This Easter I went to Joshua Tree with a couple friends.  We all needed to take a break from the Los Angeles ozone.  We needed to flee from the constant pursuit of our dreams and retreat to the wilderness.  It was my first visit to Joshua Tree, and I must say it was an amazing experience.  I can honestly say that from the moment I got picked up at 630am till the time I was dropped off the next day at 1230pm outside of my house.  I could not have planned the next 30 hours to work out so lovely.  The friend who invited me out was a seasoned camper, so he was so well prepared…I’m SO GRATEFUL for that!! Without him, we could have never had the experience we had.

Joshua Tree…they are all extremely different. They reminded me of dancing people often times, bending and twisting, each telling us a different story. The desert fills your imagination with all kinds of funny stories and images. It made me feel like a little child again.

It’s such a delight to see a colorful flower in the desert. Watch out though…it is beautiful to look at but that cactus will get you if you touch. In the desert you learn to admire from afar, but respect boundaries.

We were blessed to see a lot of life on this trip. This little guy stopped traffic as he crossed the road. There were at least 10 people photographing him and videotaping him. He strolled like a superstar to his destination 🙂 Thanks buddy for gracing us with your presence.

Cooking some hamburgers on the grill with Jim’s handy head light which he insisted I would need and he was SO right!!

CHEERS to an amazing day at Joshua Tree!

My Cactus impersonation 😉

A lot of picture taking…and of course the most amazing skull shorts ever purchased at the nearest WALMART! Rocking the desert gear my friends!

Great Expanse of seemingly nothing…yet all kinds of mysteries of life ever present!!

I leave Joshua Tree with this very important story and lesson for myself.  In the morning, my crew and I sat in our tent very early in the am…all thinking each other was sleeping.  Yet in reality we were all thinking about how we should get out of the tent and watch the sun rise.  None of us said anything, and we all ended up staying in the tent and missing out on the sunrise in the desert.  During our last gaze from our campsite onto the desert I said “Wow…to think we all wanted to see the sunrise but said and did nothing about it.”  In which to my statement, my friend responds “Well it looks like the sun still rose.”  It sure did.  This of the whole trip is what stuck to me more than anything.  The sun waits for no one to watch it…It will rise and set regardless of who is watching.  It will serve it’s purpose regardless of who is watching.  Life will continue TO BE.  So why not live? Why not wake up and embrace the sun? Why not do the thing you’ve been thinking about doing?  It’s precious our time here, take it, embrace it, dance with it and rejoice in it!  Be like the sun and do that thing that calls you deep in your soul regardless of who is watching.  Even if no one sees you doing it, you are fulfilling your purpose.  Wait for no one to live your life!