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.

Highlining, Public Speaking, Kitboarding, Free Soloing, Crazy Rope Swings, and last year I submitted and adventure idea to Teva with my friend Andrew.

 I feel that doing scary things puts us in a place of Satori meditation, slams our awareness into the present moment, and creates an environment for extreme growth.  It is what happens when we travel, learn something new, ask someone to dance, or do something that scares us.   We live!

So,  what now?

I’m embarking on an amazing (and a bit scary) journey.  My friend Kate Jaworski and I are writing Lucid an Electro-Opera.  It is the awakening of the human spirit, a musical, multimedia, dance experience taking the audience through a woman’s journey in and out of dream-space, lucidity, and the angular physical-world chaos, to a place of connected peaceful presence. 

Kate is an incredible musician, a lighting designer, an exuberant creator, and passionate bright being.  I love writing, analyzing, organizing, creating, and know how to manage chaos (thanks BES!). We both love the world deeply, are infatuated with the human spirit, and feed on the deep pulsing undercurrent of our community universe.  We are a great team. 

A Lucid proposal has been submitted to the Black Box theater at CUAtlas (thanks for the help Ali!).  The Black Box Theater is a magical space with movable seats, and state of the art sound, lighting, and projection setups; it is perfect for this particular show.  They are in the process of selecting next year’s productions right now, and hopes and dreams fly high, so take a moment and help us envision this dream as a part of all of our world. 

Stay tuned!  Lots of things in the works.  Kate is working on writing electronic music, we’re setting up our recording studio.  I’m learning the basics of all-things theater, music, and dance related.  We’re meeting with costume designers (found an awesome one!), choreographers, dancers, photographers, musicians, videographers, enlightening gurus, etc.  Wham. Bam. Life!

Rough dates for the show will be February/March 2012; it is something you won’t want to miss.

Is your spirit hungry for something like this?  We know; that’s why we’re writing it.  Check out Letters to the Universe: planning our escape in the meantime; it’s a refreshing breeze.  Kate and I also started it together.

 The show itself is pretty dang exciting, but wow, even the creation process has been a beautiful whirlwind. 

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.

The supports for the temple fell to the right, toppling each other one after another like a row of dominoes.  As each fell a heatwave and mini fireball was released.  We watched, some full of tears, some full of smiles, as dreams, fears, hopes, and baggage was released into the night.

The smoke plume washed across the eastern half of Colorado, and deep into Nebraska and Kansas. Over 6000 acres and 150+ homes burned.  Thousands were evacuated.  From around the country firefighters, hot-shot crews, tankers, choppers , and command teams came to help. 

Fire: the reduction of complex organized structures to ash accompanied by the intense release of energy.

Late this summer these three fire events have deeply impacted me, and those I love.  And yet in each case no one was physically harmed, and so, the intense feelings wash through, and leave us battered, and yet intact. 

The incredible things is what was left behind!   In each case, I spent some time in the direct aftermath, and watched each community pick itself up, check for serious injury, and then give itself a collective squeeze. 

Donations and offers poured in to my sister’s family and her neighbors; more “do you need a place to stay?” offers than could possibly be used. 

At Burningman the Temple has a noble, emotional purpose akin to letting go of the worst of our humanness, the fears, the painful loves, the failed endeavors.  It burns Sunday night, the last night of the week, closing the circle that was opened by stepping onto the playa.

In Boulder it was particularly revitalizing.  Thousands of displaced residents were taken in by the town, cared for, sheltered, fed.  Everywhere  I looked there was a “Thank You Firefighters” sign, or a special discount for people affected by the fire.  It is heartwarming and bright to call such a place home.  Thank you Boulder!

Post fire, there has been a lot of fundraising efforts to help with the fire departments who lost stations and vehicles during the fire.  We (Ignite Boulder) are throwing Ignite Boulder 13 as a benefit towards these firefighters as well.  Boulder Emergency Squad’s chief will be doing a spark on the fire, sharing some of what happened behind the lines, in command, and away from cameras. 

I am ecstatic these two communities I love, and work hard to help grow and develop will be working together on December 8^th.  Ignite Boulder and the geeky tech crew, and Boulder Emergency Squad and the caring volunteers are both full of some really incredible people, and to have both on the same awesome Boulder Theater stage working  to inspire the Boulder Community will be really special.

  You can also donate by texting “FIRE” to  27722 ($10), or by buying your Ignite Boulder ticket (less than 100 now as of Dec 2nd), or bring cash to the event.  Either way, Boulder, you’ve been amazing this fall.  Thanks for being my home.

Join us, December 8^th, 6pm, Boulder Theater for Ignite Boulder 13, which happens to be a dress up event, so bring out your fancy!

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