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<\/a>Then my friends Jen and Patia (pictured below) showed up to help me celebrate my birthday. They brought me some awesome gifts, a Bodhi tree bookmark<\/a> by Jen and a Mantastic<\/a> sticker from Patia and then took me out for dinner and a \u201ccouple\u201d drinks (don\u2019t ask, don\u2019t tell).![\"\"](\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3136\/2564016367_c66930d324.jpg?v=0\")
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<\/a>Along the way we stumbled (not literally, of course) across a new Irish coffee shop and store where a group of musicians had made a circle. The music, so heart-filled and earnest, with driving, heal-stomping beats and smiling fiddle took me away\u2026<\/span><\/a>After a few hours of sleep, some aspirin and coffee we were out again, this time seeking hidden treasure in Missoula\u2019s garage sales. Jen got some great stuff<\/a> and I found a heated massage pad at a bargain price, so I was plenty happy \u2013 plus this great sign (my brother\u2019s name is Brandon).<\/p>\nHe said the most striking thing he remembers from that tour was coming across an older guy, he must have been around 60. The man\u2019s sentence had been up for some time, but he had chosen not <\/span>to leave the prison. He was given some special privileges and some work and allowed to stay.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cWow,\u201d I thought. We went on to discuss some other cases of people in bad situations who just need to leave, but for whatever reason, they don\u2019t. There is a psychological condition known as <\/span>learned helplessness<\/a> that comes to mind, where a person slowly loses a sense of control in his\/her life and slips into depression or alcoholism, workaholism, etc. <\/span> We talked about abusive relationships (romantic and otherwise) and institutions (such as prisons and many of our Native American reservations) and continued to probe at the question: why does person a<\/span> step out of that situation while person b<\/span> stays? And then what do you do when you see someone stuck in one of these situations? Pat them on the back and say \u201cit\u2019s ok, hang in there\u201d or yank \u2019em by the collar and say \u201cget out of there, now\u201d? I suppose there are no easy answers here.<\/a>After some more laziness (skipping the farmer\u2019s market), I managed to get out for a hike and coffee with Larry, a retired gentleman, a former student, and current spiritual mentor of sorts. After discussing various things and my telling him of the silence of the week he told me a very interesting story. <\/span> When he was younger, and a bit of a delinquent, he and some fellow trouble-kids were given a tour of our state prison (as if to say, \u201cwise up soon, or\u2026\u201d).<\/p>\n<\/a>Sunday I got to the gym for bit and then off on a long<\/span> (for me at least) hike with Jen and her four kids. Some people have good kids, and then some people have amazing kids \u2013 Jen definitely <\/span>fits in the latter category. They are just plain fun to be around, constant teachers of mindfulness and being totally <\/span>in the moment<\/span> \u2013 \u201cJustin, guess what!\u201d or \u201cOhhh\u2026 look at THAT!\u201d<\/span> It makes me a bit envious, not only for her great kids, but for her energy <\/span>(I\u2019m convinced that women\u2019s genes must change when they have kids to give them soooo much energy). After about two hours I was pooped, and the kids were beginning to tucker out too, but Jen just kept us trucking along.<\/a>Good times. Life IS good<\/span>. <\/p>\n