3 weeks ago, the bicycle that I planned to ride across the nation was crushed by a very large truck. Thankfully, I was not on the bike at the time. Initially, the damage didn't look detrimental: perhaps just a front fork, a chainring, handlebars and the front wheel. But upon further inspection by professionals, my frame has been determined to be warped and unrepairable. I have no plans of discontinuing my trip. This only means that I will be delayed for a bit while I figure out how I want to go about putting together a new bicycle.
It also means that I will spend more time with family and friends before I depart, that I will learn more about bicycle maintenance before I spend a year on my bicycle, that I will have a opportunities to go river rafting, houseboating, relax for a few days, and attend an art opening for a friend I don't get to see very often. All-in-all, not a bad trade-off for a few hundred bucks worth of repairs and a delay of 2 weeks or so. Plus, this means that I will not be on the road for 4th of July weekend, a notoriously crazy and drunken time to be traveling, especially by bike. Though the crushing of the bike was a pretty tough blow, the world continues to smile on me.
biker
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Thursday, February 24, 2011
What It Is.
When I first started getting into “sustainability,” I didn’t want to accept the inevitable changes it suggests. That we can’t drive gas-guzzling SUV’s, that we actually are changing the climate of our planet, that resources are dwindling, that every living system on earth is in decline, mostly due to human activity. It is such a bummer of a story, and at first, it feels so limiting. I felt like someone was suddenly telling me, “No, you can’t do all of that fun stuff that you’ve always wanted to do, because its bad for everyone and everything on Earth, including you!”
How, if I was to accept that statement, was I supposed to go on desiring to drive a fast sports car, fly around the world, buy the coolest computer, sell my image on TV, be enthusiastic about any new project that requires large amounts of electricity, resource extraction, water, or other polluting, emitting or otherwise harmful activity? It is a suppressing thought. My whole life, up until that moment, I had been expanding possibilities in my mind. I can do anything. My parents and teachers and society had always supported that idea. I was going to be a famous actor, that’s why I moved to Los Angeles. I was going to be rich, and live in a huge house wired with the latest, coolest everything. And then, somehow, with help from an amazing woman with whom I spent perhaps the 5 most formative years of my life, I discovered this reality about how all of the amazing, incredible stuff that I was obsessed with as a kid is hurting natural systems everywhere. The cool cars and space exploration and lasers and loud music and computers and gadgets that got faster and more capable every day…they’re all the problem. That’s what I felt this new way of looking at things was telling me. All the coolest stuff that I loved and spent a significant amount of my life planning around, buying, interacting with, gaining knowledge of and playing with was the enemy.
Now, no one came straight out and said that. My girlfriend at the time may have gotten close at some point, and she was probably the biggest ball-buster of anyone I knew who was involved in that movement, but she had a fabulous soft-side as well. And that’s what kept me with the movement, was the soft-side of all the people involved. There was so much love in the community that I found through caring about what was going to happen to the earth and all the people and plants and animals on it. All of our gatherings and celebrations and get-togethers and even the meetings and workshops were just filled with love. Every tea break and afternoon walk and meal and new idea and post-dinner massage circle was simply brimming with positive feelings for everyone else in the group. Sure there were disagreements between individuals, and larger disagreements about the big-picture, long-term structure of the organization we were building, but those all faded away at dinner time. We knew deep in our hearts that we were doing the right thing, based on an inevitable, somewhat grim reality and we loved each other for truly trying our hardest to make it better.
Looking back, I can see now - love was my main role in that organization. The only scheduled session I ever actually led in my 3+ years of involvement was some team-building activities. They went over well, and other than that, I helped with a lot of group hugs, individual hugs, and help in the kitchen. I still am not a meetings kind of guy. And truth be told, it took a really long time for me to be convinced that it was all worth the effort.
Harkening back to those same feelings I had when I first realized, “oh shit, I think these sustainability people are right, and that really sucks for all of the stuff I had planned.” I started caring, consciously, and trying to find my place in the “lets do something about it” camp. It was not long before I knew, deep down, that the environmentalists and the environmental justice advocates and the peace-lovers were right. The way modern western society treats the Earth and the living things on it will have to stop, whether in crisis or mediated by the forces of people like us. The way things are is un-sustainable. It cannot go on. The Earth and its living systems and limited natural resources simply will not be able to support our ever-growing demands for energy and raw materials. For a long time, I did not want to know this. I actually wished that I had not discovered it so that I could go back to my blissfully ignorant existence. I felt as if someone had pulled me out of the matrix, but I had been perfectly happy within it.
At some point, I just couldn’t go back to the ignorant bliss that I had genuinely had before then. I knew that someone had to change the status quo, and that I wasn’t going to be caught standing on the sidelines, wondering which way the ball would go. Taking up the sustainability cause is hanging out with the underdog team. I was waiting for a pass, but the team figured out quickly when I first got involved in the sustainability policy-change game, that my ball-handling skills were mediocre at best, and when the ball was passed to me, I passed it back. I let others kick it hard toward the goal. I left that job to those who had gone beyond clinging to whatever dreams and plans they had before they had discovered the truth about the world, those who had already been involved for several years under their own steam, and were uniting now to take this new team to greater heights.
After my first heavy dose of reality, in the form of taking the Education for Sustainable Living Program (ESLP) class at UCLA during my last year there, my mind was convinced. My heart, however, still held onto my childhood dream of becoming an actor. In high school, I enjoyed nothing more than getting on stage, getting into character, and doing my damndest to convince people that I was someone else. I was good at it, I enjoyed it, and I felt I could make a good life pursuing it. So after graduating UCLA with a degree in Psychology, I reverted back to my original goal, and got myself an agent, a manager and started going on auditions. In order to tie in my newly discovered “sustainability” reality with my previous dreams, I convinced myself that I would use my fame, once achieved, to influence people to save the Earth! Unfortunately, the realities of life and of Hollywood were more than I could take. The first two auditions that I was sent on by my new agent were for McDonalds and Coca-Cola. The biggest, baddest, least healthy, most money-wasting, consumer-promoting advertisers who’s products I detested and represented every aspect of un-sustainable living I could think of. The enemy!
