Twelve.

Music brought to you by Mo Kolours.

(Note: this was written while on the cruise.)

This week will be intense.

A few months ago, I suggested my friend Bryan and I go on a cruise together. A few months later, we’re on an Atlantis gay boy cruise. We’re cruising to Mexico with 2,000 gay men.

And I could not be having a better time so far. This gay cruise has been absolutely fantastic. The gay boys are totally fine with this girl here crashing the party. So many times I’ve just walked into an elevator or a different room and heard, “Whoa, a girl!” Sometimes that’s followed by an enthusiastic hug or even a full conversation. These gay boys sure know how to be inclusive.

As for the project, the past few days as I’ve been on vacation, I’ve not been very good at focusing on the now. However, I think as a whole, I’ve been great at focusing on living life ‘in the moment.’ These two things are slightly different, in my opinion. Bringing my full attention to the now, as it happens, takes concentration and a bit of brain power. Simply living in the moment, to me, means not thinking too much into the future. It means living today, as if I won’t be around tomorrow.

Maybe it’s okay to make those distinctions.

I feel as though it was an accident but a convenient one that I chose November as the ‘mindful’ month. Many of my friends are posting statuses on facebook about being thankful, since it’s thanksgiving time. To me, being mindful means sometimes I’m overly aware of how thankful I am for everything. Sitting on the deck of this cruise ship, catching rays and watching the gay guys walk by, I’m overwhelmed with thanks for the human spirit. They’re welcoming, inclusive, and mostly enthusiastic about my presence. This makes me thankful to be human and for having the means to take such a cruise or break from work.

Sitting on my own personal balcony alone, typing this as Bryan enjoys a dinner for singles to meet, preparing to go to a comedy show where I personally know the comedian from introducing myself the night before… I am yet again overwhelmed with that feeling of gratitude for the world being the way that it is.

We’re all here for a purpose, and if that’s just so we meet these individuals in tiny speedos with open minds in a world of inclusivity and freedom and love… then I will take that. Any day.

Being mindful sometimes goes hand in hand with being thankful, to sum up this week.
-Jamie