ANOTHER FUNNY SPANISH SKIT

ADVENTURE #82 — THE QUEST FOR THE BUDDHA HAND

After my rainy Caoling hike, the rain continued to pour, but on a rare sunny weekend, I got a much-needed recharging adventure with a visit from Josh and Sarah Nitz.

We ate at a packed night market (in the middle of the day) and started looking for a cave temple in the Keelung area that I, in the funk I mentioned on my last post, hadn’t bothered hitting up yet.  Along the way, a couple of dudes in a pickup truck threw lit fireworks at us out of their window as they drove by.  The firecrackers landed behind us and started popping, giving us a right good scare.  But hey, it was Chinese New Year.

Here’s a gallery of what we got into, and ALL of these photos were taken by Josh and Sarah, so a major SPECIAL THANKS go out to them.

I am the pterodactyl!

CLOSED

We went into one cave shrine, with ancient graffiti and a claustrophobic squeeze through a natural crack to reach a deeper shrine, clearly labeled the “Wiggle Path.”  LOL.  But there was no sign of the famous cave ceiling known as the Buddha Hand, for its resemblance to an outstretched palm doming over your head.  Back outside the first cave, we went up stairs to an overlook of the second largest harbor in Taiwan and looked into an under-construction temple, but still no sign of the natural wonder we sought.

When we found the cave entrance we were looking for, we discovered it was closed due to a recent rockfall and saw 50 to 60 foot scaffolding and caution tape sealing off the broken hillside.

Not to be deterred, we slipped out of a small door in the back of the outdoor, public shrine (the 4th shrine in this narrative for those who are counting) and trespassed through a metal gate to have a look.

Here’s a glimpse into our antics:

ESCAPE

Having discovered in the labyrinth a second exit, we heard people approaching and made a run for it.  It feels good to break a rule every now and then.

ROCK FORMATIONS

Next we went to the seashore to check out the beautiful rock formations in my backyard, so-to-speak.  It is a place for a stroll, for harvesting seaweed, for fishing, for rock-hopping, and for a dazzling sense of wonder and the infinite variety of nature.

NOODLE HOUSE

After our adventures we went to a noodle shop in Keelung wonderfully called “Noodle House,” and then had a dessert of, in my case, prickly pair cactus ice cream (or maybe it was gelato), but in any case, it was good.  After the smoke of a clove cigarette we said goodbye to each other and to a fine day of prolific adventure.

Also, it was on this day that I think I got the best picture of me ever taken; when I say I live in Keelung, I mean specifically my perch is on this volcanic rock by the sea, which gives me ample feeding ground:

I am the pterodactyl!

WAKING UP

My eyes open and I inhale deeply and quickly, blinking the sleep from my eyes.  The flight attendant is asking me, in her beautiful Cantonese accent, what I’d like for dinner.  We are making our descent with less than an hour to go.  I realize I’ve been asleep for a long time, 8 hours solid at least.  But as I slide the thin plastic window-shade up to be blasted by a bright white light, light of dazzling cloud and blinding sun — harsh but welcome — I realize I’ve been asleep for much longer than that.

Back in the States, over the 5 or 6 previous years, I had been subtly haunted, on-and-off by the same kind of dream.  Perhaps 40 times, maybe 50 times, I would wake in my bed, having dreamed so convincingly that I was in Hong Kong.  Often it was some single street:  a back alley of Shenzhen, for example.  Other times, I was in Victoria Park or on some green peak with windswept grasses.  Sometimes I was just walking down a store-lined street.  Sometimes it was a place I didn’t know specifically, but I knew it was in Hong Kong.  Sometimes I have a recurring dream of a stony mountain path and an ascent with no trees, rather a certain kind of stone … but that’s for another tale.  And I dreamed more than once that I was on the great plane journey over the seas to that paradise on the other side.  I endured these consistent pangs of waking so many times, always having to drag myself up and go to work, wanting to lie back down and return to far-off places in dreams.  Maybe these dreams were just the subconscious clutter of deep desire, the knowledge that, pretend as I would, I could not keep my heart away from Asia.  But it felt like more than that.  It felt like a glimpse of what was to come, a window into my destiny, a reminder that some invisible clock was ticking, some plane was, even then, waiting to carry me away from all my American adventures.

The path I’m on, the adventurer’s quest for the ultimate ride, must at points have dramatic and costly twists and turns.  It is a mistake to think it is a line of steady progress moved forward in the free time of a stable lifestyle.  On the contrary, these earthquakes can be paradigm shifts in thought that require one to bitterly (or gladly) eat one’s former words, near death experiences and physical hardships, the sudden necessity to learn a new language, or the sudden Star-Trek-esque “beaming” from home, friends, family, country, and culture.    I had become a stronger person over those years past — I got a degree and, more importantly, had had a host of new and wild adventures.  My brain and my body became equipped with the experience of all those hikes, the freezing swims, the muddy caves, the leaps off cliffs, the plunges down whitewater rapids — but I knew the Life of Adventure doesn’t allow stability for long, a necessity of “feeling alive” and of embracing the truth.

Every time I had one of those Hong Kong dreams, I thought, for a moment, the time had finally come.  But I always woke to my own bed in America.

Imagine the shock, then, after my 8 hour slumber, as I woke to see the first mountain peaks on the other side of the Pacific, floating on roots lost in the white mists of the sea.  Fishing boats came into view below, and then the coast.  And I realized, though it seemed just a few hours since I’d left my old routine of American life, it was no dream.  At long last, after more than 5 years, I was back.

As if prompted by the ringing of some far-off church bell, as if seized from the water’s edge by a long-waiting crocodile, I had been ripped from those 5 years of stability and shaken from one world to wake in another.  I had vanished from all I had known to be real, and come at last into the place I’d dreamt about so often.

And I realized, in that moment, that the plan worked.  The plan, which I had kept inside, despite the hours of paperwork, the doubts, the problems, the tense waiting for responses from the consulate, the late night visits to FedEx/Kinko’s Office, the days and hours of walking through parking garages thinking, planning my next moves, waiting for the email which would hit my phone to confirm another step had been completed.  I had lit a fuse and gone on with my life as if it wasn’t burning, knowing, waiting for that long fuse to run down to zero and blow my whole lifestyle away — my possessions, house, girlfriend, friends, job, language, habits, and even my name would crash all around me, and I would wake up in a whole new place.  And I did on that plane.  The fuse struck, and in the matter of a few hours and a deep sleep … it was all gone and the barriers of an ocean and 13 hours on the clock had admitted me.

