It was the last one.

JWST is a scientific inspiration.  It is the most incredible and complex, optical instrument we can feasibly put into space with the technology we have today.   It will capture the most detailed pictures ever recorded of our universe, and give us hard evidence of things we can just barely guess at.

I’ve personally been working on it for the last 7 years, and part of the JWST Primary Mirror Segment Assembly testing team for the last 4 years. 

All 18 flight mirrors have completed their last cryogenic optical test.  This is a major milestone, and has been one of the reasons JWST has been able to keep funding this year.  As an optical engineer the PMSAs are by far the most interesting and complex portion of JWST, and I am thrilled to have played such a large role.

Light is a huge part of our world, and has been the focus of my career and schooling for the last 11 years.  Today is the Winter Solstice, the shortest day, and the longest night, a time that has always been special in my life. 

Last year I organized a fire above Boulder to watch the Full Lunar Eclipse.  The year before we sent a flaming balloon into the heavens above Boulder.  This year I am sending JWST mirrors on their final trip back to Colorado. 

Since the last Winter Solstice I’ve dove into the most beautiful relationship of my lifetime, one in which purpose, deepening connection, and sharing with the world are the guiding principles.

 I went part time at Ball, opening up energy for more creative projects while maintaining my connection with JWST, space, and optical engineering. 

I rafted the Grand Canyon for 21 days with my dad, 280miles of adventure and exploration. 

I bought a house, and moved up Sunshine Canyon with three of the people I care about the most, returning to the forest, and mountain life I crave. 

I stepped down from Assistant Chief at BES, making time and gaining perspective on what it means to truly help someone.

I performed a wedding for a close friend, starting his partnership journey with a ceremony of love. 

I’ve continued helping to organize Ignite Boulder, running our 17th event at the sold out Boulder Theater a few weeks ago, challanging and changing my fear of public speaking and public spotlight into something I am cumfortable and capable of.

I climbed trees for a month in Oregon with Kate and my Dad, exploring my love of biology and climbing, and really opening up my life to the possibility of alternative jobs, and life experiences since I moved to Colorado.

I’ve continually opened my heart, and listened to it more than ever before.  It’s been hard and scary many times, but more and more I find myself inspired to empower the world around me with what I know I can give.

I think back on this solar year, and forward to the next one, and I feel hope, excitement, and love.  Join me in making this next cycle beautiful and inspiring for the whole world.

We were in the mountains above Boulder celebrating the winter solstice and a full lunar eclipse. It was a secret time after darkness ended, but before the lightness began to return, we gathered, shared, and played. Here is a great stop-motion of the event, taken by someone with a nice camera in a part of the world that was a bit clearer.

Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse from William Castleman on Vimeo.

The winter solstice is a really special time for me. It marks the end, and the beginning, a time for reflection on what the last cycle has added to my life, and a moment of thought for what I’d like to bring to the next one.

Last year we used fire and air to set dreams free in the universe. This year we wrote on wood, and specifically a prAna block became a shared space for the desires and hardships of life. The masterpiece of our energies was burned during the eclipse, setting free the weighted energies of our lives.

I shared the night with my closest friends, people who I have grown to love, who have intertwined their lives with me deeply over the last year, people who make each day a jewel of ruckus beauty.

As the eclipse ended, the cars and people left. I sat on the hearth for a long time and watched the world return to full-moon glory. The fire warmed my back, the lights of Boulder smiled at me. I listened to the universe inside my heart, and smiled.

I am peaceful, strong, open, and ready.

I slept for an hour, woken by the shifting fire. I headed down the mountain to a BES meeting, a satellite measurement, and a date.

Life is moving beautifully.

I’ve landed from my Burningman peak, and integrated quite a few new perspectives into my growing adventure of a life. 

A couple new blogs have formed, one with a couple good friends, one on my own.  Both are stream-of-consciousness writing, unedited thoughts on moments in life, the universe, and exploding the structure.

(And yes, they are secret, for now…)

My “Busy” Button

For those of you who I’ve shared a cup of tea with, or an intriguing conversation, or some mellow music, you see the laid back side of me, calm, peaceful, present.  But some of you have also seen me snap into full-on rescue efficiency when the pager goes off: my busy button.

TMI

-‘?” I ask.

-“It might be TMI.” she replies.

-“I don’t believe in TMI.” I say.

Cross Discipline Activities

A week ago I spent a couple hours 12’ underwater in a dry suit (dive rescue) doing beam analysis (optical engineering) on an experimental underwater videography light. 

