Hey All

Welcome to my Portage Newsletter. 

On the 5th of June, I returned from another 10-day fishing trip in Northern Ontario. Whew! This one was outstanding. Lots of wildlife and the fish just wouldn't let up! Between the five of us, we caught over 1,000 fish. So I've been relaxing since I got home and consequently I'm a week late getting this newsletter out. Pictures coming soon, I promise.

I'm a wandering soul with little attachment to planned destinations. For me, it's the discovery and insight along the way that is so much more important. So take what suits you from this newsletter and discard what does not. I won't mind a bit. As I've said before, my intent for this newsletter, if anything, is just to present the musings of a wandering woman. And I do appreciate your feedback. Keep it coming! 

"My aim is not to teach the method that everyone ought to follow in order to conduct his reason well, but solely to reveal how I have tried to conduct my own." ~~René Descartes

A special thanks to those of you who have passed this newsletter on to others.

I'd love to hear your thoughts, insights and understandings. deb@portagecoach.com

If you're anticipating a transition, personal or business, just give me a call at 231-879-4178 or 877-762-4178. 

Back to Contents
 

What's Your Hurry?

I've puttered the weekend away. I weeded the garden, cut some fresh flowers for the house, moved some gravel in the driveway, washed some windows, and spent quite a bit of time in the hammock reading. I must admit I felt occasional twinges of guilt about my indulgence, but not enough to overcome my pleasure. 

Around all this self-imposed down time, I shuttled canoeists who were paddling the Manistee River near my home. The “put-in” was not too bad. They picked me up at my home about 5:30 on Friday evening, bought me dinner, and we drove to their put-in campsite. That night, they camped and I brought their vehicle home with me. Reportedly, they were on the river by 5:30 Saturday morning. The “take-out” was another story. My phone rang about 11:30 Saturday night. They were ready to be picked up as they had decided to do the entire weekend trip in one spurt, 100 miles in less than 24 hours. I got up, dressed, made a pot of coffee and headed for the take-out landing.

It was a beautiful night. The moon was full and casting shadows. It was a crisp night and the fog was settling in. At the take-out, I could hear a partridge drumming. And the deer were everywhere. I can only imagine how beautiful it must have been paddling that river after dark. I've paddled at night before. It's truly an exotic and eerie experience. But most of my night paddling has been out of necessity, to escape a bear who has made my camp his home or because the fish were biting. 

And truly, I can only imagine the beauty these paddlers experienced, because they were too tired to talk about it. I'm totally confused as to why a group of good friends would want to spend a whole day and half a night on the river without hardly speaking or seeing each other and subjecting themselves to the food one must eat while moving in a canoe without the benefit of a campfire. They didn't even paddle together as the group arrived at the take-out over the course of the next four hours. 

Many of us do the same thing in our daily lives. We push and strive to get somewhere, to get ahead, to beat the clock in some way, to attain something, to make good on a promise. And when we reach our destination we have little or no memory of the experience because we've often taken it on alone or, in our haste, left our partners behind. We're stiff and tired. We are even too tired to share our experience with anyone as the thought of restoration is the only thing that permeates our mind. 

Today, I'm enjoying a beautiful Sunday morning with more of the same quiet reflection and small chores ahead of me. I imagine my canoeing friends are sound asleep. Any day, I’ll take the sweet obsessions that wander through my thoughts and daydreams over the mania that now demands their dreamless sleep.

“One of the great disadvantages of hurry is that it takes such a long time.” ~~G. K. Chesterton

“Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.” ~~Winnie the Pooh 

“Nature does not hurry. Yet everything is accomplished.” ~~Lao Tzu
 

Back to Contents
 

Peace and much love
Deb
 

The Fine Print
A Note About My Recommendations
I provide links in this newsletter to products and services I am offering or I have personally found valuable. If you are ever disappointed with one of these recommendations, please let them and me know. If they don't make it right, I will.

If you find value in Portage please pass it along and ask your friends to subscribe. Thank You.

Help me stay with you. If you are enjoying Portage, please protect your subscription. If your email address is about to change, please remember to visit my home page and subscribe your new address. And if your email service automatically deletes large broadcasts like this one, let them know you want Portage from Deb Martin to come through.

Portage is published 12 times a year and distributed monthly by e-mail. Comments, submissions and suggestions are welcome. Please forward any or all of this newsletter to those you know will appreciate it and encourage them to subscribe for themselves.

Although this material is subject to copyright, you may reprint this publication, in whole or in part, in your company publication, in training, presentations, or wherever you feel it would be of benefit. This also holds true for members of the media. All I ask is that you include the following: Reprinted with permission from Deborah Martin of Portage at http://www.portagecoach.com

The names of newsletter subscribers are not shared or sold.

Copyright (c)  2006 by Deborah Martin. All rights reserved.