Resourcing the Revolution

Writing

Inspiration (and when to listen to that fortune cookie)

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inspiration_640Remember how your mom always told you not to play with your food? Well, I’m here to tell you otherwise. Or… at least to tell you that sometimes it has something worth saying. Err… too much of a stretch? Probably, but stick with me!

One of my favorite parts of eating Chinese food (other than the many delicious vegan options on the menu) is the fortune cookie at the end. Not so much the cookie itself (because, eew) but for that tiny strip of paper inside.

There is also a series of inspirational quotes hidden inside each individual wrapper of a certain brand of dark chocolate. The quotes give you something to ponder as you indulge in that little piece of chocolaty heaven.

People find inspiration in many places, in all different shapes and sizes, colors and words and the like. As someone who loves food, I also love that I can find inspiration at the end of a meal.

So tonight, on this cold, grey, rainy autumn night (at least on the east coast), I want to share with you a few bits of inspiration that I have gleaned from my desert:

“Don’t settle for a spark… light a fire instead.”

“Live your dreams.”

“You don’t get in life what you want; you get in life what you are.”

“A great pleasure in life is doing what others say you can’t.”

I have each of these tiny bits of wisdom taped to my monitor, as a reminder of who I am and the choices I have made along the way.

How about you? How and where do you find inspiration?

Giving Thanks (and why it matters most when things look the worst)

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thanks_640I have the feeling that if you’re carefully examining the title of this post, you may get the impression that I jumped the gun on posting it – that I meant to save it for later in the month, around the Thanksgiving holiday. Well, maybe you’re right, but wait until you have finished reading to make your final decision.

Going through a divorce has been one of the most painful and complicated and awful and terrible things I have ever experienced. Add in the stress of running a business, keeping up with a part time job and a nonprofit chair position, and it gets pretty hairy. Just for fun, throw in a totally mad 30 day challenge (see my NaNoWriMo post), and even a normally sane person would tend to get a little twitchy.

That said: today, when everything started to go wrong and all I wanted to do was crawl under my desk and sob uncontrollably… I had a realization. Despite my deep seated fear that my life was coming apart at the seams, never to be repaired, I felt this flutter of happiness.

What was it that made me smile, despite the rage and tears?

While I was walking to the post office, I passed this small, fuzzy dog who was trying to wrap its owner around a street sign. On this beautiful, sunny, 70 degree day in November, that little ball of fuzz made me remember the big black ball of fuzz who was waiting at home for me.

I am thankful for the unconditional love I receive from my fuzzy best friend.

That small reminder caused me to think about all the other things I have to be thankful for:

  • I am thankful for the love and support that I receive from my family and friends.
  • I am thankful that I live in a beautiful city where I can go car free.
  • I am thankful that I live in an age where, as a woman, I can vote (which I did today), have equality, and own my own business.
  • I am thankful that I have the opportunity to live life on my terms and the passion to carry out that opportunity.
  • I am thankful to truly be alive, and to be fully present in the moment (even when it sucks).

So, even on the days when you feel like punching a hole through the wall, or assuming the fetal position under your desk, never to reemerge into the sunlight, do me a favor.

Stop. Take a deep breath. And find at least ONE positive thing in your life.

Concentrate on that one thing, and allow yourself to be thankful. Even if that’s all you can do for today, it’s a good place to start. Be thankful for what you do have, and see if that doesn’t give you the energy to to get through until tomorrow. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

So yes, perhaps this post should have waited a few more weeks, but it felt necessary today. I’m a firm believer that you shouldn’t wait for a holiday to be thankful for the good things in life; maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think that Hallmark should decide when you thank your mom for being awesome, or tell us that there’s just one day a year to be thankful.

What about you? What are the things you are thankful for, even on the less-than-stellar days? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments or on twitter.

NaNoWriMo (and 50,000 words of awesome)

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nanowrimo_640Today marks many things: the first day of the month, the penultimate binary day of this century, Halloween-candy-hangover-recovery-day, some number of days until Thanksgiving or the many winter holidays… but most importantly, today marks the first day of one of the most awesome months of the year.

Most awesome months, you ask? How can that be?

Well, here’s how. November 1st marks the first day of 30 days of novel-writing madness known as National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short. NaNoWriMo has been around for thirteen (that’s 13!) years, and this will be my 5th year as a participant.