Confused about how I was supposed to maintain my principles in this situation, I eventually decided that I had to make a drastic change, and I took a job helping teenagers in the wilderness. And my life has changed forever.
In the past few months, I’ve been hanging out with a new love. She has again changed the way in which I see the world, and thankfully, re-opened doors for me that I thought had been shut for a long while. The dreams that I had as a youth of driving fast cars and fame and fortune were, I believe, what I genuinely wanted at that time. I want different things for myself now, like a supportive network of good friends, meaningful work, a healthy lifestyle, to be a good father. But I’ve also realized that I didn’t have to shut down my dreams just because they appeared to be at odds with sustainable living. It is possible, through creativity, to have it both ways..
Spending time in a community of artists has been eye-opening in many ways. I met many people who spend huge amounts of time thinking meticulously about the abstract, the imaginary, and the improbable. Coming up with things that straight up don’t exist, manifesting them into realities, and being fluid with that process. I take sustainability, and the future of humans on this Earth, incredibly seriously. I really spend vast amounts of time thinking about the big-picture, long-term problems and solutions, and it often causes me great stress. I’ve realized through my recent mingling with the arts community, that my approach to these problems has been entirely too rational. While the solutions to many of the problems we have created already exist, perhaps the greatest solutions have yet to be dreamt of. And more importantly for me, love is what has drawn in everyone that I know to the sustainable front, and creative, loving solutions are what it is going to take to draw in the rest of humanity.
Because of the seriousness of situations like global climate change (having just seen floods in Australia with my own eyes, I feel very aware), I often feel like the weight and urgency of these problems is so great that I just have to stop thinking about them entirely, or I’ll be drowned in the hopelessness of either their dire consequences, or the amount of work its going to take to fix them. I am now just beginning to embrace a new way of thinking, to incorporate the irrational, the improbable, the beautiful and the loving into solutions that also make genuine, physical differences to ‘matter & energy’ problems (such as green house gas emissions, toxic pollutants, etc.). When I look back, it seems as though this approach is exactly where I started, but through the years, as my knowledge of the depth and breadth of the change necessary to lift us out of our current situation grew; my approach grew more serious, more business-like and less open to creative, loving, irrational solutions. Since everyone I’ve met in both the sustainability and in the arts world are open-minded, loving people interested in dynamic, original ideas, I feel like this is an amazing new perspective.
A question that I continue to ask myself is how to get all the folks who are where I was before ESLP to where I am now, in terms of knowledge and desire to make real, lasting change. How can I help people to know that our modern, western, wasteful lifestyle is on its way out, and encourage them to join me in coming up with what will take it’s place in the future? It is ironic that I keep asking myself this question, as it is really other people whom I need to be asking. This is a big part of my motivation for the bicycle trip that I’m planning starting in June. I strongly believe that real, lasting change will be from the bottom up as well as from the top down, but that it has to start in the hearts and minds of the people. Once there is truly a change in the mind-set and values of Americans and other G20 countries, the world will follow. Now, it is time for me to take the ball. I’ve got my eye on the goal, and I’m ready to kick that ball hard in the right direction. The reality of sustainable living is my future, and I’m getting started with a bicycle tour around the US, to learn and live and love. Lets collaborate!
How, if I was to accept that statement, was I supposed to go on desiring to drive a fast sports car, fly around the world, buy the coolest computer, sell my image on TV, be enthusiastic about any new project that requires large amounts of electricity, resource extraction, water, or other polluting, emitting or otherwise harmful activity? It is a suppressing thought. My whole life, up until that moment, I had been expanding possibilities in my mind. I can do anything. My parents and teachers and society had always supported that idea. I was going to be a famous actor, that’s why I moved to Los Angeles. I was going to be rich, and live in a huge house wired with the latest, coolest everything. And then, somehow, with help from an amazing woman with whom I spent perhaps the 5 most formative years of my life, I discovered this reality about how all of the amazing, incredible stuff that I was obsessed with as a kid is hurting natural systems everywhere. The cool cars and space exploration and lasers and loud music and computers and gadgets that got faster and more capable every day…they’re all the problem. That’s what I felt this new way of looking at things was telling me. All the coolest stuff that I loved and spent a significant amount of my life planning around, buying, interacting with, gaining knowledge of and playing with was the enemy.
Now, no one came straight out and said that. My girlfriend at the time may have gotten close at some point, and she was probably the biggest ball-buster of anyone I knew who was involved in that movement, but she had a fabulous soft-side as well. And that’s what kept me with the movement, was the soft-side of all the people involved. There was so much love in the community that I found through caring about what was going to happen to the earth and all the people and plants and animals on it. All of our gatherings and celebrations and get-togethers and even the meetings and workshops were just filled with love. Every tea break and afternoon walk and meal and new idea and post-dinner massage circle was simply brimming with positive feelings for everyone else in the group. Sure there were disagreements between individuals, and larger disagreements about the big-picture, long-term structure of the organization we were building, but those all faded away at dinner time. We knew deep in our hearts that we were doing the right thing, based on an inevitable, somewhat grim reality and we loved each other for truly trying our hardest to make it better.
Looking back, I can see now - love was my main role in that organization. The only scheduled session I ever actually led in my 3+ years of involvement was some team-building activities. They went over well, and other than that, I helped with a lot of group hugs, individual hugs, and help in the kitchen. I still am not a meetings kind of guy. And truth be told, it took a really long time for me to be convinced that it was all worth the effort.
Harkening back to those same feelings I had when I first realized, “oh shit, I think these sustainability people are right, and that really sucks for all of the stuff I had planned.” I started caring, consciously, and trying to find my place in the “lets do something about it” camp. It was not long before I knew, deep down, that the environmentalists and the environmental justice advocates and the peace-lovers were right. The way modern western society treats the Earth and the living things on it will have to stop, whether in crisis or mediated by the forces of people like us. The way things are is un-sustainable. It cannot go on. The Earth and its living systems and limited natural resources simply will not be able to support our ever-growing demands for energy and raw materials. For a long time, I did not want to know this. I actually wished that I had not discovered it so that I could go back to my blissfully ignorant existence. I felt as if someone had pulled me out of the matrix, but I had been perfectly happy within it.
