle and walked across the meadow in absolute peaceful silence except for the first song birds. I'd consider that my commute. At this moment for me, this is the free and unattached life I wouldn't really trade much for. Well, perhaps a tiny house in the woods, next to a river, with a little garden, within a community. One can dream (and take action towards that reality).

Reawakening

"We are the low tide as well as the high. When bones and broken bottles appear. Small creatures die in the sun and shrinking puddles.

Between the tides shifting from low to high or high to low, the apogee on either side, is called a slack tide.

Those bones and bottles aren’t going to just go away.

But ask yourself. When is your favorite time to go to the beach? Low tide eh. When the hidden becomes apparent. When we can observe and wonder at the wrack and wreck of all the evolution that happens on the edge of things.

There is beauty in destruction, death, detritus, and chaos. Entropy is the other apogee of order. The most powerful people I know can embrace the range of existence. From rage storm and wildfire, to the small patterns in the sand.

You, my amazing friend, embody both the body, ocean, and vessel, earth, and the tidal interplay between. I see it in your work. And I see it in your heart! Have faith brother, in the process and in yourself. I do in you :)"

Huge, immense gratitude to my brother Brian Hasabe for these poetic, elegant, and profound words.

I've rediscovered the fire within myself. 🔥I'm on my way to being in the groove. This desert trip was everything I needed and didn't know I needed. I've been posting heaps to Stories but will continue to write & record more. I've realized more and more how many friends, acquaintances, and even strangers understand the feeling so well themselves.

Perhaps my little contribution back is to help others through what was a newer experience (of temporary depression, helplessness, and utter lack of motivation to accomplish almost anything) for me.

Here's a first set of stills of the snippets of the spring bloom magic out in the desert as well as the beautiful geology with none but my very own best company, and... a bunch of cameras. Nature and exploration are some powerful medicine.

Much love and appreciation for so many of your words and immense support in all forms. You've helped me back up. 🙏🏽 Onwards to all that I've been wanting to create and share with you all.

Coming out of a slump...

I finally made something the other day. Feels good to create again. This slump has been dark, unkind, and lingering. I am just trying to take baby steps in getting back in my groove.

This is from our time at Joshua Tree National Park back in winter solstice. Trying some new animation and sound effects in videos.

Music by Tone Ranger with a track named "Flow," used with permission via Jumpsuit Records membership.

Big thanks to my supporters via Patreon (patreon.com/subtledream) in their continued financial support in allowing to create beautiful things like this.