How many opportunities do we squander? How do we recognize an opportunity when it comes along? How many chances do you think we get?
Being ready for an opportunity means to have everything in place. “Success is 90% preparation, 10% perspiration.”
When opportunity knocks, you have to be ready to answer. You can second guess yourself, but it’s better to do it approaching opportunity than running from it.
In Hamlet, Shakespeare writes, “To thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not be false to any man.” In this line, the first step to integrity is being true to your own inner voice.
There’s a corollary in Toltec wisdom, according to Ruiz’s The Four Agreements: “Be impeccable with your word.” That this is the first agreement written seems important, as the other agreements spring from being true to your word, and to your self.
It’s not always the easiest path – being true to yourself. Many people throughout history have been labeled crazy, odd, or other equally derisive terms for not following norms. But norms are norms because they are the average. By that very definition, there must be people on both sides of the average.
Norms are societal agreements; common acceptable behaviors. But they had to begin somewhere, and what is common now may have very well been uncommon before.
It’s okay to be yourself. In fact, it’s preferable to be yourself, rather than someone else. “This above all, to thine own self be true.”
“On a basic level, there are three general methods to simplifying your life: stopping expansion, reining in your routine, and reducing clutter.”
– Rolf Potts, Vagabonding
Long before I discovered minimalism or the Kondo-method, there was a book I had read discussing the hows and whys of long-term travel. And I wasn’t ready for it when I first read it, back in 2003. The world was where I’d wanted to be, but I had a lot holding me back. It wasn’t until 2016 that I took significant steps toward making the dream of long-term world travel a reality.
Still, I combat the clutter and spending in my life. Having finished Strayed’s Wild, a portion of me wants to rid myself of nearly all my things, the bulk of which are already in a storage unit. She burned books after she read them, nightly, lightening the load of her pack to make walking just a tad easier.
We’ve all moved, and know that each time we lift that heavy piece of furniture we think that next time it’s not coming with us. But what about the smaller pieces, the things that don’t add value to our life anymore – things we just carry out of familiarity? Wouldn’t moving on be easier without them?
Maybe they’re not all material. Maybe some things we carry our internal – things that don’t serve us. Maybe those are the most important things to let go of…
Some days are easier than others. Some are harder. Either way, most days don’t go as anticipated.
So what do you do with your days?
There’s only so many we’re given. Only so many we get to enjoy. Wouldn’t you rather spend them pursuing your passions than toiling away and losing days to mediocrity?
Reading: Tip of the Iceberg by Mark Adams. Revisiting the book, pulling some ideas out regarding my summer.
Enjoying: A new hip flask, from Two Paddles Axe & Leatherwork. Sipping a honey bourbon on a cold day is tres-enjoyable.
Hearing: The new Little Shop of Horrors, off-broadway cast recording. Really nice!
Sharing:
Gentle river, gentle river
Swift as glides thy stream along,
Many a bold Canadian voyageur,
Bravely swelled the gay chanson
Thus of old our valiant fathers,
Many a lagging year agone
Gliding oer the rippling waters,
Taught to banish care in song.
Now the sun’s behind the willows,
Now he gleams along the lake,
Hark across the bounding billows
Liquid songs the echoes wake.
Rise Apollo up before us,
E’ne the lark’s begun her lay
Let us all in deafning chorus
Praise the glorious king of day.
Thus we lead a life of pleasure,
Thus we while the hours away,
Thus we revel beyond measure,
Gaily live we while we may.
– Henry David Thoreau
“All real meaning accrued from duration.”
-Ken Burns
Most transactions now are momentary; fleeting. Real value is accrued through spending time with something. Learning, experiencing, taking time – this has how life is made worth living.
Don’t just rush through the day, checking things off a list. Spend time on them. Experience them, and feel the joy of life.
“Be broke or be wealthy, but never accept mediocrity.”
My friend and I used to discuss the problems with settling – that in so doing you’re effectively giving up on a portion of your dream. So he went out and started his own video production company. I’m not sure that he’s always doing exactly what he wants, but at least he’s in the ballpark.
I lost sight of my path about four years ago and since that time I’ve had some difficulty refinding my footing. I’ve jumped around from position to position, taking gigs here and there. Financially it’s been a lot of ups and downs. Personally, it has been mostly good, especially in the past three years. The year 2016 was the most tenuous.
Even still, I am constantly trying new things. I can’t seem to become satisfied in one specific area. I’ll enjoy the world of performance for a time, and then need to step back to make some money elsewhere. Work for a nonprofit a year, then switch to for-profit. Back and forth, in-and-out of projects – it’s a whirlwind.
And it is all in pursuit of some goal that won’t let me settle into something. That keeps me moving. We can’t always be doing exactly what we want. But if we’re playing the wrong game, it’s up to us to find the stadium.
There is much more to living than owning things.
Connecting deeply with other humans. Travel and exploration. The expansion of your mind through learning and practicing new skills. Being, truly being, where you are.
No one was ever who they were truly meant to be because of what they owned; rather, it was by what they did.
“Only by going alone in silence, without baggage, can one truly get into the heart of the wilderness. All other travel is mere dust and hotels and baggage and chatter.”
– John Muir
The wild places are where we found the heart of humanity. Man was not born of the city, but rather of woods, and plains, and mountains. We expect so much from our modern life that it’s easy to overlook the simple pleasures of walking through the woods or tending your own garden.
As children, we knew the woods just up the street to be wilderness. We played in those trees, rummaged through the low underbrush, and identified insects, reptiles, and amphibians best we could. As we grow older, we stray off the sidewalk less and less.
This isn’t universal. In fact, there is a push for reentering nature the likes of which probably haven’t been seen since the sixties. People are in need of more wilderness if merely to combat that rampant modernization.
So it’s important to be outside. To forest bathe, or sit under the stars. Away from light pollution, and outside of walls. It’s where we found our heart once, and it can show us the way again.
Michael's Musings 