At some point, I just couldn’t go back to the ignorant bliss that I had genuinely had before then. I knew that someone had to change the status quo, and that I wasn’t going to be caught standing on the sidelines, wondering which way the ball would go. Taking up the sustainability cause is hanging out with the underdog team. I was waiting for a pass, but the team figured out quickly when I first got involved in the sustainability policy-change game, that my ball-handling skills were mediocre at best, and when the ball was passed to me, I passed it back. I let others kick it hard toward the goal. I left that job to those who had gone beyond clinging to whatever dreams and plans they had before they had discovered the truth about the world, those who had already been involved for several years under their own steam, and were uniting now to take this new team to greater heights.
After my first heavy dose of reality, in the form of taking the Education for Sustainable Living Program (ESLP) class at UCLA during my last year there, my mind was convinced. My heart, however, still held onto my childhood dream of becoming an actor. In high school, I enjoyed nothing more than getting on stage, getting into character, and doing my damndest to convince people that I was someone else. I was good at it, I enjoyed it, and I felt I could make a good life pursuing it. So after graduating UCLA with a degree in Psychology, I reverted back to my original goal, and got myself an agent, a manager and started going on auditions. In order to tie in my newly discovered “sustainability” reality with my previous dreams, I convinced myself that I would use my fame, once achieved, to influence people to save the Earth! Unfortunately, the realities of life and of Hollywood were more than I could take. The first two auditions that I was sent on by my new agent were for McDonalds and Coca-Cola. The biggest, baddest, least healthy, most money-wasting, consumer-promoting advertisers who’s products I detested and represented every aspect of un-sustainable living I could think of. The enemy!
Confused about how I was supposed to maintain my principles in this situation, I eventually decided that I had to make a drastic change, and I took a job helping teenagers in the wilderness. And my life has changed forever.
In the past few months, I’ve been hanging out with a new love. She has again changed the way in which I see the world, and thankfully, re-opened doors for me that I thought had been shut for a long while. The dreams that I had as a youth of driving fast cars and fame and fortune were, I believe, what I genuinely wanted at that time. I want different things for myself now, like a supportive network of good friends, meaningful work, a healthy lifestyle, to be a good father. But I’ve also realized that I didn’t have to shut down my dreams just because they appeared to be at odds with sustainable living. It is possible, through creativity, to have it both ways..
Spending time in a community of artists has been eye-opening in many ways. I met many people who spend huge amounts of time thinking meticulously about the abstract, the imaginary, and the improbable. Coming up with things that straight up don’t exist, manifesting them into realities, and being fluid with that process. I take sustainability, and the future of humans on this Earth, incredibly seriously. I really spend vast amounts of time thinking about the big-picture, long-term problems and solutions, and it often causes me great stress. I’ve realized through my recent mingling with the arts community, that my approach to these problems has been entirely too rational. While the solutions to many of the problems we have created already exist, perhaps the greatest solutions have yet to be dreamt of. And more importantly for me, love is what has drawn in everyone that I know to the sustainable front, and creative, loving solutions are what it is going to take to draw in the rest of humanity.
Because of the seriousness of situations like global climate change (having just seen floods in Australia with my own eyes, I feel very aware), I often feel like the weight and urgency of these problems is so great that I just have to stop thinking about them entirely, or I’ll be drowned in the hopelessness of either their dire consequences, or the amount of work its going to take to fix them. I am now just beginning to embrace a new way of thinking, to incorporate the irrational, the improbable, the beautiful and the loving into solutions that also make genuine, physical differences to ‘matter & energy’ problems (such as green house gas emissions, toxic pollutants, etc.). When I look back, it seems as though this approach is exactly where I started, but through the years, as my knowledge of the depth and breadth of the change necessary to lift us out of our current situation grew; my approach grew more serious, more business-like and less open to creative, loving, irrational solutions. Since everyone I’ve met in both the sustainability and in the arts world are open-minded, loving people interested in dynamic, original ideas, I feel like this is an amazing new perspective.
A question that I continue to ask myself is how to get all the folks who are where I was before ESLP to where I am now, in terms of knowledge and desire to make real, lasting change. How can I help people to know that our modern, western, wasteful lifestyle is on its way out, and encourage them to join me in coming up with what will take it’s place in the future? It is ironic that I keep asking myself this question, as it is really other people whom I need to be asking. This is a big part of my motivation for the bicycle trip that I’m planning starting in June. I strongly believe that real, lasting change will be from the bottom up as well as from the top down, but that it has to start in the hearts and minds of the people. Once there is truly a change in the mind-set and values of Americans and other G20 countries, the world will follow. Now, it is time for me to take the ball. I’ve got my eye on the goal, and I’m ready to kick that ball hard in the right direction. The reality of sustainable living is my future, and I’m getting started with a bicycle tour around the US, to learn and live and love. Lets collaborate!
Monday, January 17, 2011
A Better Understanding
In my adolescence and early teens (ages 11-13), I was lucky enough to be able to travel to Europe as well as to South America with my family. During those travels, I started to form the opinion that as a young adult, I would focus on traveling to third world countries, where the culture and environments were vastly different from the American culture that I grew up in. The modern, westernized culture of Europe and other nations in which European/Western culture have come to dominate were of little interest to me, as I viewed them as being too similar to our own culture to “waste” my money and time traveling there. I felt that I could learn much more, take in more culture, understand more about the different people and places of the world if I was to travel to undeveloped areas, wilderness areas, and interact with primitive and/or native peoples who were so different from my fellow Americans.
Throughout high school, these ideas were reinforced by my increased reading of world news and politics, my changing system of values, as well as visits to the Dominican Republic and Mexico. In these Latin American countries, I interacted with locals as well as European and Australian exchange students. I felt that I could understand and get along with the Europeans and Australians so easily, that this reinforced my ideas of their cultures being too similar to be of interest. This in combination with the fact that I was learning to speak Spanish, staying in humble homes of local people, and participating in local culture on a much deeper level, only strengthened my beliefs about cultural learning and the great differences which these less developed nations had with the USA.
