Just a Reminder…

This is a blog.  Simple.  A quick deconstruction of the word reveals its true meaning, a web log.  A diary.  A journal.  But more then that, the format and purpose of today’s blogs is to share.  I’m writing for you, even more than for myself.  Writing and photographing for me has become a way of expressing my worldview, sharing my thoughts, feelings, insights, and adventures.  The format and structure of this site and those like it allow for the sharing of ideas and following of readership.  You can comment, subscribe, or share it with your own friends and families.

This is a journal, and I usually treat it as so, my entries flowing mostly from a stream of consciousness that receive little or no editing.  But this is a journal of purpose, and while I often get lost in the web world of climbing, the hopes and dreams of a kid who loves mountains, I’d like to take this moment to remind myself, and you, why I created this space, why I’m still here writing, and the direction I hope to be going.

Blogs, like journals, are victim to that one subtle and widespread affliction: laziness.  How many blog posts begin with the collective mantra “It’s been to long and I’m sorry for not updating in a while…”.  Similarly, how many journals have you started only to let those endless blank pages scare you into silence.  I know I’ve begun about ten times more journals then I’ve filled, and I’ve probably begun about ten.  Anytime I go sniffing through boxes of old books or memorabilia, I’m destined to find a few journals with either one or two entries, a few drawings, or maybe just those first few pages ripped out in dissatisfaction that I wasn’t creating something worth continuing, that I wasn’t starting something big enough.

But here I am, after three months of this journal-ing I’m still going strong.  But why?  Mostly it’s because I believe in my message, but also, and a close second, because I hope you’re reading.

So what again is this message? What is Nature of Motion’s “mission statement”?  The continuity of these posts, and the motivation to write and photograph about our adventures are entwined in this single ideal.  The theme of these pages shares a purpose in my life, and for me that has created a drive to write, to act, and to be creative with this blog, and my life.

The Nature of Motion is about energy.  It’s about the reality of our human potential and the solutions for a sustainable society.  While these statements may sound vague and dreamy, slightly hipped out and highed up, that’s probably because they’re layered with the years of my preconceptions about Earth and Society.  So I’ll clear up a few things about what I believe, things I take for granted if you will.

There are several basic conceptions or statements that simplify my worldview.  Unfortunately, instead of simplifying the purpose and mission of the Nature of Motion, sometimes it’s easier to be negative, to be pessimistic and critical of yourself, and the world around you.  I don’t like to berate anyone about how they live their lives, what they choose to eat or how they get around.  While I do believe in free will I also have sincere compassion and understanding for “the way things are”.  I understand that most mothers today actually need a car to provide for their children’s education and care for their families.  I love and support small-scale, local, sustainable agriculture and communities, I believe that creating local food economies is the most relevant and needed action to be taken to create a healthier world, and more to the point a healthier America, but tonight I ate some general tsao’s chicken and egg rolls from Safeway, and it was fucking delicious.  I love riding my bike and can’t think of a time when I’ll want to buy a car, but if you offer me a ride I’ll take it, and if you’re stoked on a climbing trip you just spent 3 days driving to I’ll be stoked right there with you.  So I try not to be hard on you, or on myself.  We’ve all got to live in this crazy world.

That said, here are some of those things I believe.  I don’t like being negative but you’ve got to state the problems if you want to find a solution.

• The environment is in a state of crisis.

• The industrialization of society and the use of fossil fuels has created this crisis.

• The human population is on the verge of overstepping the production and carrying capacity of the Earth.

• The Time to Act is Now.  There is, nor ever has been a greater challenge to humanity, or any civilization.  The health of the Earth and the future of a global community rests in our hands.  It is my generation’s responsibility to save the earth, or at least, to save ourselves from destruction.

• Humanity needs to act now to collaborate with solutions to this crisis.  Those who can, need to voluntarily make sacrifices that benefit the health of the planet and help to create a sustainable and healthier society for future generations.

• At the very least, fossil fuels are a finite resource.  No matter how efficient our use, they can never be created again.  We need to find alternatives to burning.

• The burning of any fuel in any internal combustion engine leads to pollution of the atmosphere, and this must be stopped.

You get the gist.  I’m not going to belabor or discuss any of these points here.  If you’re interested, do some research for yourself, see what you find.  These are conclusions I’ve come to through the first 25 years of my life. Books, people, politics, we all seem to be in agreement about some of these points and confused about how to act on others.  The hardest thing for me to understand is why we aren’t freaking out right now.  Why isn’t everyone lining up with their shovel or whatever ready to do their duty?  Where would we go anyway?  This makes me think of Brokaw’s “Greatest Generation”  and how willing they were to go to war, to fight for independence, for justice. It makes me think of the emergency act created by President Eisenhower to create the infrastructure of interstate highways we use today.  Where has this lifeblood gone?  Where is our global patriotism in the fight on the war against….us?  Why can’t the president just declare a state of environmental emergency and shut down all the coal and nuclear plants until solar arrays and wind turbines are up and running?  Maybe it’s our nature to be self destructive, to lack the motivation to fight the enemy who is us and our softness.  Now we’re the problem but we lack the self discipline to reform, to make the necessary sacrifices.

Or maybe I’m just not being patient.

It’s on this point that I rest my hopes and my actions.  To understand, accept, and internalize all of the aforementioned points is what gives me the motivation to act, to devote that most precious and subtle of resources, time, to volunteer at local farms, to swear off the ownership of an automobile and employ myself to the transportation of a bicycle.  But it is this curiosity of my perception of time, and patience, that enlighten me with the ability to accept the way things are.  Most people have to get around by car, if we want to make any changes, we’re going to need our energy, and we’ve got to eat, and most of us will find the food and nutrition we need at grocery stores and supermarkets instead of our gardens and nearby farms.  So I’ll be patient and kind with the way things are until we, as a society, are ready to give up our egos, our selfish pursuits and material possessions, in order to create the gardens, communities, and agrarian societies of tomorrow.

So this is a reminder to you, and to myself.  This is a journal about sustainability and mobility.  A place to share my thoughts on using human power to meet the transportation needs of a climber.  A reminder, we still don’t own a car.  We’re passionate about creating a movement in the outdoor and (specifically) climbing communities to fore go the use of fossil fuels to meet our transportation needs and recreation goals.  We’re going to continue to climb, to ride, and to enjoy life.  I’m going to write as often as I can for the next month, when I’ll start work once again, and as often as I can after that.  I hope I’ll never make use of that unfortunate mantra, “sorry for not updating in a while…”.  I’ll keep writing if you keep reading, which brings me back to that other reason why I’m still here writing, or ranting as it may be: reading.

Today I bought way to many books at Leavenworth’s local “Friends of the Library” book sale.  They were offering a grocery bag full of books for $5, so Liz and I loaded up two bags with as many books as they could hold, and made off like kings.  We got some good ones, including a copy off Fukuoka’s One Straw Revolution, John McPhee’s The Control of Nature, Al Gore’s Our Choice, and a bunch of others.  The point being that I love to read, and I hope you do to, after this is written it’s just out there for you to read, whoever ‘you’ are.  Weird.  Sometimes I think reading is dead, not many folks my age take the time to sit down with a book, much less make it through an entire magazine article or ranting blog post (sound familiar?).  So prove me wrong if you’ve made it this far and leave a comment, a question or whatever, if you don’t feel like being seen on the blogosphere feel free to drop me a line at burleighman(at)gmail(dot)com.  Please.  If not, again, thanks for making it this far and thanks for being a part of this experiment called life.

Tim