What happens to a dream deferred?  I don’t know or care, nor do I ever want to.  I know that the realization of a dream is the ambrosia of immortality — a moment of smiling, laughing glory which will live forever in my memory and my history.  My “homeland” is now a foreign land utterly out of reach.  Right now, as I write, I can turn my head to look back, but all I see is a Taiwanese street (and a stray, usually black for some reason, dog).

This is my dream world — now in hi-def.

ONTO NEW QUESTS

After that dinner and that descent, I got up from my seat with my immigration forms and my jacket, gently hefted down my carry on, and walked, smiling, back into Hong Kong.  It was then onto the Airport Express, then the MTR system with all the familiar stops, and then to the home of a great friend.  Then came days of revisiting old explored places along with many new ones.  Then it was onto a whole new country, a whole new world of adventures.  I’m gonna show you some of what I experienced.

HONG KONG

As much as I’ve changed in the last 5 years, the city still stops me in my tracks to awe and gape.   Maybe it’s the crowded yet almost dinner-plate clean MTR subway system.  Maybe it’s mahjong parlours with sliding, frosted glass doors and the sound of a thousand clinking tile pieces being shuffled within.  Maybe it’s the Maxim’s Cakes bakeries, suckling pig and roasted whole gooses hanging in the butcher-shop windows, the shops of Gucci, Piaget, G2000, Giordano, Bossini, Swatch, Tiesot, Armani; the electric tramcars, the slippery fish markets where every kind of edible sea creature swims in tanks or lays on beds of ice still flopping, clawing, crawling.  Maybe it’s the dim sum restaurants with round tables covered in white table cloth, the custom of washing your white bowl, soup-spoon, and chopsticks with tea and then pouring it all into a glass bowl to be taken by the waiter.  Or maybe it’s the custom of setting the teapot lid angled out of its slot to show the waiter you need them to “ga di seui” (add water).  Maybe it’s the powerful earthy, herbal smell of the Chinese medicine shops which can be found just about everywhere.  Maybe it’s the sound of Cantonese, spoken in that super-fast, sing-songy way normal to tonal languages, or maybe its the sound of Octopus cards beeping passengers into buses, subways, trains, cable-cars, trams, 7-11s, DeliFrance, etc.  Or maybe it’s that globally recognizable skyline featuring IFC 1 & 2, “the Triangle Building,” Lippo Center, HSBC World Headquarters, the Peak, the Bank of China Tower, and all the others — a skyline that’s visible from the mountain peaks and the bustling harbor-side.

The grand answer is that I don’t know.  But there is something … magical, about the place; some intangible force of modernity, of opportunity, of paradise.  And I cannot resist it.  Even if I could, I know I wouldn’t.  Much as I am in love with the natural world, a love that is always returned to the giver, I am in love with this part of nature, this place on the globe.  The city has a soul, and its very akin to mine.

I will try, in an utterly ineffective way, to show you that paradise over the next few posts.  I explored the city, parts old and new, went on 4 hikes, and went surfing in a storm.  That last one gave me 4 distinct injuries.  But I’m fine now … no, no, I’m better than fine.

BRAD’S GOODBYE

This may be the last post on this blog.

In a few hours, I will be leaving the United States for the Far East.  I go now to adventure in ways far more exotic than anything seen on this blog so far, in a place where the landscape and the culture could not have more character and interest.  It is possible that these adventures abroad, like the ones before them, won’t get a treatment in writing.

I have done a poor job of cataloging the adventures of my life over the past few years — I have omitted many and important parts of these stories and left others out entirely.

I don’t believe one person can change another.  All I have seen has directed me to think that when a person decides to change on the inside, they may assign it to inspiration from a book, movie, personal friend or famous figure, or something else.  But the change is always from the inside out, and never really from the outside in, like an egg that is merely waiting for the right temperature to hatch, revealing what was inside all along.

So I’m not writing this post, indeed, I didn’t write the blog, because I really thought I could change people or inspire people.  It was more for my own satisfaction when looking back, and, if I’m honest, to attract girls

But the things I’ve come to believe have, throughout these adventures, been tested and proved a hundred times over, maybe more.  I leave them here as the conclusions of a young man who has just soared from his zero point (working as a parking ticket writer in Knoxville, TN) to his highest peak yet, though I’m sure the summit is so far off I can’t even see it yet.

1.  The purpose of life is to feel alive.  Whether this is in sipping hot Pu-erh tea in a steaming bathtub with a hot washcloth over your forehead or whether it is jumping 50 feet from a cliff is up to you — but for me, it’s both.  Simple pleasures like petting my cat and listening to electronic music blaring from my speaker system while I shower are as close to bliss for me as clipping the last bolt on a lead rock climb I’ve never tried before, only to look back and see a wide sky above all the trees.  Sometimes it has been a long conversation with a true friend, and sometimes it is lying in a claustrophobic cave passage or off-trailing it for 10+ hours, jumping out of a plane, skiing behind a boat, or doing a backflip at a nightclub.

This implies, if accepted, that every day is a day to do something deliberate to feel alive.  A day in which even a small time is not sacrificed to honor this truth is a day not worth living; it will be forgotten.  It is easy to do daily something you’ve never done before.  Far better advice to not go even a week without doing something that makes you feel excited, free, and sublime.

2.  Don’t ever stop exploring, stop learning, stop challenging yourself.  Take a moment to enjoy each triumph and move on.  Never, ever stop.  If there’s something you want to do, start planning.  It is a person lacking wisdom who waits and hopes for what they want to occur.

