New Directions

'How we react to and handle events is determined not by the events themselves but by how we view the events, often through the prism of our deeply held irrational beliefs.'


I've finally come to terms with not finding a job soon--not that I've given up, or stopped looking--just that I am no longer waiting to 'settle down' and 'settle back into the US' in order to start on the tasks I've been thinking about for the past two and a half years.

I've figured out that my main problem in 'settling back into the US' is communicating. You ask: Why? Aren't you always meeting new people and talking to them?' Yes, when I'm traveling, I have to talk to people, different people: farmers, herders, hippies, young Europeans out for an adventure. But it's not the type of lingo that goes into trying to find yourself a job, or talking about your professional interests. Being where I am now (graduating, traveling for 2 years, and having no concrete work experience), that question of professional interest BURNS in everyone's mind. To go from a world with no money at all, to a world where money governs everything...is where my communication has gotten stuck.

So here is to my new goals, new directions.

1) BLOGGING
I've decided I need to start writing for an audience again. If I want to work in policy, I need to learn to speak 'USA style' again, speaking so that people here care and listen to what I say. I need to rebuild this blog to share the projects I'm working on, my 'irrational beliefs' (aka my philosophical discoveries), and knowledge related to environmental sustainability, local foods and bikes! And I will be sharing African experiences on bikesinafrica again.

2) Local Foods and Urban Farming
Stemming from my WWOOF experiences in New Zealand and Australia--the newfound awareness that I gained of the importance of food on human health and the environment--I am going to work with local community (wherever that may end up being) groups to address food health and environmental issues. In essence, I want to find a way to apply that awareness at home.

3) Fixing Bikes
Have to find some way to nurse the bike touring withdrawal, right? Besides, I want to become better at bike mechanics

3) Reading about the History of Africa: African leaders, the land, modern development, culture. Maybe even finding African communities. Any suggestions?

4) Learn Arabic

The Road to Failure? or Success?

trying, trying...fail

trying, trying...fail

trying, trying...fail

at what point do you stop continuing to pick yourself back up?...and drop the subject all together? the first time there are a few that reluctant souls that help you, then they go on with the better things they have to do with their lives. by the third or fourth time, there's no one there to help you up. you're all on your own.

so, at what point do you stop continuing to pick yourself back up?...and drop the subject all together?

my biked-across-africa soul says, never! never ever stop trying! how could you betray yourself? goddammit, you die trying!

and my cynical mind says, you can't keep going on like this, unless you don't want to ever land a job. you're wasting your time. getting nowhere. no results. nothing to show for.

out of all the odds, will it ever be:
trying, trying.....(1 billion times), SUCCESS?!

ah, one of the biggest questions of life. i think i just realized the fine line between failure and success.



maybe i'm thinking too much---about writing cover letters

free spirit

Roaming through Peach's Outward Bound: Book of Readings, a few favorites:


'I think', said Christopher Robin, 'that we ought to eat all our provisions now, so we won't have so much to carry.' -A.A. Milne


'We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit.' - E.E.Cummings


'When angry, count four; when very angry, swear' -Mark Twain


'"Look here!", said the water rat. "If you've really nothing else on hand this morning, supposing we drop down the river together, and have a long day of it?" The mole waggled his toes from sheer happiness, spread his chest with a sigh of full contentment, and leaned back blissfully into the soft cushions. "What a day I'm having!", he said. "Let us start at once!" -Kenneth Grahame (The Wind in the Willows)


'The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely, or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature, and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As long as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be.' -Anne Frank (The Diary of Anne Frank)


'For everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
A time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate;
A time for war, and a time for peace.'
- Ecclesiastes: 3


'When you're no longer thinking ahead, each footstep is...a unique event in itself. This leaf has jagged edges. This rock looks loose. These are things you should notice anyway. To live only for some future goal is shallow. It's the sides of the mountain which sustain life, not the top. Here's where things grow.' -Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance