Sunday, February 25, 2018
Friday, February 23, 2018
Past the funk!
I got off the strugglebus! Realizing I'm a bit of a 'builder' by nature, and struggle during periods of deconstruction and contraction. Looking forward to being in Chile and back in a phase of 'building'!
I have about a week and a half before I leave, and I think I'm ready! Large backpack (checked bag), daypack (carry-on), briefcase (personal item), and weather stations (checked bag) are all packed -- weather stations are in a large box that I'll be rolling around with a luggage cart. When I get to Santiago, I'll visit a customs agent at the airport and pay ~$1000 in taxes and fees to import the weather stations (!) The research institute I'm working with wants to pay this for me so they can keep the equipment.
Overall Itinerary:
March 5: 3pm leave Denver, 8pm arrive Atlanta, 10pm leave Atlanta
March 6: 10am arrive Santiago
March 7: Present Fulbright project and listen to other Fulbright presenters
March 8: 'Fulbright Enhancement Activities'
March 9: 10pm leave Santiago, 12am arrive Puerto Montt
March 10: 11am leave Puerto Montt, 12pm arrive Balmaceda, take bus to Coyhaique
I have about a week and a half before I leave, and I think I'm ready! Large backpack (checked bag), daypack (carry-on), briefcase (personal item), and weather stations (checked bag) are all packed -- weather stations are in a large box that I'll be rolling around with a luggage cart. When I get to Santiago, I'll visit a customs agent at the airport and pay ~$1000 in taxes and fees to import the weather stations (!) The research institute I'm working with wants to pay this for me so they can keep the equipment.
Overall Itinerary:
March 5: 3pm leave Denver, 8pm arrive Atlanta, 10pm leave Atlanta
March 6: 10am arrive Santiago
March 7: Present Fulbright project and listen to other Fulbright presenters
March 8: 'Fulbright Enhancement Activities'
March 9: 10pm leave Santiago, 12am arrive Puerto Montt
March 10: 11am leave Puerto Montt, 12pm arrive Balmaceda, take bus to Coyhaique
Monday, February 19, 2018
Riding the Strugglebus
Taking a break from the alliteration for y'all's sanity...I've definitely been struggling a bit, primarily due to some trying travel experiences, as well as the inevitable scaling back of the community activities that have given me joy over the past couple years in Boulderland.
The Great Visa Debacle:
My visa was approved at the end of January, and I was informed by the consulate in Los Angeles to, "Come on February 27th at 12:30pm. Please don't be late." So I purchased a flight February 26-28 to pick up my visa. On the evening of Monday, February 12, I received another email, "Come on February 13th at 12:30pm. Please don't be late." So I scrambled to purchase a flight for the next morning. In the scramble, I made a mistake while booking the return flight...I picked up my visa on February 13th without hassle, and then had a full day in LA! I rode public transit to Santa Monica, worked at a Starbucks for a couple hours, and then strolled over to the beach. I was super stoked about the beach scene: lots of giant pull-up bars, trapeze rings, swings etc. Not as much of a macho vibe; rather, friends hanging out at the beach...I swam in the Pacific for the first time ever! I was expecting to be thoroughly disgusted by LA, but I loved it! I met up with a friend, who showed me Hollywood and Venice Beach, and then dropped me off at the airport around 12am for a 1am flight...When I got to the gate, the agent and I discovered that I did not have a flight home until February 28th! Frontier was completely booked and Spirit's website was not functioning, so I had to hunker down for the night at LAX... I bought a 10am flight out the next morning and made it back to Boulder around 3pm, a thoroughly exhausted, defeated shell of a human.
Unfortunately I've been in a funky spot ever since, not quite able to muster up my usual life energy. I take advantage of the productive moods when they come, but they are few and far between. I know I need to focus on moving forward, but distracting myself doesn't seem like the right approach. I've been infinitely grateful for strangers who have reached out: the LAX human who didn't speak English, but knew I was in a tough place and offered me a bottle of water; another LAX human who struck up a conversation at the gate that turned into hours...
Oddly enough, the California beach scene gave me a lot to think about: I was instantly reminded of the reasons I came to Boulder. I'm realizing exactly what I'm looking for when I talk about co-ops, homesteading, eco-villages: I seek a community of folks who live, work, and play together, whether that is on hiking trails, bike paths, ski slopes, farm fields, or the beach. I found a bit of that in Boulderland, but economic realities tend to consume surplus energy for living and playing. Many folks come out here to play outside and are mostly defeated by the need to house one's body in a rental market that serves as an investment opportunity for wealthy Baby Boomers. Today I had a lovely visit with an elderly friend suffering from health problems: her experiences provided some good perspective on end-of-life issues, and the physical limits of our earthly journey.