To settle down is to resist change, and to resist change is to stand braced in the surf as wave after wave of unhappiness breaks over you.  It’s a common disease of the mind to think that securing one’s life into fixed grooves is desirable.  Many a person has thought that once they owned a home, married a stable partner, bought health insurance and had secure employment, they would have “arrived.”  But there is no arrival in this life and no stability to be had where human beings are involved.  Hell, there’s no stability where the forces of nature are involved  A study of the anecdotes of everyone you know will reveal as much.  When they realize the hardships of the woods were better than a roof and fireside when you can only look out the window, an emotional death awaits.  Shiny diamond engagement rings, shiny SUVs with hefty payments, and the noble-sounding but disastrous desire to “live for others” are all purveyors to ruin and bait inside a cage.  People will argue that “you can still be adventurous and *insert all those things*” but I’m speaking about “I did that when I was younger” syndrome (precursor to full-blown “I don’t do fun things anymore” disease).  Fun is going off the tracks, and the deeper you cut the ruts of your life the harder it is to get out of them.  Period.

3.  A person’s happiness and maybe even their sanity can be easily measured.  The degree to which one sees reality and accepts it, for good or bad, is the degree of one’s happiness.  To see reality and to go on believing that it is otherwise is the path of unhappiness.  Logic, discernment; to wit, fact-finding and fact-facing are the most critical skills the brain is capable of and often the most neglected, for none of us receive formal training where matters of our personal lives are concerned.  Human beings would more readily accept that the universe is ruled by an invisible cosmic elephant with 6 arms than believe that there is nothing after death, would rather believe that bread transmutes into flesh than consider that maybe, MAYBE the billions of tons of carbon dioxide we put in the atmosphere just MIGHT actually affect SOMETHING.  I have been stunned a thousand times over at my generation following the traditions and advice of the former generations which destroyed the housing market, job market, etc. etc.  There are a thousand miseries for one who can’t dodge the traps another has just fallen into (or more commonly, traps they’ve fallen into before, like controlling relationships or substance habits); believe me, I’ve walked right into the problems I’ve seen my friends face.  Logic would have led me to find some UT Journalism graduates and consult them about their job prospects BEFORE I chose that as a major, but I had not learned enough of basic logical synthesis yet.  To think before acting is an achievement I continue to work at, as easy as it sounds, there is often alot to consider about our actions.  To listen to your friends when they all tell you your girlfriend is a bad idea, rather than hold on until the bitter end when hearts get broken is a rare achievement indeed, because the mouse can’t see the maze layout, but the researcher can.  Either emotions overrule logic, or logic overrules emotions in any individual.  If you have any doubt as to which one is more desirable, consider that emotions have never built a suspension bridge, kept a steady hand at surgery, or even won a fight, verbal or physical, and they intrinsically interfere with your safety anytime it’s in question (i.e. cliff jumping and rock climbing).  Fear makes what you fear more likely to happen.  Emotions are, essentially, the weakness in us coming out when we aren’t strong enough to act deliberately based on what’s true and right.  I’m not being sexist here, I know plenty of women who don’t subscribe to the whole “women are born more emotional” thing.  There are as many of each sex in my experience who can keep a cool hand when to fail to would be disastrous.  The girlfriend I’m leaving behind is one of these.  And therein lies another another recommendation of fact-finding and fact-facing.  Despite what I thought when I was younger, I now see that whether I’m in a relationship or not, no matter how much I’m in love with a particular girl, I still desire to get close to new and intriguing women who come my way.  I don’t try to pretend reality is different.  That’s the truth of how I feel and feel right feeling (follow that ←-?).  So, even though it’s a rare thing, I got into an open relationship.  Most honest, loving, drama-free, functional relationship I’ve ever been in.  I would never cheat, because I’m responsible.  I don’t kid myself about what I want.  If you’re honest about it, nobody gets hurt.

It’s not always easy to accept what you really want and to seek it out, but it is really the only way to be happy.  You can’t pretend it isn’t what it is.  Some things that happen in life can’t be changed, but in these cases, you can always rise to meet them and “see with eyes unclouded.”

4.  Many people will be glad to follow the path that is set before them as children.  The son of a medical person might be happy to, with certain parental approval, pursue a course in some branch of medicine with his parent’s financial help.  I dated a girl once whose family had more than 20 horses.  Growing up in this she had become an expert on horse training and, naturally, wanted to start a horse training business.  And why not?  She’d be good at it and would enjoy it.  Who else would have the resources of land, barns, round-pens and the like anyhow?  I have seen, time and again, how the combination of family connections and young experience have provided a clear and acceptable path for friend after friend.  Steve Irwin’s family were zookeepers.  Bear Grylls’ dad took him climbing at a very young age.  George W. Bush’s dad was a president.  The anecdotes are endless.  Many a high school retail worker has gotten into management with that company when the degree didn’t pay off.  I see nothing wrong with any of this.  It’s no surprise that alot of the great adventurers and climbers out there started doing it when they were barely old enough to spell.  Who knows, I could be the best bobsledder in the world, but being as I’ve never been exposed to bobsledding or given the chance to try, we’ll never know.  (I’m serious, I really think I am)  I’m only making the point that it is who we know, how we were raised, where we were raised, etc. that determine our futures, especially in America, where the “who-you-know” system does a terrible job of actually placing individuals where they will do the most good for everyone.

But I think that we humans yearn for “character creation,” a process that has sold video games like World of Warcraft, the Elder Scrolls series, and numerous other RPGs, not to mention every pen-and-paper RPG in existence and a considerable number of other products.  Some people pay alot of money at salons, tattoo parlours, and clothing/shoe stores to “create” themselves.  Interior decorating, the products you buy, the car/bike you drive, these can all be sold, in part, because of what you think that purchase says about you.  Don’t get me started on the oh-so fashionable outdoor gear that’s as often as not useless in a technical sense.

Anyway, it is human to want some say in our fortunes, to determine our own destinies.  So much in the way of our image, we crave to change.  But the people are fewer who strive to change their inner character, their greatest and most entrenched weaknesses, their real destiny.

I go now to the next step on my journey, of challenging my fate, of defying the path that would have been easy, of making my own future for myself, of becoming what I wish to be.  Whether I succeed at all or make more money or have more vacation time than someone else is irrelevant.  Self-esteem and real emotional security cannot be had in competing with others or being compared to them — it comes in the certainty that I have written my own story, without the fear that would otherwise drive me to miss out on the opportunities of the one lifetime I have on earth to do as I wish and to be as I wish.

