Jake got a GoPro camera & came over today to take videos of us all on the merry-go-round-vomit-inducing spinner thing at the park. So much physics, so much queasy.

I am staring out onto a blustery, wet, gray Portland day, listening to Hoppípolla by Sigur Ros, a name which means, appropriately, "Jumping into puddles." This song couldn't be more of a paradox for this scene... it's a vibrant, alive, floating on dreams kind of song. It's hopeful among the dreary hopeless winter skies of the Pacific Northwest.

And it made me think of dreams. Not sleepytime dreams, lucid or day. The dreams that make us who we are, the kind that define us, our ambitions, our goals, our true selves that so few know well.

Last week I made a new friend with someone who doesn't live nearby, and in the spirit of friendship, have promised one another we'd be penpals. It's so much nicer to communicate that way, the excitement of opening your mailbox to a hand written present. While she was staying here, we talked about dreams, mine being the ambitious and possibly (only if you're my parents) crazy goal of sailing around the world. That dream is the basis of my writing here. Sharing something beautiful and different with strangers to inspire them that they too can live the dreams that get buried underneath our lives, but seem to explode in our hearts.

A letter arrived today from her, solidifying my goals of encouraging strangers to break free of daily monotony, even if it is scary, sometimes life changing, and often met with resistance. There is a sense of unmistakable pride for someone who re-evaluates their existence in a positive light after you've spoken with such fervor about what you will accomplish because you won't settle for less than a full, happy life. It is an addicting and infectious emotion that should be shared more often, and I can't wait to hear more and more about people taking risks to improve their well being, their hearts and their lives.

Here's a pretty video someone made of the song, it is worth every second.