I turned 13 during a 2-week vacation to Ecuador with my family. We went river rafting on the head waters of the Amazon for 6 days, then toured around some of the smaller, more historical towns, climbed into the crater of a volcano, and saw some of the nations historical sights. Since that trip, I dreamt of returning to the tropical rain forest for a long time. I now see that river rafting trip as a jumping off point for most of the international travel that I have done in my adult life.
The places that I have chosen to travel as an adult have been Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Costa Rica and Belize, plus additional visits to both the Dominican Republic and Mexico with my family. Tropical rain forest abounds. In most places, people live simply, sometimes with no electricity, no running water, very few possessions. And their world is changing fast. Western, industrialized culture is marketed to them at an ever growing rate. More are moving from a self-sustaining lifestyle into cities, making money, earning debt, buying more manufactured food and goods, working their way into the same mess that Americans are in now.
In the last few months, I have had occasion to travel once again to countries which have embraced western culture for at least several hundred years. Because of the woman I am in love with, I have spent significant time in Germany, and now Australia, and I am learning much about the cultures which I used to think were so similar to my own. The subtle differences between these cultures and that of America, in many ways, are more educational that the drastic differences that I experienced in Asia and Central America. It is easier to see similarities between my own life and the lives of people here, which also makes is easier to compare differences. Because much of our lives are similar, there is a strong basis upon which to build knowledge about qualities that are cultural, vs. qualities that are human. Because so many factors of our lives are similar, many of these can be eliminated from big-picture comparisons, and this allows more room to focus on the small differences, and why they exist. It is very interesting.
Throughout high school, these ideas were reinforced by my increased reading of world news and politics, my changing system of values, as well as visits to the Dominican Republic and Mexico. In these Latin American countries, I interacted with locals as well as European and Australian exchange students. I felt that I could understand and get along with the Europeans and Australians so easily, that this reinforced my ideas of their cultures being too similar to be of interest. This in combination with the fact that I was learning to speak Spanish, staying in humble homes of local people, and participating in local culture on a much deeper level, only strengthened my beliefs about cultural learning and the great differences which these less developed nations had with the USA.
I turned 13 during a 2-week vacation to Ecuador with my family. We went river rafting on the head waters of the Amazon for 6 days, then toured around some of the smaller, more historical towns, climbed into the crater of a volcano, and saw some of the nations historical sights. Since that trip, I dreamt of returning to the tropical rain forest for a long time. I now see that river rafting trip as a jumping off point for most of the international travel that I have done in my adult life.
The places that I have chosen to travel as an adult have been Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Costa Rica and Belize, plus additional visits to both the Dominican Republic and Mexico with my family. Tropical rain forest abounds. In most places, people live simply, sometimes with no electricity, no running water, very few possessions. And their world is changing fast. Western, industrialized culture is marketed to them at an ever growing rate. More are moving from a self-sustaining lifestyle into cities, making money, earning debt, buying more manufactured food and goods, working their way into the same mess that Americans are in now.
In the last few months, I have had occasion to travel once again to countries which have embraced western culture for at least several hundred years. Because of the woman I am in love with, I have spent significant time in Germany, and now Australia, and I am learning much about the cultures which I used to think were so similar to my own. The subtle differences between these cultures and that of America, in many ways, are more educational that the drastic differences that I experienced in Asia and Central America. It is easier to see similarities between my own life and the lives of people here, which also makes is easier to compare differences. Because much of our lives are similar, there is a strong basis upon which to build knowledge about qualities that are cultural, vs. qualities that are human. Because so many factors of our lives are similar, many of these can be eliminated from big-picture comparisons, and this allows more room to focus on the small differences, and why they exist. It is very interesting.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Off Topic
A couple of weeks ago, I sat down to write up an article about my life and times here in Berlin, and I got bored with it. So here's my last month at a glance:
10 World-Class Museums (Ancient Egypt, Natural History, Famous Old Artworks, Modern Artworks, German Technology, Jewish History, Cold war history)
1 Thanksgiving Dinner with a bunch of Americans I just met.
1 awesome date to a shmancy German-style spa
Riding the bike almost every day.
Below freezing temperatures and snow on the ground.
Great dinner parties and making new friends.
Yoga 3x per week
Rising at 10, going to bed after midnight
Cooking lots, drinking lots of tea & coffee & good beer
Cuddling lots, Jordana and I enjoying each other thoroughly
Navigating the city and riding the "U-bahn" (subway)
Got paid to teach a workshop on knots to an improvisational dance company
That about does it. The Bread here is great. The bathrooms are never easy to find or well-labeled, and there are no drinking fountains, even though everyone drinks tap water. A half-liter of good beer (the standard size of a bottle, equal to a little more than a pint) at the grocery store costs between 55 and 79 Euro cents (about $.75 - $1.00).
In addition to the day to day, I've been doing some reading and writing. Here is a sample of some stuff I thought was provocative.
A thought on the life of Outdoor Guide/Naturalist nomads:
The work community I belong to may be one of the most transient, constantly changing communities in the world. Unlike the truly destitute homeless, we generally come from supportive, wealthy and/or middle class families. We have access to or have built ourselves the resources to change our location and circumstances at will, world-wide. We are majority college-educated, intelligent, highly employable with clean criminal records and we own our own vehicles. We are the ultimate individuals in terms of where we choose to go and what we choose to do. Who sticks around from one season to the next is dependent mostly upon what adventure they have chosen to pursue, who they have chosen to spend their time with, or where the money is. It is a lifestyle of individual freedom and choice, perhaps more than any other. We are lucky, skilled and perhaps somewhat aloof. We believe that our lifestyle is (in more than one way) more fulfilling, more fun, and at the same time makes more of a positive impact on the world at large than what many other people spend their time doing. Unfortunately, I believe this lifestyle also reinforces that idea that what we want for ourselves is the most important thing. Many of us know that our parents, relatives, friends or others have expectations of us that go, in their eyes, beyond what we are doing now. But despite those expectations, we have chosen this life for now. We have chosen to follow our own wishes in the face of any other advice. And we all grew up in the same society. A society which has pushed individual freedom, hard work and prosperity as the values which matter. A society that has told all of us from the beginning that anything we want is within our grasp. I believed it. I still do to some degree. And we’ve all chosen to work outside, with kids, teaching, playing and enjoying the beautiful and spiritually filling natural environments that we inhabit.