I didn’t ask to come into this world, but I’m here.  I understand the world owes me nothing, but you know what?  Since I’m not having kids, I don’t owe the world anything either.  I’ll tell you what I want:  I want it all.  I want to hike Huashan and surf in Australia and Taiwan.  I want to sit in a hot spring with monkeys.  I want plates of steaming pork and leek dumplings.  I want to sip hot tea and Hana Awaka, jump off seaside cliffs, and watch the sunset (maybe in the same day).  I want to jump out of planes and sleep on trains and stay in a Japanese ryokan.  I want to dance in clubs, crawl through caves, scuba dive, and speak another language.  I want to read Tang poetry in traditional characters, I want to meet the widest diversity of people I can imagine.  I want to date girls who are tall and short, artsy and science-y; white, black, Asian; I want to climb more cliffs and paddle more seas, even eat basashi again (raw horse).  I want to camp on snow-covered ridges and mountain bike, get massages, play video games, play mahjong and Wei Chi and lose money at it, and I want to do more yoga and tai chi.  Bruce Lee said if can’t find happiness where you sit, you’ll never find it.  My record of not letting life pass me by, of enjoying Knoxville to the fullest, speaks for itself.  And now, it’s time to raise the game.

I believe wisdom comes only through experience, so ultimate wisdom requires the ultimate array of experience.  I want to ride this wave until I get a face full of sand, because you only get one chance.  In short, I want the ultimate ride.

Is there more to life than just what people think of us? I SAY THERE IS!  We are part of nature, our real higher power, which sustains our lives and gives us all the pleasures we are capable of experiencing, from fresh air to the beauty of swimming among coral reefs.  To love nature, to experience it, to see its vast diversity and momentarily enjoy as many of its wide array of delights as possible is a task worth living for.  To know, to appreciate, to understand, to experience the real force that is greater and better than us is a path that’s completely free and always available.  I have seen, too, again and again, outdoor adventure specifically used as a tool merely to engage in social interaction, the whole goal of which is acceptance and love from other people.  This is using something higher to achieve something lower, like eating ice cream with an iPhone 4 instead of a spoon.    If we waste all our time trying to climb rungs in manmade society and neglect to find a place of comfort in the order of nature, are we striving for more, or settling for less?

5.  Lastly, I must share the personal truth that, much as we would like to think otherwise, there is far too little love in this world.  If my record is closed with alot of you, I hope I contributed some love to your life.  I must thank my friends and the few lovers to which the noun can be said to apply, for making these years special on the human-scale.  I have been lucky, and I know I’ve been lucky, to find so many individuals capable of accepting and loving me, or anyone else for that matter.  Surveying 10 random Americans I have run across and know, the average emotional health level does not inspire confidence.  There are so many seeking their own self-worth at all cost, whose acts done in the name of love are really an assault on it, an attempt to act a certain way and so steal security from someone else’s opinion of them, that I must indeed be grateful for those who have come in my path and been capable of real interest in another.  To love is to have someone else’s best interest at heart, and more especially when it runs counter to our own.  Indeed, some of the people who claim to “love” most purely and most fiercely, are really the most selfish and self-centered in the lot, who hold onto people like life preservers, because they themselves never learned to swim.

I have found, through years of meeting and sorting people out, a core group of friends here, before whom I need to hide nothing and whose interest in my well-being is beyond question.  These people know who they are, and I love every one of you.

As those of you who know me so well can imagine, striking off into this great new adventure, this long journey into the unknown — to a new culture, a new land, a new language, new jobs, a new group of friends I will build from scratch, a new opportunity for romance, new outdoor opportunities, new foods, a new set of challenges I will take pleasure in cutting through, even a new name and a new start — is about the most exciting thing that could happen to me.  I shall take a good deal of lessons with me, and learn those that must come next.

It’s off to mountain peaks higher than any in the Smokies, to beaches with crystal waters and 6 foot waves, to new rock walls, new caves, new rivers, and new jungles, it’s off to the world’s most beautiful women for me.

Even if the blog ends, be certain my Life of Adventure continues.

Whether near or far, my dear friends and long-suffering readers, believe me to be –

Very sincerely yours,
Brad Williams
The Party Pterodactyl
CAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWW!!!!

2010 STATS

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 7,200 times in 2010. That’s about 17 full 747s.

 

In 2010, there were 50 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 115 posts. There were 517 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 115mb. That’s about a picture per day.

The busiest day of the year was August 1st with 97 views. The most popular post that day was NOVEL PROJECT #3.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were facebook.com, stumbleupon.com, knoxvilleadventure.wordpress.com, collegecandy.com, and knoxvilleadventure.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for old settlers trail, cambodian ruins, the lost sea, underground lake, and eblen cave.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

NOVEL PROJECT #3 August 2010
2 comments

2

ADVENTURE #17 – THE LOST SEA (PLUS) April 2009
6 comments

3

ADVENTURE #9 – OLD SETTLERS TRAIL March 2009
6 comments

4

ADVENTURE #21 – NEWFOUND GAP TO FONTANA DAM June 2009
7 comments

5

ABOUT / AUTHORS January 2009

PHILOSOPHY #8 – WHY BE AN ADVENTURER?

Absorption.

This is the whole reason culture exists.  One group of people is distinguished by a kind of habit, which is different from another group of people who have a different habit.  Fish and chips in one place, burger and fries in another, and a bowl of noodles in still another.

In Tennessee, you can get iced sweet tea just about anywhere you can get food.  In China, it had better be hot, and there won’t be a lemon within site.  In Mongolia salt and milk are often churned into the concoction.

The fact that culture exists shows that, to some degree, we absorb what is around us.  Otherwise these trends would move around all over the place.  But they stick.  On one side of the world a child learns the teachings of Islam and is convinced by them.  On the other side, a 14-year-old decides to be baptized.  In both cases, we assume the child has absorbed a set of beliefs from his or her parents/church/mosque.  A 19-year-old in rural America spends his time working on his work truck, his pride and joy.  A 19-year-old in a metro area builds a wardrobe worthy of the best nightclubs.  Accents are a great example of absorption, and why my American friend who has been in Korea for years now has trouble speaking English in the quick, idiomatic way we do among ourselves, because she speaks English to Koreans all the time, in a more explicit, easy-to-understand way.  When I started swearing in Cantonese instinctively, as when I hit my elbow or dropped something in the kitchen, I had to wonder how long it would take to train oneself completely in a new culture.  Not long.

