Going Deep.

Get out alone, into the wilderness, at least a week…  Advice spoken by a ture friend that has echoed in my mind over the last few months. Words I’ve known and felt before, but coming from him they sounded like a clear bell that could split the fog. Near the end of the winter, my friend and his wife invited me over for dinner. We shared a simple, delecious meal and then talked. I cried. They offered support and well wishes for the season ahead. The snow began to melt and we parted ways. But the words remained. Continue reading “Going Deep.”

Acceptance and Rejection

There are forces at work, some obvious, others invisible, that shape who we are and how we live our lives. Some of them began before we were born: physical forces like blood, brains, genes ; while others have impress their effect as we grow, learn and explore. Both types of forces are important, both can be dominant and change your life in their own ways, but what I want to talk about now is how our reaction to these forces has its own effect, just as powerful as the force itself. Some things we accept, while others we reject.  Continue reading “Acceptance and Rejection”

Resurrection

I’ve been absent from this place for some time now.  Over the course of the last year my life, and this project, have under gone some pretty drastic change and, quite honestly, I’m still struggling to understand the why, how, and what it means for moving forward.  But every day brings new light as they say, and I continue to discover lessons and old wisdom that helps me understand.  I don’t know what all this change means for the Nature of Motion, or even myself, but when I re-examine the mission, when I am reminded of all our adventures, challenges, discoveries, the style and satisfaction of our travel, I am heartened and inspired.  Really, I just want to get back on the damn bike.

Continue reading “Resurrection”

Collecting thoughts…

I stoop over, bending like they tell you not to. A dull, warm pain blooms in my lower back. In my hands is a small broom and dustpan I’m using to collect my thoughts. I reach down and sweep together the small pile I’ve collected, pushing them onto the dustpan and then slowly, stiffly standing up straight. I carry the small pile to the trash cautiously, being careful not to move to fast and spill them back upon the floor. I haven’t had a chance to collect my thoughts in a little while, but the pile isn’t as big as I’d expected, and I feel a bit of regret at the fact that it seems like my thoughts didn’t amount to more. I made sure to kneel down and reach far back behind the sofa and under the tables to collect as much as I could, but all that accumulated was this neat little pile in my dustpan. Now I’m paused, standing before the trashcan wondering if any of these thoughts should be saved. I poke through them with my finger but can’t find a single one worth keeping, and tip the dustpan towards the ground to watch the thoughts sift like sand into the trash.

Continue reading “Collecting thoughts…”

Measure of Man

Talk is cheap, and the only true way to measure a man is by his actions. But there is a connection between one’s thoughts, words, and deeds that ultimately, I believe, begins with the word. Just what that connection is, and how far it can take us, however, is something I’m still struggling to discover, something, ironically enough, I’m still not positive it’s actually possible to explain with speech. But I can try.

Continue reading “Measure of Man”

Human, Power.

Humans are not machines, we are not dull, boring, or thoughtless. We are just the opposite, full of questions, creativity, and insight. And most importantly, humans are fallible; we make mistakes, we fail, we hit walls, and are forced to overcome challenges, both physical and emotional.

Human power, and its place in travel and adventure is analogous to the human condition, which is our need to learn, explore, and discover. We seek to understand our limits, and we grow when we must overcome them.

Continue reading “Human, Power.”

Strugglefest

Sometimes life throws you a curveball. Sometimes it’s more like you’re just getting pummeled repeatedly in the batting cage. ‘When it rains it pours’ they say, and when things are going our way it’s often hard to see this, because we’re moving quickly and delighted by all that we pass. But inevitably the tides change, the wind shifts and it’s no longer the convenient tailwind but a fierce and stubborn headwind that we’re forced to battle. For whatever reason it seems it’s times like these that there is a compounding return of bullshit. Headwinds often come with large uphills, extra weight, and a shortage of food and water. Top that off with a traumatic puncture and your day is written. Off the road these circumstances occur as well, and although we strive for balance and clarity in our lives, it often appears that things are either going good or bad, when in really it is our narrow focus that makes things appear this way. So much of our experience is based on our perception: what we wanted to happen, what we expect, what we hope, and what really happens. Failure and disappointment are not absolutes, but events and emotions that carry as much weight as we give them. When we load our entire self-worth onto a single one, not only will we be let down when it stumbles, but we are setting it up to do so. I’m not a religious man, or more accurately, I’m not a practicing Christian, but in times like these I think of the story of Job, of a man constantly being tested by God. I don’t even know the whole story and to me that’s not what matters, to me the importance is in finding solace that others have experienced similar times of hardship. I don’t have the answers or a trick to dealing with those days when your dog dies, your partner dumps you, and a plague of locusts destroys your crops. I just find support in the fact that we all go through these times in our lives, that they happen, they end, and there will be another day, another chance. So much of our happiness and self-worth rides on our perception of success and failure, of challenge and ease. If I have learned anything during these times when it seems like nothing is going your way, it’s that only your perception can keep you from feeling beaten down. It’s our own minds that turn an unfortunate event into a crushing defeat, our own selves who turn a simple mistake into a glaring failure. But by detaching ourselves from these events we can step back and assess why they failed, but more importantly why they felt so important to us, and through this practice we can learn and grow more than if things had simply gone our way. I’m not trying to be your self help coach, I’m writing this more for myself, a pat on the back and an uplifting mantra to keep us in the game. There’s a lot going wrong in the world, and trying to improve things when you encounter resistance in your own life can be challenging, or damn right debilitating. But we’d be well served to include a healthy dose of perspective with each helping of disappointment: things will improve, there is a lesson, it’s not the end of the world, and there are a lot of other people out there who have it much harder off than we do. Remember this, close your eyes, and smile.  Life is a gift.