Directly from their “About” page:

“National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing on November 1. The goal is to write a 50,000 word, (approximately 175 page) novel by 11:59:59, November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.

Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It’s all about quantity, not quality. This approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.

Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that’s a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.

As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel. Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration, and—when the thing is done—the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children.

In 2010, we had over 200,000 participants. More than 30,000 of them crossed the 50K finish line by the midnight deadline, entering into the annals of NaNoWriMo superstardom forever. They started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists.”

So, year five for me, and hopefully win number 4. Yes, during my second year I got a whole 500 words written, but not this year! I’m going to grab hold of November and shake lose the novel that’s hiding somewhere in my head.

If you’ve never undertaken anything like this before, no worries. You’re joining a whole bunch of other people who are in the same boat. Those of us who have walked this road before you are cheering for you every crazy step of the way. And, you may even learn a little bit about yourself in the process.

Ready? Write!

(If there’s anyone in the Charlottesville area who wants in on the fun, don’t hesitate to get in touch. There’s a whole community of writers in the area who bond together during this month and have a heck of a lot of fun in the process!)

Ditch My Ride (or: how losing the car can set you free)

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ditch-my-ride_640Tomorrow, if all goes according to plan, I will be car free for the first time in my life.

Yup, you heard that right. Car free.

I don’t actually consider it “losing” a car, so much as a conscious decision to move away from my dependence on the automotive lifestyle and my subsequent use of fossil fuels. It’s my next step in “walking the walk” of being an environmental activist. Literally.

“But”, I can hear you saying, “you don’t live in New York City, or Portland, or any major city… How in the world are you going to sell your car and still get where you need to go?”

Well, here’s how. I am fortunate in that I do live in a city, small as it may be. We have some pretty cool advantages, and I plan to take advantage of them all.

The How:

1. Walking and biking:

I live a little under a mile from the heart of downtown, and biking distance from most everything in the city. By walking a mile or so, I can get to at least one small grocery store, the farmer’s market, the library, banks, shops, government offices, several pharmacies, a plethora of amazing restaurants, and… the central transit station.

2. Public Transit:

Charlottesville has a small but functional public bus system. Charlottesville Area Transit covers the city, the University of Virginia campus and a small piece of the county just outside city limits. A bus pass will get me to my part time job and pretty much everywhere I want to go within the city. There is also a free trolley that runs from downtown to the University, where there is… a ZipCar program.

3. ZipCar:

There is a ZipCar program associated with the University. There are a number of different paid plans that you can sign up for, a great phone application that you can use to reserve a car, and a program that has cars in cities across the US. I haven’t decided quite yet whether to sign up, but it’s nice knowing that there’s another option besides renting a car or taking a taxi, if necessary. Hopping back on the free trolley, I pass by… the train station.

4. Amtrak:

I am a huge fan of the rail system in Europe, and have started utilizing Amtrak here in the states. (There is also a Greyhound station close to downtown.) I can walk to the transit station, hop on the free trolley, get off at the Charlottesville Amtrak station (CVS) , and six hours later find myself in the center of Manhattan. How cool is that?? Since when I visit New York City, I spend most of my time eating, that brings me (somewhat clumsily) around to… food.

5. Relay Foods:

One of the absolute coolest things about living in Charlottesville is a growing service called Relay Foods – I can shop from my computer (in my pajamas if I so choose) any time during the week, day or night. With over 50 farms and vendors (and growing), I have no reason to brave the aisles of the grocery store. I simply place my order online by midnight of the day before and go get my groceries the next day at a convenient pickup spot. How much easier does it get? (And, if you click on that link above and place an order, you’ll get a coupon and I’ll get $5. Sweet.)

The Added Benefits:

1. Financial:

Approximately a quarter of my spending this past year was car-related. Between the car payment, insurance, gas, taxes, upkeep and the like, it takes a huge chunk out of my income to just keep the car sitting in my driveway. I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am to start paying off some debt with the money that was going to feed the beast.

2. Health:

By walking and biking instead of sitting in a car, I am improving my overall health and wellness. Charlottesville is a fairly temperate city (except for the occasional Snowpocalypse that brings 2 or so feet of snow), so walking around shouldn’t ever be too difficult.

3. Community:

Ever notice how you tend to stop and say hi to more people when you’re walking around? Funny how you can’t really do that in a car. Today, I ran into a good friend as I was on my way to the Clerk’s office – had I been driving, I would have missed that opportunity to catch up with him. By ditching the car, I’ll be more connected to my city.