Next week I might get to spend a day climbing trees (ropes and rigging/climbing) and monitoring tree voles (biology) with my dad.

All this is excellent training for a career as an astronaut.

Awesome.

Tomorrow

I head back to Oregon tomorrow to spend some time with my 91 year old grandpa, my one year old nephew and all the family in between.  I am especially looking forward to some adventures with my brother, some fun with my mom, a conversation with my dad, and a hug from my sister. 

Family is magical. 

This Winter

I might go to Scotland, or Asia, or S. America, or Mexico.

Or I could work.

Or buy a house.

On Love

Next year I get to perform another wedding.  Love is grand.  And again I am honored to one to share in something so magical.

My Heart is Keen

I’ve noticed a choice I’ve been missing all these years.  A small crack I’ve been running by without a second glance.  Now that I see, it is so obvious.  I wonder… where does it lead?  Somewhere new!

Thank You!

For loving me, and being part of my universe. 

-Your Lark

But YOU made this last year incredible with each hug, word, or smile shared, and you will make the next year the best of my life, so I would LOVE to share some of this day with you.

I love flexibility and spontaneity, so most of the day is open for surprise adventures. 

But, here are some wants for Thursday Oct 21^st

Care to join???

-Sunrise!

-Morning dance party in the livingroom

-Breakfast at the Tea House, and then sitting and drinking chai until it comes out my ears. If you’d like to join 9:32am (my birth minute) until whenever!

-Maybe a climb, a hike, a slackline, or a run in the mid part of the day.

-Some surprise adventures.

-A birthday present from our Sun.  solar storm hits earth.  If you are near an auroral display snap a photo for me!

-Then a nap in a hammock, because naps in hammocks are awesome. 

-Then we all raid my costume closet about 6pm for something goofy to wear and walk/bike/skateboard/rollerblade down to Hungy Toad for some pubfare. 

-More surprise adventures (dancing?)

-Sunrise!

-Leave for Alabama.

would you like to bring something?

Hugs!

Can someone bring me a Bhakti at 6(edit anytime after the nap, but  before dinner)?

Someone bring a cool rock for my yard?

A gallon of distilled water?

A bottle of mead?

One of those little propeller hats?

5 min epoxy!

A flower?

Whatever goofy/colorful/feather/hatlike items you’d like to wear and have in your costume closet.

And if you can’t make it?

Birthdays are often considered the beginning or end of a cycle.  This one, however, falls right in the middle of the most incredible cycle of my life.  And so, let’s acknowledge that!

Take a moment, and write a couple words about a time together.  It can be something that happened, something that will happen, or something that you’d like to happen.  For instance: 

Send me an email, txt, twitter, facebook, blog, or snail delivery, and I’ll probably post it on my blog later for safekeeping.  Or maybe I’ll write it across my driveway

James had brought his new kiteboard over from Scotland and we were playing with it in Omak Lake in Washington.  I was boardless, body surfing back and forth, learning the controls while trying to tack upwind.  It was hard, and yet easy.  Wind and hydrodynamics are things I understand very well, and so even though it is a difficult skill, I was surfing the learning curve as steep as it would go.  With a few words of encouragement and as much verbal instruction as I could pack in my short term memory James had launched the kite and sent me out. 

I crashed the kite once, but figured out how to wet launch it, and was now skimming back and forth happily.  Kiteboards have always scared me a bit because of the power they hold attached to 300’ of decapitation line.  I’d heard horror stories of lost limbs, and boarders flying off in storms to be smashed broken and helpless on buildings.

But heck, it was here, for one days only!  I had to try; and dammit if it wasn’t a freakin’ blast!   In this moment I was fully now/here, with every sense tuned to figure out how to make this kite an explosion of awesome rather than terrible disaster. 

James had just rocked the board, showing use all the awesomeness.  Here are a couple photos of him pushing the human limits of wind-powered agility. 

This guy is amazing at artfully dropping into new skills without the limits most of us put up against success. He and I learned to sport climb together, and ran with those limits pushing each other further and faster.  He’s been in Scotland for 2 years now, and damn I miss him.  While the Rocky Mountains keep my climbing muscles strong, and my slacklining/highlining skills begin to blossom he destroys the UK volleyball circuit and lets the North Sea teach him to kiteboard. 

We are brothers in adventure, and I can’t wait until we are collocated on the same continent again and can get down to business busting through more adventures!  Thanks for bringing the kite over James, and for letting me almost wreck it on the beach.  It was the best day of wind powered fun I’ve had in years!