A bit on individualism vs collectivism
I don’t believe that any one individual knows what is best for you more than you do. I am beginning to believe, however, that a group of people, yourself included, could help you discover some things that you didn’t realize may be better for you than you had previously thought. And more than this, a group can come up with goals and objectives that are good for everyone in the group, can only be accomplished by the group, and go beyond the scope of what you could wish for yourself. Therefore you are trapping yourself if the only questions you are constantly asking have to do with yourself as an individual, or even your family as a unit separate from your community.
Any time a group of people get together to brainstorm, more ideas are created than when an individual thinks for themselves. The group’s ideas will always span a broader spectrum of possibilities than if you were to come up with ideas on your own.
It seems to me that with this knowledge in hand, thinking about what you want for yourself, and what it best for you, should always be done with feedback from others simply so that more possibilities and ideas can be taken into account.
Keeping this in mind, I am inviting feedback on my personal goals for my bike trip, which is still scheduled to depart in June of 2011. What goals can we accomplish while I’m riding across the country? What endeavors can I undertake on my journey which will help everyone (which conveniently includes myself)? From what you know of me, what can you suggest that I aim to for during this journey? Do you have any goals that I could help you with along the way? Do we have goals in common that could be supported by this? Please feel free to check out the “Mission & Goals” section of this blog, and comment.
That's all for now!
10 World-Class Museums (Ancient Egypt, Natural History, Famous Old Artworks, Modern Artworks, German Technology, Jewish History, Cold war history)
1 Thanksgiving Dinner with a bunch of Americans I just met.
1 awesome date to a shmancy German-style spa
Riding the bike almost every day.
Below freezing temperatures and snow on the ground.
Great dinner parties and making new friends.
Yoga 3x per week
Rising at 10, going to bed after midnight
Cooking lots, drinking lots of tea & coffee & good beer
Cuddling lots, Jordana and I enjoying each other thoroughly
Navigating the city and riding the "U-bahn" (subway)
Got paid to teach a workshop on knots to an improvisational dance company
That about does it. The Bread here is great. The bathrooms are never easy to find or well-labeled, and there are no drinking fountains, even though everyone drinks tap water. A half-liter of good beer (the standard size of a bottle, equal to a little more than a pint) at the grocery store costs between 55 and 79 Euro cents (about $.75 - $1.00).
In addition to the day to day, I've been doing some reading and writing. Here is a sample of some stuff I thought was provocative.
A thought on the life of Outdoor Guide/Naturalist nomads:
The work community I belong to may be one of the most transient, constantly changing communities in the world. Unlike the truly destitute homeless, we generally come from supportive, wealthy and/or middle class families. We have access to or have built ourselves the resources to change our location and circumstances at will, world-wide. We are majority college-educated, intelligent, highly employable with clean criminal records and we own our own vehicles. We are the ultimate individuals in terms of where we choose to go and what we choose to do. Who sticks around from one season to the next is dependent mostly upon what adventure they have chosen to pursue, who they have chosen to spend their time with, or where the money is. It is a lifestyle of individual freedom and choice, perhaps more than any other. We are lucky, skilled and perhaps somewhat aloof. We believe that our lifestyle is (in more than one way) more fulfilling, more fun, and at the same time makes more of a positive impact on the world at large than what many other people spend their time doing. Unfortunately, I believe this lifestyle also reinforces that idea that what we want for ourselves is the most important thing. Many of us know that our parents, relatives, friends or others have expectations of us that go, in their eyes, beyond what we are doing now. But despite those expectations, we have chosen this life for now. We have chosen to follow our own wishes in the face of any other advice. And we all grew up in the same society. A society which has pushed individual freedom, hard work and prosperity as the values which matter. A society that has told all of us from the beginning that anything we want is within our grasp. I believed it. I still do to some degree. And we’ve all chosen to work outside, with kids, teaching, playing and enjoying the beautiful and spiritually filling natural environments that we inhabit.
A bit on individualism vs collectivism
I don’t believe that any one individual knows what is best for you more than you do. I am beginning to believe, however, that a group of people, yourself included, could help you discover some things that you didn’t realize may be better for you than you had previously thought. And more than this, a group can come up with goals and objectives that are good for everyone in the group, can only be accomplished by the group, and go beyond the scope of what you could wish for yourself. Therefore you are trapping yourself if the only questions you are constantly asking have to do with yourself as an individual, or even your family as a unit separate from your community.
Any time a group of people get together to brainstorm, more ideas are created than when an individual thinks for themselves. The group’s ideas will always span a broader spectrum of possibilities than if you were to come up with ideas on your own.
It seems to me that with this knowledge in hand, thinking about what you want for yourself, and what it best for you, should always be done with feedback from others simply so that more possibilities and ideas can be taken into account.
Keeping this in mind, I am inviting feedback on my personal goals for my bike trip, which is still scheduled to depart in June of 2011. What goals can we accomplish while I’m riding across the country? What endeavors can I undertake on my journey which will help everyone (which conveniently includes myself)? From what you know of me, what can you suggest that I aim to for during this journey? Do you have any goals that I could help you with along the way? Do we have goals in common that could be supported by this? Please feel free to check out the “Mission & Goals” section of this blog, and comment.
That's all for now!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Welcome to Berlin
21 years ago, the Berlin wall would have stood less than 50 feet from the door of the building I am staying in. The park that now occupies the space between the two vertical walls that once separated East and West Berlin is clearly visible from the window of the room in which I am sleeping. Beautiful, soaring towers of brick churches decorate the open spaces between rows and rows of 4 and 5 story apartment buildings, their bottom floors occupied by retail or office space. Canals cut through the city at regular intervals, their banks covered with weeping willows, thick, leafless bushes (due to the onset of winter’s grasp) and a walking path along both sides.