My Challenge To You:

I realize that not everyone lives in a city, and not everyone has the desire or ability to live without a car. However, if you are feeling up for it, I would like to challenge each of you to find ways to reduce your own dependence on an automotive lifestyle.

Plan your trips so that you can combine errands; make one less trip a week; carpool with a friend or coworker to get to your next destination.

Walk or bike somewhere instead of driving, if it’s an option; check out your local transit options; see if there’s a car sharing program near you.

Create some awareness of how we utilize the fossil fuels we’re consuming. Chances are, you’ll find that making other choices will be healthier for both the planet and for you and your wallet!

I have no idea how this experiment of mine is going to pan out. That being said, just writing this post has made me really excited about the possibilities that it will bring.

Car free, here I come!

Life, Loss (and why it matters)

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emma_640It seems like every time I turn around, I hear about another famous person who has finished up their time on this planet and moved on, or about the passing of someone who was close to someone I knew. Sometimes it’s even someone I knew, someone close. There has been a lot of that recently for me, on each of those levels.

I spent a few days at my parents’ farm in the mountains this weekend, having a belated birthday celebration, relaxing and taking in some fresh air and silence. On Friday night, their dog Emma had a stroke, and by Sunday my dad made the decision to put her down.

So. Why this topic? Why now?

We all have a certain number of days allotted to us in this life. We have no idea how much time that is, and what we do with those days is up to us. We can spend them mindlessly waiting for something better to come along, or we can make a choice to actively live. We can love life for what it is, much like Emma; her tail was always wagging, her heart was always happy – she had an amazing 12 years on this planet, and she wagged until her last day.

My challenge for each of us (and for myself) is this:

Love your life. Wag more. Cherish the good, the friends and loved ones, the happiness that you find in small moments. And, if you can’t seem to find a way to love your life, then change it. By making even one small change, finding one small thing to bring you joy, you can change the way you look at life.

We only get one shot at this. Make it count.

Location Independence (and how I’m shaking loose)

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location_640One of the great realizations that came out of the World Domination Summit this past June (future posts pending about that amazing experience) was the concept of creating your own life, writing your own story. The idea of not really being tied to any one place has always been a bit foreign to me given my deep roots in the mountains of Virginia, but as I examined my life direction, I came to a realization. Much of what I have attempted to do recently has been to shape a life that I want to live, to do the things that make me happy and to do some good along the way.

It wasn’t until recently that the pieces fell together – what I really want is location independence.

I had never put the term together with what it would actually mean for me. While some digital nomads focus on how to spend most of their time traveling, my real goal was to structure my work life so that it could be modified to fit what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.

When I moved to Asheville this past summer, it provided the perfect opportunity to leap into a fairly unstructured work schedule, working from where and when I chose. It was my first real step into self employment, and the opportunity for which I had been waiting.

Now, in the name of full disclosure, let me say that a large portion of what made the transition more plausible and less scary was that I was able to keep about 15 hours of steady work a week for a current employer. Having that financial safety net has been what has allowed me to squeak by during my transition. Some people swear by keeping a 40 hour a week job until you’ve saved enough to make a clean transition, some say you should just leap – I fall somewhere in the middle, leaping with a small safety net under me.

Now that I’ve made the break from a traditional work schedule and my divorce is close to being finalized, I stand at what is perhaps the perfect moment to launch into my version of location independence. While I’m dealing with all the legal matters of a divorce, changes and paperwork and all that comes with it, I am taking the opportunity to make some preparations for my impending location independence.

Moving forward, I will “legally” reside in a rural mountain county in Virginia – I’m transferring legal address, voting records and the like to my parents’ address. (I was planning to do the same with car registration and insurance, but I’ve decided that it’s time to try being car-free for a while as well. I’ll let you know how that goes!)

For the time being, I’ll be living close to downtown Charlottesville while I continue to solidify some projects and income streams. If I had to guess, I’ll stick around for another year or so. Then, who knows? I’ve thought a lot about traveling and working my way around Europe or the US, or moving to the west coast for a while. I’ll know when I get there. For the time being, I’m looking forward to laying out the groundwork that will allow me to head whatever direction I choose when the time comes.

I’ll document my progress as I go, writing about any challenges I run into as I try to disconnect from place. I hope that maybe I can inspire someone else to think outside what they foresee as possible or plausible, and start out on a journey of their own making. Will it be you?