Return, Reload, Absorb...

Sometimes it takes a while for things to sink in.  Often times you realize the way as it unfolds.  The last month of my life has been an incredibly trans formative time, but the lessons and insights are lost in time.  To retrieve them requires quiet contemplation and presence, things that have been sacred but scarce for me recently. Over the last month I've moved from the east coast by plane, lived in cities, embarked on what was essentially a bicycle powered vision quest, been thrust back into the world of professionalism and academia, then raced off to the desert to shred a motor-less dirt bike.  It's been wild and crazy ride to say the least.

Now, as I regroup, repack, and reload for hopefully another adventure before work grounds me for the winter, I'm trying to keep the presence and perspective I've gained through it all.  Each night I reflect on what has happened recently and what is really important in life, to live with passion, patience, kindness, and courage.  I owe it to myself to remind myself often of life's fragility, beauty, and awesomeness.  As I reflect and digest all that I've experienced, I keep wishing I could sit an put my thoughts to words and pictures and share with you all I've seen.

But now is the time for movement and I'm still caught in the flow.  Soon enough I'll be able to slow down and transform all I've experienced to share with you. It's clear that another phase of this experiment has begun, the realization.  Boundaries are being crossed and limits being expanded, what is really possible and what I'm capable of is being realized like riding through a tunnel towards the light.  We've found the path and it feels right, I'm continuously overwhelmed with the understanding that this is the way, and it is only a matter of time and my effort to help show others and encourage them to join.

This is just to say that I'm thinking of being here often, excited to share some of the perspective and awesomeness I've gleaned over the last few weeks.  Emerson put it best when he said that it's a poet's job to transform the beauty and wisdom of nature for others to understand, but Terence McKenna's analogy for psychedelics is apt as well, that we're all cosmic fisherman, and it's our responsibility to come back from these journeys with some piece of wisdom to share with the world.  Although I haven't been trippin' balls recently, I feel like the experiences and realizations I've had are like giant creatures from the deep that I'm still trying to reel in.  Soon enough I'll have to weigh and measure them, to prepare them in a way that others can appreciate.  If you have the time or the inclination, keep up with us on facebook at Nature of Motion and on instagram @natureofmotion.  Until then I'll continue to search....

catching up...

Hello old friend.  I still don't really know weather or not to treat you as a mouthpiece, or a journal, or something in between, but I do feel as though I owe it to you, to myself to do a bit of catching up, as the last few months, weeks, and days, have held a lot of change, and there's always some sort of tugging reminder to share, or record it, here, for you, for myself, for whatever reason.  This has never felt like a project with boundaries, deadlines, or an end, but rather an ongoing and evolving space to share my thoughts and actions, organize them, realize new ones, and continue to strive to be a better human.  I've always told myself I would not apologize for not blogging, and I won't.  I feel no obligation to myself, to you the reader, or to anyone.  Much like the ebb and flow of physical awareness, where it takes an injury or illness to get realigned with the priorities of health and wellness, my aptitude for clear thinking and writing often falter and fizzle, but will in time return.

Progression

Winter is here.  Although the millions of people just a dozen miles away might disagree as they play golf, go for a climb, or walk in the park with 60 degree temps, up here in Alta, there's snow everywhere, icicles are forming, and I'm skiing every day.  Sure feels like winter.  In reality the shift is much more of a mental one in which I'd rather go for a ski tour, or find a half frozen runnel of water to climb then catch a ride to the valley to try and climb a few pitches in the sun or play a round of disc golf.  I guess my point is, it's winter in the mountains, and that's where I live.  But my intentions aren't just to give you some sort of over generalized weather forecast but to give you all who've been following along a heads up on what this change of seasons, and change of locations means for the Nature of Motion, and what you might expect to find here in the coming months.

Our summer's activities had such a profound and impressive effect on me that I can't help but acknowledge that I've uncovered a deep seated passion.  In combining my loves for climbing, cycling, the mountains, and sustainability, I've discovered something that requires so much from my mind and body, challenges me in so many ways, and is so incredibly rewarding that I cannot imagine not continuing it.  But as we settle back into the routines of winter, I can't help but look back and consider, whats next?  How can we continue to live this passion, to share it with you, and reach out to others as well?  