Likes and dislikes, beliefs, habits, and values are to a large degree things that we absorb by choosing — or, to be more precise, failing to choose — our environment.

So we are, to a large degree, the product of what we expose ourselves to.  Exposing a child to reading vs. TV changes the child.  And what we expose ourselves to is absorbed by us — it changes us.  That’s why there are therapy dogs.  Being exposed to a dog changes us for the better.

There are a thousand anecdotes here, from Title 1 schools to regional idiosyncrasies, to combat experience, to football vs. soccer, to music selection.  So I won’t go into those.  But it’s like nutrition.  You are what you eat.  You are what you expose yourself to.  What you contemplate you rehearse.

Hopefully your parents told you to watch who you choose as friends because they will influence you heavily for good or bad.  That’s just absorption.  The wrong friends, the wrong wife, the wrong job environment can make a solid citizen into a fiend and vice versa.

SO WHAT DO YOU ABSORB?

I hate horror movies.  I don’t need fear in my life.  I have enough trouble dismissing the fear of worried loved ones and outsiders telling me I’m stupid for going alone off trail at night, etc.

But I worry about the person who pays a movie theater to vicariously experience the terror of someone being tortured, for example.  It worries me that the Saw movie series is so popular.  What are we becoming?

Fiction usually proceeds fact, in a Jules Vern sort of way.  There were tons of movies featuring a black American president before there really was one.  Creative minds present ideas to people before they’ve happened.   Cartoons I watched as a kid featured the idea of robots doing all sorts of things, and modern films have taken up the trend.  Now, I see in reality that before I’m very old, robots are going to be a big part of society, folding our towels, for example:

Neural implants?  On the way.  Virtual reality?  Out of “The Matrix” and coming to your living room.  Hi-def cameras small enough to fit in a phone, space tourism.  Jet packs?  I’m keeping my fingers crossed since I saw “Thunderball.”  This is not just technology — reality starts as an idea, and the kind of ideas people expose themselves to gives me the creeps sometimes.  On the other hand, the idea of a promised land, in the minds of enough people, created Salt Lake City (I’m not Mormon, just to be clear).

If a movie comes out that glorifies breakdancing, I guarantee you we will see an increase in the number of breakdancers in Knoxville, how hard they train, and how much they go out to do it.  Absorption of what’s put before us.  Too bad not all that’s before us is good.

CHOOSE NATURE

When I spend 24 hours of my weekend tucked away in the Smokies, what am I absorbing?  You should go and find out, if you haven’t already.  The calls of birds, the sound of wind in leaves, the smell of wet grass and flowers, the feel of dust and rock under my feet, the sun on my skin, the clamor of water tumbling down waterfalls and steep hills, the sight of unveiled stars — the source of all we are and what God (whichever one you like or nature itself) meant for the world to be.  No money system, no clocks, no gas pumps, no insurance (read “assurance”), no ego, no war among animals, no politics, no temples, no subdivisions.

If I’m going to be the sum of my experiences, then I want to absorb everything I can from the natural world.

It shows you who you are.  Your strengths, your nerve, your fears, your joys, your gifts, your priorities, what’s really important.  It’s made me stronger, the night hiking, the getting lost off-trail, the climbing with no ropes, the spotting of bears, the cold nights, the heat and humidity, the snakes, the wet firewood, the concentrated hiker food, the 30+ mile treks of solitude.  Come Monday, Brad is ready for anything, because he knows he can handle whatever may come, and he knows exactly when he’s out of his depths (which is often).

I could stay home and watch action movies instead, go shop at the mall, drink beer in a bar, play World of Warcraft [link may not be suitable for all audiences, but it is hilarious], keep a journal about how bad my love life is, go to church committee meetings, work a job, whatever.  But what will those things make me?  What will I become?

Will they refresh me?  Will they make me feel strong?  Will they keep my body healthy and fit?  Will they make me think happy thoughts that I then transfer to others who place me in their environment?  Will they connect me with peace, harmony, and beauty?  Will they make me compassionate, understanding?  Will they inspire me and make me want to live?  Will they set me free?

See, the mountains do those things for me.  And it’s not just the mountains.  It’s not just rock climbing that gives you nerve or caving that helps you conquer the fear of death.  It’s not just cliff jumping that gives you a high like no other, not just building a camp fire that teaches patience.

I try to practice this in the things I watch, the places I shop (The Fresh Market is much nicer than Wal-Mart), the music I listen to (Joe Hiyashi is a good example, and “In the Dark” is more inspiring than “Lollipop” (or most Lil’ Wayne [link not suitable for all audiences, but it is hilarious] songs actually.  The books you read, the places you go, the friend you talk to, the web sites you visit, say a lot about your view of the world and how you will act in different situations.

That is not to say that all “lower environments” or ugly jobs should be avoided.  But I feel that, in my own case, I’m most effective as a bringer of happiness and hope when I’ve got my batteries charged up with it.  So I can’t spend too much time in lower environments.  Put me in a depressing, unfulfilling, negative place or give me negative habits for long enough, and I don’t have much good to share.  As a personal trainer, it’s important than I be inspired and happy, if I am to help people feeling discouraged to brighten up and get motivated.

Maybe I’d become a better writer if I’d read more good writing.  Something to think about.  But I hope at least that this blog is not a thing that inspires fear, or discouragement, or pessimism.  I think, when I scroll down, I’ve done a good job of showing others what adventure has shown me:  excitement, beauty, optimism.  In sort:  bliss.

Who knows, if we absorb enough positive energy, maybe we can live in a world that is a little closer to perfection, you know, with robot butlers:

And remember, don’t have bad role models, like Le Jaguar or Derrick Overstreet.

DISCLAIMER

So absorb some nature, and see how it tastes.  You might like it.  But, as always, that’s me, and maybe I’m wrong.

IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN MATT’S SITE YET

Then it is time to check it out.  www.beautywisdomlaughter.wordpress.com

The site features a big variety of posts, very similar to what I was doing here on LOA.  So if you liked anything you saw from me over the last 8 months here, please make the time to check out my new home.  Currently on the site, we have an interview with my good friend from Dublin, Ireland, a feature on Dr. Seuss’ rarely seen World War II era political cartoons, and a book review of the monumental civil rights work,  Black Like Me.     I’ll soon add essays, poetry, photos, and short stories, a little something for everyone. 

