These are the delicate crystals of truth contained here in Lark In Flight; discoveries made from the aftermath of incredible journeys and experiences.  Each one is strong enough to balance a universe on, and yet so flexible and delicate it can be repositioned with a single well timed moment or vision of truth. 

Such is my life, the unfolding story of Lark In Flight: A Spirited Adventure Transcending Ordinary Bounds. 

I encourage you to read forth, not to follow me from the sideline of my adventures, but to awaken your own adventurer to blow apart your world, and let it settle back into a stronger more wonderful truth.  When this happens –whether from your own journeys, or a catalyst found here- engage fully in that moment, and let the truth freely rearrange your universe.  When the storm is upon you, stop for a moment, and watch the beauty unfold, and as it passes, revel in the fresh, delicate, uniqueness that is softly embracing your soul.

And finally, share it with me, so it may in turn rearrange my universe into something new and beautiful, mirroring and dancing with yours.

Larkin

Larkin@larkinflight.com

My family. You are amazing. I tell you this whenever I can, but truly, you are the most amazing people, and the fact that I get to call you family makes my heart sing. You taught me all my first lessons, nurtured my first curiosities, and showed me how to quest for the wonderful, and why it was worth looking for. Thank you. I love you.

The Jensen family. This thanksgiving was so special to spend with you. You are my family here, with all your quirks, and funny ways. You have taken me in as a brother, a son, a friend, and you are amazing. I’ve become so close with all of you, and I feel truly lucky to have gotten the chance to rekindle the friendships we started back in Oregon. August, living with you has been the most awesome experience. Our friendship deepens every day. Thank you for learning lessons with me, and teaching me about the world the way you see it. James, I miss you.

My best friends through the years and throughout the world. You are my true world family. You are the people my soul connects with the best. Thank you for being open to letting our lives twist together for a moment or a lifetime. You’ve shown me more about myself and the world than all of my travels and adventures. It saddens me that our life paths stray off in new directions and don’t allow us to connect so often sometimes, but it makes me smile to see where yours is taking you. Amazing things you are doing, incredible places you are going. I look forward to continuing to share throughout life, and all our future connections.

Boulder, thank you for being a places to cultivate dreams. You are so full of energy and possibilities, that you spill over with desire to make connections happen. These last 5 years have been the most empowering of my life, and have taught me more than anything else, that the world is wonderful, open, full of magic, and ready to help me create a paradise.

My roommates, Thank you for teaching me about community, about living with people in a happy, healthy, fantastic household. These lessons in diplomacy, organization, respect, have been some of the most powerful I’ve learned the last 8 years. You’ve made the “daily grind” so great, with a smile, a hug, a hello, goodbye, goodnight, goodmorning. Thank you, for always caring, for being real, and for teaching me so much.

Momentary sparks, connections, smiles, discussions every day, since arrival in this universe. You who have taken a moment to connect, to be in the moment and say “how are you?” and really mean it. You have taught the the value of pause, the value of the moment, and the value of human connection. A days that is going by slowly, painfully, is so easily changed to sunny wonderfulness with a smile and connection with a real soul. You are beautiful and you make this great world magnificent with your diverse and caring beings.

My body, thank you for always being ready and eager to embark on the next adventure. You make it possible to do anything in this world. You are powerful, beautiful, and full of healthy brilliance. Thank you for sending me messages to keep my life on track, and to warn me of dangers, and thank you for understanding when I need to ignore the message and do it anyway, because it feeds a greater purpose.

Love and intimacy, thank you for breaking down my walls, for reminding me of the value of the inside beauty, and for repeatedly opening my heart to the raw emotions that take me on the most wonderfully terrifying flight the brilliance of the universe can share. And thank you lover, for being the key to that door, the guide in the darkness, and the one holding my hand at the scary amazingness of each new experience. Every crush, every love, every head-over-heels twitterpation has been the gift that brings so much. I hope you are feeling loved, happy, and thankful wherever you are.

BES, you are a family has taught me about myself, about how to help the world, and why it is so important to do so. You make my ears perk up when a siren goes off, you have given me the tools to save lives, and act quickly and responsibly in an emergency. But you are also fun, wonderful people, who inspire me with your dedication to life, both your own, and everyone else’s. Thank you for making adrenaline a healthy part of my life, and giving me the opportunity to help the world, and in doing so bring meaning to mine.

Ball and JWST, thank you for giving the the opportunity to be a rocket scientist, to work on the most incredible optical-anything to ever go into space. You rock! It has been the most rewarding and fantastic job I’ve ever had. Thank you for being flexible, feeding my passion, and really caring about me as a person. I am honored to be a part of the team, and amazed every day.

And thank YOU for reading this. You give me more reason to write, and to share transformations, goals, understands, questions, and dreams. You help me process events and changes in my life by giving me the opportunity to take the mass of thoughts floating around in my head and turn them into something coherent and then share it.

What are you thankful for?

Five minutes, twenty slides, a 440 person captive live audience, your big chance, ready? Sell it!   Uh… Sell what?  Your mom? Your brand for a non existent band? A dance routine?  Sexiness?