Becoming lost.

The act of travel, and the art of becoming lost, are at once related and reliant upon each other.  Although travelling, at its essence, is the simple act of moving from one place to another, as we all know, it can also be so much more.   Travelling imparts knowledge, it signifies rank, class, and intelligence, it can humble, embolden, and enlighten.   For all time traveling has been used by humans to expand understanding and cultivate awareness.  To begin to truly understand the nature of the world around us, and ourselves, it is necessary to move around, and experience that world.  Additionally, the means by which you travel have drastically different influences upon our bodies, and minds.

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.

Salt Lake City and Back

This last week we spent visiting family and friends in Salt Lake City.  For a weeklong vacation, even to drive the 800+ miles from Leavenworth to SLC is a hefty undertaking.  When you don't have a car, things get interesting.  You've got to get creative for these types of across the country get-togethers.  Bicycling isn't really an option for traveling such a long distance in a short amount of time.  When Liz and I started considering our travel options for this trip, a lot of larger questions started to arise.  Would we be compromising any of our beliefs or newfound passion for this lifestyle?  Would there be anything wrong with that?  What are our options and what do they mean for us, our family, and our society?  Compromise is a part of any relationship, and so far the sacrifices have been on our side.  We're not evangelical about what we're doing, but we are serious, and this (life) is all an experiment right?  We're trying to explore the concepts of mobility that so many of us take for granted.  Well let’s go...

How many miles per gallon?

Mountains, Mobility, and The Nature of Motion

Who remembers their first time riding a bike?  Although most of my childhood memories exist as snapshots and short films in my mind, I can pretty well recall my first experiences of two wheeled ecstasy.  While my trike and training wheel days might be lost in the haze, that first time I managed to balance and pedal my way across the front lawn has stuck with me to this day.  The sheer delight of those few moments being pushed between my mother and father, and eventually learning to roam around under my own body's power are powerful memories that I'll be hard pressed to forget.

The bicycle is nothing new, and it's anything but unpopular, everyone from the homeless to the most affluent, the cyclist riding purely for transportation to that of the racer riding for physical achievement, everyone who's ever ridden a bike has experienced this ultimate, and simple, childlike happiness.

Riding a bicycle can give you the sensation you are flying, it is an experience filled with joy.

Yes, slogging up steep mountain roads in blazing heat with no wind can be an unforgiving experience, and riding alongside speeding traffic has lead to many a near-death experience, but the satisfaction of moving under your own power, and the knowledge that at some point you'll be cruising downhill with the wind on your face, trees and scenery whizzing by, is enough to keep you pushing to the top.

Not many people learn to ride a bicycle after they're 10 years old, it's something they learn to do as a kid, and it'll stick with you for life.  I haven't heard of anyone learning to ride a bicycle purely for it's efficiency and mobility, in fact, when I ask most people why they ride their bikes, the most popular answer I get is "for fun".  For many folks, the choice to ride a bicycle for commuting and transportation is less about why you want to ride your bike then about why you don't want to drive a car.  A life choice so seemingly at odds with the ease and independence of the modern world is likely to spark discussion and debate about our many different world views. For myself, as for many others, this choice came about as more of an evolution than a decision.  Today I'm writing to give some insight into what the Nature of Motion is all about, why I no longer want to own a car, and more importantly why I think the bicycle is such a simple solution and amazing means of transportation.  Basically, here are some words about why I'm so happy to forgo the car, ride a bike, and climb mountains.

ramblings.....

Shadows pass underneath me, move into the distance, and dissolve into darkness.  As I glide along, the street lamps pass above me, replaying this motion over and over.  Riding my bike home from a late night trip to water the garden, this dance played out around me.  I was overcome with appreciation for this simple scene, the part I played, their interconnection, and the consciousness that made it all possible.  These are the moments when the world seems to fall away, all worries, hopes and cares, all thoughts turn into a cloud that is blown away by the breeze of pure awareness.