Despite the constant dampness and clouds, people are out walking, getting their shoes muddy along the bare paths, walking dogs, riding bikes and playing Bocce Ball on sandy public courts when the sun peaks out for the afternoon. Large children’s playgrounds are gathering points for parents and their toddlers. Cafés with outdoor seating fill up on warm days. Everyone has their winter jackets on, even though it is not that cold. It has yet to reach freezing, though I am warned by everyone that in a few weeks, it will be bitterly chilly. Last year, the temperature hovered around -15 C for weeks in a row.
I spent my first few nights here in the apartment of Jordana’s friend, Hannah. Hannah had gone on holiday to the Canary Islands where she learned how to kite surf, and had gladly loaned us her place so that we could have each other all to ourselves for my first few days in town. I am now at Jordana’s 2 bedroom apartment, where she lives with her cousin, Adam. It is a cozy, well-lit space that I imagine is very typical of the setup here in Berlin. One thing that is taking some getting used to is the fact that in order to access his bedroom, Adam has to walk through Jordana’s. Thankfully, we are all very comfortable people, and this is not being a problem so far.
In the past few days, I have met several of Jordana’s friends, all of whom are interesting, intelligent and genuine people with big hearts and positive energy. Two nights ago, I went to a dance performance where Todd, a Californian whom I met at Burning Man the same time I met Jordana, was one of the stars of the show. It was a captivating, modern dance performance, the likes of which I had never seen. Dramatic classical music, a company of 30 performers on stage, and fast paced, almost seizure-like movement characterized some of the more memorable parts of the night. In what must have been and incredibly tiring performance due to the sheer speed and intensity of the show, Todd’s solos stood out as elegant and natural.
At the show, we also ran into Uli, an incredibly talented illustrator who shares studio space with Jordana a few minutes bike-ride from her apartment. After the show and a few failed attempts at finding some good German schnitzel to eat, we all sat down at the local go-to eatery for some delicious falafel and chicken schwarma. There is a notable Turkish population in Berlin, due mostly to the need for cheap labor several decades ago. They are now quite an established, respected and successful minority, and both of the neighborhoods in which I have stayed are heavily Turkish influenced. This makes for really tasty Turkish food, which is also the cheapest take-out around.
Yesterday I met up with Wayne, one of Jordana’s friends from Australia who is in the process of somewhat of a world tour. After spending 4 months in India, he has been in Berlin for several weeks now, and heads to Barcelona next week. He aims to end up in Los Angeles at the end of his trip, quite a while from now, and start a legal organization (he’s trained as a lawyer) to encourage those with money in Hollywood to do something more useful with their dough than buying ten million dollar homes with 50 extra rooms. We saw eye-to-eye on many issues, had great discussions, and enjoyed a latte at a great café.
Here in Berlin, it would seem that either business is good, rent is low, or both, because every space is being used. The café which we were sitting outside of was down a small stairway from the sidewalk, on the edge of a court which seemed to be bound on most sides by warehouses and stone walls. The café had only a small sign, and there’s no way you’d know it was there unless you were looking specifically for it. Wayne had been there a few days before, and liked the atmosphere, which I admit was very unique and relaxed. Only a few others wandered into the café as we were sitting there, and our drinks, which came with a couple of tasty cookies, were quite reasonably priced. I couldn’t understand how a place like that would drum up enough business to stay afloat, but it seemed established enough. The building the café was in looked, as many buildings here do, as though it had been repurposed many times. Numerous healthy vines grew all the way up one wall to what looked like a window to an attic. The walls were blasted with graffiti. I’m coming to realize that this city is known for its ubiquitous graffiti, much of which took obvious effort and planning to paint on the sides of five story buildings. Some of the scenes depicted are very political, and were painted by well known artists.
I have been extremely lazy since I’ve been here. My schedule has changed drastically due in some part to jetlag, but certainly also due to the constant gloomy skies and Jordana’s night life. Last night, Wayne and I cooked up a delicious meal of pumpkin stuffed with rice and veggies, roasted and served with a crunchy cabbage salad. It was a hit with the 8 folks who attended a cozy dinner party here at Jordana’s apartment, including all of the people before mentioned. The meal was served around 10 pm, so needless to say, we didn’t get to sleep until much later. I am adjusting surprisingly easily to this drastic schedule change, due in part to the fact that I have no obligations in the mornings yet, and can sleep as late as I like. Not being on a hard schedule for the first time in several months is being very nice.
Jordana is being wonderfully accepting of my invasion of her apartment and her life, graciously inviting me into every aspect of her life with open arms, a warm smile and lots of kisses. We share openly and honestly with each other, cuddle often, and enjoy each other’s presence thoroughly, even in the midst of the most mundane of circumstances. I greatly appreciate the way she treats people, her keen sense of other’s needs, and her self-discipline when it comes time for her to work. I am somewhat in awe of how well she balances her life.
I am enjoying myself greatly! I look forward to many things in the near future. I already have a social calendar which is filling up due to the wonderful people Jordana has introduced me to. Adam (our apartment mate, Jordana’s cousin), has loaned me a spare bike to toodle around on for the duration of my stay. There are galleries to be visited, neighborhoods to wander through, cafés to sit in and enjoy the unique, relaxed atmosphere that this city has to offer. I can already tell that I will not want to say goodbye when the time comes to depart.
Despite the constant dampness and clouds, people are out walking, getting their shoes muddy along the bare paths, walking dogs, riding bikes and playing Bocce Ball on sandy public courts when the sun peaks out for the afternoon. Large children’s playgrounds are gathering points for parents and their toddlers. Cafés with outdoor seating fill up on warm days. Everyone has their winter jackets on, even though it is not that cold. It has yet to reach freezing, though I am warned by everyone that in a few weeks, it will be bitterly chilly. Last year, the temperature hovered around -15 C for weeks in a row.
I spent my first few nights here in the apartment of Jordana’s friend, Hannah. Hannah had gone on holiday to the Canary Islands where she learned how to kite surf, and had gladly loaned us her place so that we could have each other all to ourselves for my first few days in town. I am now at Jordana’s 2 bedroom apartment, where she lives with her cousin, Adam. It is a cozy, well-lit space that I imagine is very typical of the setup here in Berlin. One thing that is taking some getting used to is the fact that in order to access his bedroom, Adam has to walk through Jordana’s. Thankfully, we are all very comfortable people, and this is not being a problem so far.