I stand for a few minutes watching the audience and speakers blending in a happy mix of friends as they make their exit.  The room becomes quiet as the film crew puts away gear… As sudden as the audience’s initial explosion of energy, the silence slams down, filling my lungs with the desire to whisper.   I wander up and down the rows of seats picking up cups, cans, newspapers, trash…  Lots of it!  Were you too inspired by the presentations to take a second and make the world around you as nice as you found it?  I’m confused by the duality of an incredibly eco-conscious community leaving a room completely full of garbage.  I need to think.

A night bike ride home under a new moon leaves me time to ponder, and react. Phrases and messages from the speakers float around in my head looking for a place to attach.

“Your food travels an average of 1500 miles before it reaches your plate.”

“Use the 20 question test.  If you ask someone twenty questions, and they don’t ask you one, move on!”

“It was the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced.”

“I play Marilyn Manson for sorority chicks.”

“Never get in a fight at a bar.”

“When a white man shaves his head, it’s like Elmer Fudd.”

I spend all night dreaming of exploring new continents with complete strangers reincarnated as old friends.  “What does it all mean!??” screams in my mind as I wake up. And so I write…

Ignite Boulder; you come together wanting to create greatness, and your presenters were fabulously entertaining, confident, witty, creative, personable, and inspiring.  However, their subjects sucked!  I watched the first and thought “Wow, what a nice intro, way to get the crowd up and full of energy.”  But then it continued.  I laughed at crude jokes, and part of me was entertained, but a deeper part of me was bored watching irrelevant presentations tie the beginning of the night to the end –filling the middle with boisterous laughter and lewd humor.

You are each inspired, and passionate, in your desire to change the world and have the genius to find the best way to do it.  I know; I spoke with many of you before and after the presentations.  Tell me about something YOU care about, not something that you think will make me laugh.  If you want to tell jokes, drink beer, and heckle each other, let’s do it at the pre and post party.  But please please please don’t waste 475 hours of our collective time with half assed improvised comedy routines.

I want to leave Ignite Boulder Five with my mind flying high, soaring on the intensity and passion of what I’ve just experienced.  You all have the power to elevate my awareness, and you do it on a regular basis in everyday conversations.  Use your five minutes to floor me with something that is both entertaining and relevant.  Blow my mind!  Don’t make it ooze out and leave it for me to collect off the floor with you trash.

This is a harsh post, and expresses the opinions only of the part of my mind that was completely bored.  To be fair some things about Ignite were incredible. 

1. I love free beer.

2. Andrew’s ability to organize an event and let it morph into whatever form it chooses to take is outstanding.  You’re a rock star, and I’ve told you before, and will tell you again: we are SO lucky as a community to have you with us.  You are a positively glowing human.

3. The Peak Oil Presentation woke my mind up for the duration, and was excellent.

4. The curiosity presentation had the best message of the night.

5. I have never witnessed such a friendly audience participate so well in a presentation and add so much positive energy to the speaker.

6. Getting everyone up to dance for a presentation is practically unheard of.  Amazing!

“Lark” is a word that appears many places in our world. From being part of my name (of course!) to Shakespeare’s writings, and on to -as I just found out- a new restaurant opening up in Boulder (Larkburger).

It has always held special meaning for me, and I try and keep that meaning and spirit in mind as I live my life. Let me explain. Shakespeare, as I mentioned before, writes larks into many of his plays including Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo and Juliet where they melodiously greet the day, singing forth good fortune and happiness along with the rising light. He even has a poem written just for the Lark.(Hark Hark The Lark)

Dream interpreters often refer to a lark in a dream as bringing success, good fortune, happiness, plentiful harvest, high aims and goals through a cultivation of graces of mind (Larks in Dreams)

As a bird it is known for its sudden high acrobatic flight patterns has one of the most beautiful, sustained, and complex calls of all songbirds. It is recognized as the state bird of Oregon (Western Meadowlark), and Colorado (Lark Bunting). (State Birds) Both of these states hold special places in my life: Oregon, where I was born, and began this whole life journey, and Colorado, where my heart lives now, and my energy continues its visionary quests and developments.

Because of the lark’s auspicious and memorable disposition and prominence through history the word itself has taken on its own meanings. It signifies a carefree spirited adventure, or good natured prank, a happy, or halcyon time.

Flight, my friend, is what life is about. Physical, emotion, spiritual release from the barriers of this world. It represents movement, freedom, transformation, openness, and all that my spirit strives for.

It has played a huge roll in my life, from my first paper airplane, my homemade Halloween costume as an eagle and the attempts to jump off things with my cardboard wings, the hours I spent building balsa gliders, months I spent repairing, modifying, flying them, hangliding, helicopters, countless ethereal dreams to the lifelong quest for the essence of flight itself.

World, I present you with “Lark In Flight” here to follow, join, and guide me on my “Spirited adventure transcending ordinary bounds.”

Also, see Why I Started This Page