I’ll need your support to make this a success.  I certainly won’t beg, but I will point out that a few times in the last year, Brad’s schedule was hectic and Life of Adventure kept going because I invested the time, posting every week,  investing in this readership.  I hope my time and efforts were appreciated, and I hope that you show that appreciation through continuing to read, even though I’ve moved to a new location.

Thanks Peeps,

=Matt=

PS If you haven’t visited Life of Adventure recently and are wondering what the heck I’m talking about, see the Where Did Matt Go tab at the top of the page.

PHILOSOPHY #7 – HOW TO STOP BEING A FLAKE

That’s right, people, I’m calling you out.  Read it and weep:

The 80/20 rule applies to just about everything.  In business, it means that usually 80% of profits come from about 20% of your customer base.  In pleasure it is the same way.

In my typical week, I probably spend 20% or less of my time adventuring, but it accounts for maybe 80% of my joy, my purpose for living, my desire.  I work 5.5 days a week or more to have that other 1.5 days to do what really makes me feel alive.  It’s why I clean the house, why I need gas and car, why I deal with the mundane issues of banking, taxes, bills, broken appliances, changing litter, car washing, and grocery shopping.  If only I could adventure all the time.

What about relationships?  Well, just briefly I’ll say that girls come and go; sometimes they prove worth it and sometimes they let you down, but adventure always satisfies every time.  Same goes for any other human being.  I’m that way to other people too; it’s just how it is.  People can be at times a good influence and others a bad one, they can make you happy or make you sad.  The natural world is like an immense force of inexorable good.

But relationships fit into the 80/20 rule too.  Some friends are worth keeping.  Your time with them accounts for most of the happiness you get out of relationships.  People choose, for whatever reason, to keep up a whole host of bad relationships and associations, with people who drag them into drama, lower environments, and responsibilities they neither want nor enjoy.  People suffer embarrassment and inconvenience over and over for people who never return any good.

I know a lot of people — I know a ton of people.  But who are those 20% that make 80% of the positive impact on me?  They’re the ones you see on this site.  If I call or text anytime of day or night with an adventure, they’re only too eager to go if they can.  They’re like Watson, who always drops whatever he’s doing and takes a day or two to accompany Holmes into danger and mystery.  They’ve broken the law with me, faced danger with me, weathered storms with me, shared tea with me.  Everybody else?  They may have just done the last of these.

Rob Baldus is one of them.  Mike Farcasin is one of them.  Joannie is one of them.  In the past, people like Patti Griscom and David Russell have been in this category.  They’re always up for fun, always someone you can count on to do what they say they will.  If one of these people are at my shoulder, I know they’ll face whatever the adventure brings before us with courage and skill.

MOST PEOPLE ARE FLAKES

Most others are flakes.  It is anecdotal wisdom now, through over a year of Rob and myself inviting a whole myriad of people adventuring.  They always tell us they want to go hike, go climb, go cave, etc.  They say things like, “Yeah, I’m into caving,” or “I love hiking,” but they never do it.  We invite them 5 or 6 times, then give up on them after every little excuse keeps them from going.  And they never initiate anything.  We never get invited on adventures by them, and most likely, they don’t have any, because they never share stories about any fresh adventures.  I have no count of how many people have been tried and tested in this way, only to prove part of the vast majority of flakes.  They’re wishy-washy on the phone.  If I hear a “I’ll see if I can,” or “I might be able to, but I have to check my schedule,” I groan inside.  They never go.  They let anything else, ANYTHING else, prevent them.  They have to go shopping with their mom, they have to clean the house, they have obligations to friend’s birthday, they’re not feeling well, they want to sit and watch Bonanza reruns all weekend — I don’t know.  We’re all busy.  Mike and Rob are working students, Joannie has a horse training business and a day job.  I work odd hours, write for Visit South, blog, etc.  There will never be an expanse of free time in your life waiting to be filled.  You make it happen.  If you don’t make time to do adventurous things, you must not really love them that much.

Do you have a kayak rack on your car but only get on the water twice a year?  Do you ride around with rock climbing brand bumper stickers but only climb in a gym?  When you say you cave, does that mean you’ve been this month, or a year and a half ago?  What’s with all these “snowboarders” in Tennessee?  How often can they really go?  If you go four times in a year, I suppose that’s as good as it gets around here, but would you really define yourself on Facebook or somewhere as a snowboarder?  Does it define your week-to-week existence?  Scuba diving two summers ago with a youth group does not make you an active scuba diver.  Carabiners on your Mountain Hardwear backpack doesn’t make you an adventurer if it only transports your books around campus.  You say you do things; you want people to think you do things, but you don’t.  Adventure isn’t really a priority for you; you don’t think about it daily like we on the site do.

If you just project the image of an adventurer and aren’t one but you’d like to be one, I can help you.

Skip ahead if you don’t want to read these two amazing anecdotes, but I think you should if you have time.

MIKE’S STORY

(Note: I’m not one for tirades, but I’m sharing my story on Brad’s request…  and because I like to =P)

When I first met Brad, I loved adventures – in the form of video games.  I played video games all the time – Final Fantasy, Suikoden, Valkyrie Profile, whatever.  I loved the adventure, the gaining of abilities, the forming of relationships.  Playing DDR was the closest I came to real dancing, or any type of adventure.

Then Brad started inviting me on adventures he went on: climbing, hiking, and going to dance clubs.  It was boring at first.  Video games are pretty addictive in that respect – they make everything else seem dull.  But as I got more into it – and after I quit video games because of their unhealthiness – I started getting the same things out of adventuring that I did in the games.

I’m a pretty adventurous guy – I’ve tried skateboarding, aggressive inline, rock climbing, breakdancing, cliff jumping, running in 5k’s and half-marathons, glow stringing, tai chi, jujitsu, ballroom dancing, rugby, and numerous other activities.  These and more are things I’ve always wanted to do, but never really found the motivation for when I played video games.  Video games were so much fun that I never got into anything else.  When I quit the games, that changed.