In the past few days, I have met several of Jordana’s friends, all of whom are interesting, intelligent and genuine people with big hearts and positive energy. Two nights ago, I went to a dance performance where Todd, a Californian whom I met at Burning Man the same time I met Jordana, was one of the stars of the show. It was a captivating, modern dance performance, the likes of which I had never seen. Dramatic classical music, a company of 30 performers on stage, and fast paced, almost seizure-like movement characterized some of the more memorable parts of the night. In what must have been and incredibly tiring performance due to the sheer speed and intensity of the show, Todd’s solos stood out as elegant and natural.
At the show, we also ran into Uli, an incredibly talented illustrator who shares studio space with Jordana a few minutes bike-ride from her apartment. After the show and a few failed attempts at finding some good German schnitzel to eat, we all sat down at the local go-to eatery for some delicious falafel and chicken schwarma. There is a notable Turkish population in Berlin, due mostly to the need for cheap labor several decades ago. They are now quite an established, respected and successful minority, and both of the neighborhoods in which I have stayed are heavily Turkish influenced. This makes for really tasty Turkish food, which is also the cheapest take-out around.
Yesterday I met up with Wayne, one of Jordana’s friends from Australia who is in the process of somewhat of a world tour. After spending 4 months in India, he has been in Berlin for several weeks now, and heads to Barcelona next week. He aims to end up in Los Angeles at the end of his trip, quite a while from now, and start a legal organization (he’s trained as a lawyer) to encourage those with money in Hollywood to do something more useful with their dough than buying ten million dollar homes with 50 extra rooms. We saw eye-to-eye on many issues, had great discussions, and enjoyed a latte at a great café.
Here in Berlin, it would seem that either business is good, rent is low, or both, because every space is being used. The café which we were sitting outside of was down a small stairway from the sidewalk, on the edge of a court which seemed to be bound on most sides by warehouses and stone walls. The café had only a small sign, and there’s no way you’d know it was there unless you were looking specifically for it. Wayne had been there a few days before, and liked the atmosphere, which I admit was very unique and relaxed. Only a few others wandered into the café as we were sitting there, and our drinks, which came with a couple of tasty cookies, were quite reasonably priced. I couldn’t understand how a place like that would drum up enough business to stay afloat, but it seemed established enough. The building the café was in looked, as many buildings here do, as though it had been repurposed many times. Numerous healthy vines grew all the way up one wall to what looked like a window to an attic. The walls were blasted with graffiti. I’m coming to realize that this city is known for its ubiquitous graffiti, much of which took obvious effort and planning to paint on the sides of five story buildings. Some of the scenes depicted are very political, and were painted by well known artists.
I have been extremely lazy since I’ve been here. My schedule has changed drastically due in some part to jetlag, but certainly also due to the constant gloomy skies and Jordana’s night life. Last night, Wayne and I cooked up a delicious meal of pumpkin stuffed with rice and veggies, roasted and served with a crunchy cabbage salad. It was a hit with the 8 folks who attended a cozy dinner party here at Jordana’s apartment, including all of the people before mentioned. The meal was served around 10 pm, so needless to say, we didn’t get to sleep until much later. I am adjusting surprisingly easily to this drastic schedule change, due in part to the fact that I have no obligations in the mornings yet, and can sleep as late as I like. Not being on a hard schedule for the first time in several months is being very nice.
Jordana is being wonderfully accepting of my invasion of her apartment and her life, graciously inviting me into every aspect of her life with open arms, a warm smile and lots of kisses. We share openly and honestly with each other, cuddle often, and enjoy each other’s presence thoroughly, even in the midst of the most mundane of circumstances. I greatly appreciate the way she treats people, her keen sense of other’s needs, and her self-discipline when it comes time for her to work. I am somewhat in awe of how well she balances her life.
I am enjoying myself greatly! I look forward to many things in the near future. I already have a social calendar which is filling up due to the wonderful people Jordana has introduced me to. Adam (our apartment mate, Jordana’s cousin), has loaned me a spare bike to toodle around on for the duration of my stay. There are galleries to be visited, neighborhoods to wander through, cafés to sit in and enjoy the unique, relaxed atmosphere that this city has to offer. I can already tell that I will not want to say goodbye when the time comes to depart.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Back in the saddle
Finally, I've been able to get in a few rides on my trusty SURLY Long Haul Trucker, the bike I took to South East Asia, and will be taking on my cross-country ride starting next summer. I retrieved it from storage, and first rode it through the streets of Oakland and San Francisco, visiting family and friends along the way. I then loaded it into my car and brought it to Pt. Reyes National Seashore, where I worked for 2 weeks, and rode through the hills of Marin County during my time off. This week, I'm in Big Sur, and have been fortunate enough to ride yesterday and today along Highway 1, taking in beautiful, sunny views of the coastline and navigating tight turns through moderate traffic. It is not nearly as scary as I would have thought, and nowhere near the heart-pounding fear of biking on the bumpy, crowded highways of Vietnam. In fact, it was downright wonderful. I think I rode down the longest hill I've ever descended without braking today. The turns were smooth and visibility was good, so I had no need of brakes for 3-4 miles of beautiful Redwood forest passing by Big Sur Station and Pfieffer Big Sur State Park.
In other news, I will be spending 43 days in Germany this fall/winter with the wonderful woman I met at Burning Man, Jordana. Every moment I've spent with her thus far has been rejuvenating, relaxing, caring and fascinating. She's an accomplished artist, check out her website: http://jordanamaisie.com/ As of this moment, I have no definite plans for what I will be doing with most of my time in Berlin, but ideas are flowing, and plans are in the works! Also, coincidentally, I met a lovely German couple on the beach here in Big Sur yesterday when I rode out to check on the groups of kids here this week. One of them gave me her card, says she comes to Berlin quite often, and would like to meet up when we're both in Germany this fall! The world continues to help me out on many fronts, and I am enjoying life greatly.
