Key West-The Gibraltar of The USA

Anytime IS Key West Time

Procrastinate Now

Key West (KW) Has A Crush On Me

 Key West has an  idea on how to spend  time: Do nothing. This is the "personality"  and PACE of KW. Once you make the conscious choice to  tune into it, the ocean awaits---it's the space between things.

Music is the space between the notes. What is the space between MY notes? My souls rhythm. It leaves room for surprise and anticipation. Being at sea for a few days, I went on a digital diet-no internet. Spaces were created by holding back information-It works.

The Japanese concept of Ma,(negative space, pause, The Gap) is in full bloom.  Essentially, what is NOT going to happen today! Taking it easy, allowing things to happen rather than Being Busy.

When I lived in Tokyo, nobody ever said no. One of the ways Nihon Jins said no, was the time they took between saying YES. That long pause is the space between things. Yes I Don't--

I didn't get it (The Joy of "wasting" time) because every second in Tokyo was like calorie counting: a  commute to the 7/Eleven  became  a Japanese lesson on my Walkman (iPod) while writing kanji characters, scanning the subway car loaded with Salaryman (サラリーマン,   " time layering" and multi tasking  on the lookout for new information instead of what I already found.

The Narrative

KW challenges how we think about clock TIME. No self presentation, no one telling you "I am so busy" No voices saying  "How stressed I am" like some  medal of honor. The stories which we tell ourselves  generally define time-- Yet, as long as  we  believe they  we are  busy, getting involved in projects,  we will keep telling our storyline   to anyone who wants to hear it, to validate us. It seems so real but actually so illusionary.

Even a small dose of KW awe gives me a momentary boost in life satisfaction and seemingly expands my future.

A  7 nights Bahamian Cruise, it's a mostly the Sunshine state-Florida Keys and  Disney World via Port Canaveral.

 For me, it's a celebration of  the good life and a bygone era
 I soon discovered that life in remote Key West was like living in a foreign country while still perched on the southernmost tip of America. Have fun up North doing battle with The Snows of Kilimanjaro,

 "It’s the best place I’ve ever been anytime, anywhere, flowers, tamarind trees, guava trees, coconut palms...Got tight last night on absinthe and did knife tricks." Ernest Hemingway.

Key West  was considered the  "Gibraltar of the West" because it is only 90 miles from Cuba. Which reminds me- the last time I was in Gib, at the rock was 2009, another pretty cool place every sailor should go.

Hemingway Quotes:

"Never go on trips with anyone you do not love"

"That is what we are supposed to do when we are at our best – make it all up – but make it up so truly that later it will happen"