Exercise is the easiest thing for me to flake out of.  I exercise because I want to get fit, A LOT.  Enough for me to schedule time to go to the gym and do it.  Same with running, and incidentally, they both got serious around the same time.  I don’t really like running all that much.  I do it because I want to reach my goal of running a 5k in under 24 minutes – my current PR being 24:40 – or doing a full marathon, which I was planning to do in the Country Music Marathon, but due to bad training habits I injured my leg during the Knoxville half-marathon and had to rest for a few weeks.

Along the same lines, I go adventuring because I want to.  I enjoy it.  When I have plans, I have to decline adventuring (usually to my chagrin), but once I make a plan to go adventuring, that becomes my plan for the day.  If I don’t plan time to rest, I tend to find myself staying busy even when I wanted to spend some time on R&R, and adventuring is the same way.

ROB’S STORY
When I first met Brad, I wouldn’t say I was a flake. But I definitely didn’t have the gumption or courage to get out and try new things … things that I had always wanted to do. For instance, when I was growing up, the idea of rock climbing excited me, but I could never get someone to show me the ropes. So that interest never went anywhere.

But let’s talk about being a flake. I remember the first girl I ever really had a thing for; she stood me up time and time again, probably because I lacked the balls to tell her off. But looking back she taught me an invaluable lesson and instilled in me a hatred for flakes.

It’s funny I’m writing this now. I just got stood up by four people at the same time … sheesh. About a month ago four of my coworkers asked off from Bravo this weekend so we could adventure together. The night before we were set to go, weather reports came in calling for rain at our desired adventure local – the Obed. Because I’d grown up on the Obed, I knew the weather reports would most likely be wrong (which they were), and requested people not chicken out. This fear was completely unfounded and goes back to what Brad said. People just look for an excuse.

So low and behold, everyone canceled on me. Now, I’m faced with a decision, do I invite these same people to do something again? Do I spend hours planning out an adventure to share with people only to have them flake on me again? Or do I cash my chips in and consider myself lucky that I didn’t let it happen over and over. I don’t know.

I will say this. I’m lucky to have found a friend like Brad, someone I can count on to be there and push me to be better. Push me to try new things. I also hope someone will read this and realize to take advantage of opportunities to try new things, because if they fail to take the bull by the horns, it might pass them by.

(Back to Brad)

TRANSFORMATION

It was during my time of association with various 12-step groups and personal mentors that I became aware of a shocking fact:  I can change myself.  Doesn’t seem like much of a revelation, but I see its significance everywhere.

As a personal trainer, reporter, and adventurer I see it.  Most people cannot change themselves.  They are, and some are aware that they are, wind-up toys victim to how they are made (genetics) and where they are set down (circumstances).  They are the people who gloat about all they cannot do or will never be able to do, who continually reminisce to their childhoods to explain their feelings or preferences, who offer their family’s early way of doing things as a reason for repeating the same behaviors or beliefs, who cite the achievements of their line when looking for direction, who state their ancestry as if it conveys some interesting fact about themselves (it’s what you choose to be today that matters).  These are the weight-loss clients who are doomed to their genetic inheritance, the product of bad neighborhoods who finds himself behind bars, the young professional working a soul-sucking job to have possessions, the gymnast who hasn’t inverted since their last lesson, the church that has no converts but the children of members, the Eagle Scout who hasn’t been on a hike without his troop.  This is most people.

What is the point of the story of our lives, of our one moment in the vast history of humanity, if we aren’t going to choose how we act upon the world, how we leave traces for good or bad?

There are people who can change themselves, who can decide what they want to believe, to be, to do, to represent (if it sounds simple; it isn’t).  And they are of all nations and religions — the salt of the earth.  They revolt against both genetics and early training when it is seen objectively as contrary to their ideals; they maintain those parts of their experience which are beneficial and support them.

In my case, I’m a white guy with no particular history that I know of.  Maybe my family was Scotch/Irish or something.  I don’t know, and I don’t care.  I have no desire to trace my roots.  When I traveled abroad I went to Hong Kong.  Why?  Not because I have any attachment or connection with the place (lots of second generation Chinese go here to “learn about themselves” despite being wholly American), but because I became fascinated with it on an aesthetic level after seeing “Crouching Tiger:  Hiden Dragon.”  I liked Japanese video games, so I went to Japan.  I have tried to seize upon the things that inspire me or cause me to awe most and explore them.

My dad wasn’t a zookeeper or naturalist; he didn’t take me alpine climbing when I was 8 or anything (no offense to Bear Grylls or Steve Irwin, my heroes).  I chose to be an adventurer, because I have some fascination with nature.  I think we all have it, because when I see any human child transfixed by a puppy or a butterfly or the rocks of a stream, I merely note that I’ve lived up to my young self’s expectations.  (My dad was, however, the singular person in his environment that rose above the height of all his family and made the best establishment out of his lot.  That’s what’s important about him — not what he was born with or taught to be like.  So I respect him for that.)

I was terrified of heights when I was little, but I wanted to rock climb because I thought it was cool, and now, 2 skydives and numerous rock climbs later, I can say I have conquered my fear of heights and think of it no more.  Same with death.

I wasn’t brought up in church, but I found one for me, then found something different I now prefer.  I chose my political affiliation, which happened to be the same as most of my family.  I was the first person in my family to start working out.  I don’t even remember why.  But I took up running, though none of my friends did it.  That led to working out at home and to being a personal trainer.

I’m a hot oolong drinker in the cold, sweet tea South.  I’m also a huge patron of Little Debbie cakes, a product of my hometown.  I don’t think wisdom lies in rejecting or accepting anything because it’s foreign or comfortable but in seeing all for what it is.

To my knowledge, there’s nothing in Mike’s history that should nominate him to run a half marathon, but he wanted to, so he did.  He became what he wanted to see himself be.  I like that.

I like that Rob has tons of outdoor knowledge from his childhood, but he has taken hold of a lifestyle that incorporates it into his life when so many others would leave it in memory.  I have learned a wealth from him.

I was rock climbing before Mike, but due to his drive, he has surpassed me in both skill and nerve.

WHAT WILL IT BE?

You can be the sum of your circumstances and ride the waves of the rest of the world, or you can transform, change, and be whatever you want.