In other news, I will be spending 43 days in Germany this fall/winter with the wonderful woman I met at Burning Man, Jordana. Every moment I've spent with her thus far has been rejuvenating, relaxing, caring and fascinating. She's an accomplished artist, check out her website: http://jordanamaisie.com/ As of this moment, I have no definite plans for what I will be doing with most of my time in Berlin, but ideas are flowing, and plans are in the works! Also, coincidentally, I met a lovely German couple on the beach here in Big Sur yesterday when I rode out to check on the groups of kids here this week. One of them gave me her card, says she comes to Berlin quite often, and would like to meet up when we're both in Germany this fall! The world continues to help me out on many fronts, and I am enjoying life greatly.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Burning Man
12 days after having left Black Rock City, I feel that I can finally put some of my experience into words. Burning man was an event unlike any other, and is therefore very difficult to compare or describe based on the day-to-day experiences of normal people. The final conclusions that I have come to about it are these:
1. It falls into the category of things that have expanded my notion of what is possible in this life. Every once in a while, I hear or see or experience something that makes me say, "whoa, I didn't know people could do that!" Burning Man fits that bill nicely. The last time I remember feeling this notion was when my friend Japhy rode his bike from Los Angeles to the tip of Argentina. It expanded my realm of possibility.
2. Unadulterated freedom does not translate into pure chaos. Yes, there were lots of naked people and crazy costumes and giant mutant vehicles roaming around the desert. Yes there were people dancing and partying and drinking and doing drugs and riding bikes covered in fur and neon lights and making themselves available for all kinds of behavior that would not be accepted along the streets of any other city...but it was not at all out of hand. I did not see any fights, no one vomiting, no one being harassed or insulted or belittled. It was incredibly refreshing to see that enormous variety of lifestyle choices being celebrated and supported and interacted with by anyone who passed by. And it was organized. People stayed on the roads (all riding bikes) for the most part, property was respected as well as personal space. There was a program and a schedule that was adhered to for the most part, activities were planned and the Port-a-potties were cleaned every day. Not only that, but the potties were lined with cheeky, original poems about not throwing trash in them and getting a "pee funnel" (which was being given out for free by a camp dedicated to just that purpose) to make it easier for ladies to use the urinals. For the amount of people and STUFF that was packed into that 2 mile diameter beacon of craziness in the desert, it was all quite put-together and pleasant.
3. It feels good to get it all out! I spent at least one full day wearing just a speedo, a red cape with gold stars, and a blue trucker hat with the words "dork" printed on the front, and no one batted an eye. In fact, on that day, I was enthusiastically beckoned into several camps where people immediately offered me drinks, and then I just chilled out with a bunch of strangers and chatted for several hours. At the beginning of Burning Man, there is so much going on that it is shocking. It took me several days to get used to, but by the end, the pure freedom and acceptance was wonderful and normal and I found myself wondering why more of life isn't like that. I danced for hours in front of a car that had been converted into a very modern version of a Rhino equipped with an enormous sound system, set-up in the middle of the desert. I climbed a crazy metal tower, a human ant farm, a temporary 5 story building made entirely out of scaffolding, an art tree with metal cables for branches, a huge wooden honeycomb, and a stack of speakers 20 feet tall. I took a foam bath naked in a trailer with 30 other people, all of whom treated each other with respect and helpfulness. I played on a 50 foot long slip-and-slide for 2 hours wearing only a skirt. I learned how to do a back-flip on a trampoline. And through it all, I met wonderful, interesting, enthusiastic, energetic people with whom I connected and talked for hours and made friendships that have already been maintained outside of Black Rock City.
A fantastic experience. I may yet return.
1. It falls into the category of things that have expanded my notion of what is possible in this life. Every once in a while, I hear or see or experience something that makes me say, "whoa, I didn't know people could do that!" Burning Man fits that bill nicely. The last time I remember feeling this notion was when my friend Japhy rode his bike from Los Angeles to the tip of Argentina. It expanded my realm of possibility.
2. Unadulterated freedom does not translate into pure chaos. Yes, there were lots of naked people and crazy costumes and giant mutant vehicles roaming around the desert. Yes there were people dancing and partying and drinking and doing drugs and riding bikes covered in fur and neon lights and making themselves available for all kinds of behavior that would not be accepted along the streets of any other city...but it was not at all out of hand. I did not see any fights, no one vomiting, no one being harassed or insulted or belittled. It was incredibly refreshing to see that enormous variety of lifestyle choices being celebrated and supported and interacted with by anyone who passed by. And it was organized. People stayed on the roads (all riding bikes) for the most part, property was respected as well as personal space. There was a program and a schedule that was adhered to for the most part, activities were planned and the Port-a-potties were cleaned every day. Not only that, but the potties were lined with cheeky, original poems about not throwing trash in them and getting a "pee funnel" (which was being given out for free by a camp dedicated to just that purpose) to make it easier for ladies to use the urinals. For the amount of people and STUFF that was packed into that 2 mile diameter beacon of craziness in the desert, it was all quite put-together and pleasant.
3. It feels good to get it all out! I spent at least one full day wearing just a speedo, a red cape with gold stars, and a blue trucker hat with the words "dork" printed on the front, and no one batted an eye. In fact, on that day, I was enthusiastically beckoned into several camps where people immediately offered me drinks, and then I just chilled out with a bunch of strangers and chatted for several hours. At the beginning of Burning Man, there is so much going on that it is shocking. It took me several days to get used to, but by the end, the pure freedom and acceptance was wonderful and normal and I found myself wondering why more of life isn't like that. I danced for hours in front of a car that had been converted into a very modern version of a Rhino equipped with an enormous sound system, set-up in the middle of the desert. I climbed a crazy metal tower, a human ant farm, a temporary 5 story building made entirely out of scaffolding, an art tree with metal cables for branches, a huge wooden honeycomb, and a stack of speakers 20 feet tall. I took a foam bath naked in a trailer with 30 other people, all of whom treated each other with respect and helpfulness. I played on a 50 foot long slip-and-slide for 2 hours wearing only a skirt. I learned how to do a back-flip on a trampoline. And through it all, I met wonderful, interesting, enthusiastic, energetic people with whom I connected and talked for hours and made friendships that have already been maintained outside of Black Rock City.
A fantastic experience. I may yet return.
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