Of course, these words are the ramblings of a special snowflake, a person of privilege who is chronically unfit for 21st century life in America...I fully realize that I signed up for this lifestyle, chose this path...
I've recently become involved with an eco-village-in-creation in the mountains near Rollinsville: this has given me a great deal hope for a positive return to Colorado, at a time when other signs are pointing towards not returning...I'll get off the Strugglebus soon, but for the time being, it seems like it's taking me somewhere.
The Great Visa Debacle:
My visa was approved at the end of January, and I was informed by the consulate in Los Angeles to, "Come on February 27th at 12:30pm. Please don't be late." So I purchased a flight February 26-28 to pick up my visa. On the evening of Monday, February 12, I received another email, "Come on February 13th at 12:30pm. Please don't be late." So I scrambled to purchase a flight for the next morning. In the scramble, I made a mistake while booking the return flight...I picked up my visa on February 13th without hassle, and then had a full day in LA! I rode public transit to Santa Monica, worked at a Starbucks for a couple hours, and then strolled over to the beach. I was super stoked about the beach scene: lots of giant pull-up bars, trapeze rings, swings etc. Not as much of a macho vibe; rather, friends hanging out at the beach...I swam in the Pacific for the first time ever! I was expecting to be thoroughly disgusted by LA, but I loved it! I met up with a friend, who showed me Hollywood and Venice Beach, and then dropped me off at the airport around 12am for a 1am flight...When I got to the gate, the agent and I discovered that I did not have a flight home until February 28th! Frontier was completely booked and Spirit's website was not functioning, so I had to hunker down for the night at LAX... I bought a 10am flight out the next morning and made it back to Boulder around 3pm, a thoroughly exhausted, defeated shell of a human.
Unfortunately I've been in a funky spot ever since, not quite able to muster up my usual life energy. I take advantage of the productive moods when they come, but they are few and far between. I know I need to focus on moving forward, but distracting myself doesn't seem like the right approach. I've been infinitely grateful for strangers who have reached out: the LAX human who didn't speak English, but knew I was in a tough place and offered me a bottle of water; another LAX human who struck up a conversation at the gate that turned into hours...
Oddly enough, the California beach scene gave me a lot to think about: I was instantly reminded of the reasons I came to Boulder. I'm realizing exactly what I'm looking for when I talk about co-ops, homesteading, eco-villages: I seek a community of folks who live, work, and play together, whether that is on hiking trails, bike paths, ski slopes, farm fields, or the beach. I found a bit of that in Boulderland, but economic realities tend to consume surplus energy for living and playing. Many folks come out here to play outside and are mostly defeated by the need to house one's body in a rental market that serves as an investment opportunity for wealthy Baby Boomers. Today I had a lovely visit with an elderly friend suffering from health problems: her experiences provided some good perspective on end-of-life issues, and the physical limits of our earthly journey.
Of course, these words are the ramblings of a special snowflake, a person of privilege who is chronically unfit for 21st century life in America...I fully realize that I signed up for this lifestyle, chose this path...
I've recently become involved with an eco-village-in-creation in the mountains near Rollinsville: this has given me a great deal hope for a positive return to Colorado, at a time when other signs are pointing towards not returning...I'll get off the Strugglebus soon, but for the time being, it seems like it's taking me somewhere.
Monday, February 12, 2018
Winter: Delving Deep, Disconnecting
This is the first of many meditations on spiritual states of winter, as Mickey moves through three winter seasons uninterrupted by summer.
Now is the winter of our disconnect. A somber season of darkness when distractions are whisked away with whipping winds, surrounding sounds are subdued in snowy stillness, fiery fears fuel us forward, and coldness collects our consciousness, concentrates courage. Wintry woods, frosty forests mirror the quiet we cultivate within. Rocky ridges, steep slopes witness our weakness, sentinel our smallness. In this solemn stillness, we invite ourselves inward, delve deeply, face fear.
lo que me hizo pensar: For the next three weeks, I live in a small wooden shed outside of the co-op in Boulderland, USA. Last night, temperatures were in the low teens (Fahrenheit), but I had plenty of extra heat buried beneath a quilted cocoon. The lack of wi-fi let me focus on a few good chapters of a book, and I descended into a deep slumber for many hours, awaking into a fullness I haven't felt in...