I’m not saying everyone has to be an adventurer.  Maybe you don’t care for hiking; you like music or dance or computer games.  Whatever.  But choose what you want to be and be it.  Break the rules.  Defy fate.

HOW?

In the case of would-be adventurers:  go adventuring.  Get off the couch and go.  DO NOT train for it.  DO NOT read about it.  DO NOT talk about it, buy gear for it, or try to get a job doing it.  Do it.  Get off the bench and into the game.  As soon as possible.  Do an adventure or two by yourself, then call me.  Invite your friends to go with you.  DO NOT wait for others to invite you.  Initiate the adventure rather than wait for someone else’s plans to suit your tastes and ability.  I say this especially to females.  I’m not sexist.  This is anecdotal wisdom:  why do you people take up whatever your boyfriend is into, and why are you utterly incapable of initiating something?  There shouldn’t have to be a ladies night at the climbing center.  There’s no men’s night.  Don’t be the person who has to be encouraged to live an interesting life.  The girls should want it enough to pay, push your way past the boys, and decide when you want to hang out there.  (There are exceptions in my experience, and I do know girls who have drug their unwilling boyfriends on adventures the latter was not prepared for.)  But this is not the stereotype, and there’s good reason for that.  Go to any gym, and you will see men prefer to work out their own way in the main gym, which is often detrimental and part of their own course of following others, and women tend to take classes.  Daily I see our Group X room filled with classes of exclusively women, because women tend to want to be guided.  DO NOT be a victim of what is presented to you by others.  DO NOT live a life enduring what chance places in front of you.  Hunt down what you desire.)

NOW TAKING APPLICATIONS

If you are an adventure-minded person, have a (mostly) clean criminal record, are not allergic to Jing Jing, are willing to endure considerable amounts of pain in search of higher truth, have an open mind, aren’t afraid to travel, and are eager to learn, adventures may await you on this site.

This Spring, I will be pouring out the invitations to new potential adventure colleagues, and I am pleased to say that I’ve already got a few who’ve taken me up on them.  It’s time for Life of Adventure viewers to join in the fun, the personal growth, and the love of our world.  Leave a comment if you want to be included in future adventures, but be warned, if you are a flake you will quickly find your way off the call list.

If you are serious about having more consistent adventure in your life, welcome home, and I look forward to seeing you on this page.

ROB BALDUS: AN INTRODUCTION

Well, I feel like this is a bit past due. I’m sure most of the followers of this blog have seen my face popping up here and there. So at Brad’s request it’s time to introduce myself formally. Now, how to do that?

Here I am, Camera holder and adventurer along side Brad

Like Brad, I graduated from UT with a bachelors in Journalism and Electronic Media. And like Brad, I don’t plan on ever being a journalist — a traditional journalist in any respect. So I’m back at UT for a second degree in the slightly more marketable field of mechanical engineering.

When I first met Brad, I definitely wasn’t the person I am today. I didn’t rock climb, kayak, hike, cycle or really live an adventurous life. I suppose I was a bit of a nerd or whatever you want to call it. I’m not saying that I’m not still a nerd, but I’d like to think I’m trying to live up to the example Brad has set.

Unlike my friend, I’m a little more timid when it comes to the endurance hikes across the Smokies in the middle of the night, jumping off of 60 foot cliffs, breakdancing in packed clubs, solo globe trotting and so on and so forth. But I do love most of the same things.

So to steal a page from Brad’s introduction:
I’ve rock climbed the aretes of some of Knoxville’s most scenic bluffs. I’ve hiked to abandoned settlements in the smokies. I’ve explored an ancient church underneath a cathedral in Rome. I’ve gotten lost in the mountains, gone diving in a cave, surfed 10 foot swells in a kayak, gotten shot at, jumped off 50-foot lakeside cliffs, and watched meteor storms under the stars. I can solve a Rubik’s cube in about a minute, cook for 20 people without a sweat, and fold hundreds of origami critters.

At the quarry- One of our first adventures together

I’ve spent afternoons along the Rhine River in Germany eating some of the best food you could ever possibly imagine. I’ve ridden in the back of a limo in Time’s Square dressed to the nines after a five-star dinner. I love wine, beer and everything in between.

I’ve also fallen 40-feet while rappelling, had my heart broken, lost 80 pounds (a lot of that with Brad’s help and guidance). I’ve been arrested and forgiven. I’ve lost far too many loved ones and gained so many more. I’ve worked at one of Knoxville’s best newspapers and been an editor for HGTV and DIY network.

I’ve overcome some addictions and still fall victim to others (damn ice cream and sweets). I love math and laugh at most of the jokes on XKCD.com. I try to help as many people as I can, love trivia of all sorts and plan to be a regular contributor here.

I’ve found this blog to be seriously lacking in the adventure-food category and plan to write a little bit about what I know and love. I wrote my own blog for a while and plan on repurposing some of my older food adventures for Life of Adventure, while bringing in new reviews of camp food and strange eats.

I have introduced Brad to new types of adventures, like boating

I’ll also be able to provide an interesting point of view on some of mine and Brad’s adventuring mishaps. Perhaps things he wouldn’t want to say, perhaps the more realistic perspective of “Brad ‘The Party’ Williams” Bear Grylls like adventures.

Anyway, that’s a little about me. I can’t wait to share a little more through my writing, pictures, etc. I’m sure if Paul sees this, he’ll be happy to know I AM still alive.

CHECK OUT MATT’S SITE

Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to announce that my new site is officially up and running. For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, please click on the Matt’s Column tab and read the top post. Yes, I’m afraid my time as a contributor to Life of Adventure has come to a close. Reading both Matt and Brad’s writing has now become slightly more complicated but only slightly. Please make the extra effort to visit and support both sites. My new address is www.beautywisdomlaughter.wordpress.com  

I will continue to post often in these next few months on LOA but only short advertisements letting you know what’s on my site. As I said when I first announced this split, it’s Brad’s and my hope that neither of us lose any readers over this.  

The first major work on Beauty Wisdom Laughter is an interview with a really cool friend of mine from Dublin, Ireland. Also, I’d ask those who dig my work to check out the About the Authors page for a little info on my vision for the site.   

I may be a little disappointed that my time on LOA has ended, but I’m also truly excited about the future.   

　   

Thanks for What You’ve Read and Will Read,   

=<Matt>=