The past years have been an exercise in energetic exchanging and emptying. I wander along winding trails in autumn air through foggy forests, finding friends, meeting minstrels, sowing seeds, picking plants, harvesting hope cultivated in soggy spring and summer sun...my journey now turns toward tundra, leaves the closed canopy and mossy mat, meeting misty mountain meadows.
I honor this journey: we climb through miles of montane slopes to find alpine expanses. I envy the content creature who is satisfied staying seaside, marveling at mountain majesty, no inclination to challenging climbs, dangerous descents. We wilderness weirdos are wont to seek summits, climb couloirs, ski chutes, ride rapids....squeeze the knees and cheese the trees! When the body is in motion, the soul rests. Storms outside stoke the fire within!
The past years leave me with alien apathy, apparent affluence settling into stagnation: safety and security are not sustainable. Struggling, surviving, striving, this is what we animals do, and we die when we do not! The instant connectivity of our global society is terribly useful, and uselessly terrible. We are told that technology is a tool with tremendous power, but what doesn't tech tell us? What kinds of greater connections and experiences do we circumvent by compartmentalizing ourselves with computers?
In Chile, I will live in a vegetarian house with three healer humans, a cat named Paloma, fruit trees, no freezer, and no wi-fi! I will greet the rising sun, savor the solemn stillness, and relish this opportunity to disconnect, disassociate, delve within, to ground down.
We live in a sad and stupid time when the existence of winter is threatened:
http://time.com/5139589/scott-pruitt-climate-change-epa/
We value consumption, convenience, and comfort over conservation, cooperation, and contemplation. In a world where self-reliance is sacrilege, inner peace is illegal, and to tarry is treason, I dare you to exist!
Now is the winter of our disconnect. A somber season of darkness when distractions are whisked away with whipping winds, surrounding sounds are subdued in snowy stillness, fiery fears fuel us forward, and coldness collects our consciousness, concentrates courage. Wintry woods, frosty forests mirror the quiet we cultivate within. Rocky ridges, steep slopes witness our weakness, sentinel our smallness. In this solemn stillness, we invite ourselves inward, delve deeply, face fear.
lo que me hizo pensar: For the next three weeks, I live in a small wooden shed outside of the co-op in Boulderland, USA. Last night, temperatures were in the low teens (Fahrenheit), but I had plenty of extra heat buried beneath a quilted cocoon. The lack of wi-fi let me focus on a few good chapters of a book, and I descended into a deep slumber for many hours, awaking into a fullness I haven't felt in...
The past years have been an exercise in energetic exchanging and emptying. I wander along winding trails in autumn air through foggy forests, finding friends, meeting minstrels, sowing seeds, picking plants, harvesting hope cultivated in soggy spring and summer sun...my journey now turns toward tundra, leaves the closed canopy and mossy mat, meeting misty mountain meadows.
I honor this journey: we climb through miles of montane slopes to find alpine expanses. I envy the content creature who is satisfied staying seaside, marveling at mountain majesty, no inclination to challenging climbs, dangerous descents. We wilderness weirdos are wont to seek summits, climb couloirs, ski chutes, ride rapids....squeeze the knees and cheese the trees! When the body is in motion, the soul rests. Storms outside stoke the fire within!
The past years leave me with alien apathy, apparent affluence settling into stagnation: safety and security are not sustainable. Struggling, surviving, striving, this is what we animals do, and we die when we do not! The instant connectivity of our global society is terribly useful, and uselessly terrible. We are told that technology is a tool with tremendous power, but what doesn't tech tell us? What kinds of greater connections and experiences do we circumvent by compartmentalizing ourselves with computers?
In Chile, I will live in a vegetarian house with three healer humans, a cat named Paloma, fruit trees, no freezer, and no wi-fi! I will greet the rising sun, savor the solemn stillness, and relish this opportunity to disconnect, disassociate, delve within, to ground down.
We live in a sad and stupid time when the existence of winter is threatened:
http://time.com/5139589/scott-pruitt-climate-change-epa/
We value consumption, convenience, and comfort over conservation, cooperation, and contemplation. In a world where self-reliance is sacrilege, inner peace is illegal, and to tarry is treason, I dare you to exist!
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