Journal Entry 01/10/2018
[Grammar-free zone! Except for a few clarifications, this is an unedited journal entry from a week and a half ago. It’s embarrassing. It’s long-winded and rambling. It’s kind of whiny. It’s also one way I’ve learned to work through my shit: by studying the game tape. This is the game tape from a warm winter day at the Grand Canyon.]
Travel Log: The First Three Days
January 3 – January 6, 2018
I left Bryant and Kelly’s in Denver in the early afternoon of January 3rd. I’d dragged my feet leaving, going to the gym first and then getting an oil change. The stay at my friends’ house was, in my mind, the Last Outpost before venturing into the wilderness of the world. I’d intentionally left all decisions unmade as to where I would go once I left. I wanted to see what it felt like to have my entire future in front of me with none of it planned or defined and to learn what kind of decisions I’d make in the absence of any structure.
What’s all this hullabaloo about? (Full Version)
Family, Friends, and Probably Some Internet Strangers,
Last October I quit my job of thirteen years, sold my house of ten, and purged most of my possessions, pocketing the profit to take myself on a self-imposed sabbatical. This has caused some of you to take notice, variously calling it a Vision Quest, a Walkabout, a Journey of Self-Discovery, a Rumspringa, or a Poor Decision. None of these descriptions quite fit, though, and I’ve had a hard time coming up with one that does. From the outside, it’s easy to see this abandonment of all worldly responsibility as sudden and rash, as though one day at work I threw my hands in the air and announced, “Fuck it! I’m out of here!” after enduring one team meeting too many bloated with plastic buzzwords and overwrought enthusiasm for the “exciting changes” happening within the organization. That account isn’t far from the truth, but to describe the leaving of job and home as rash or sudden or even brave misses the mark. The “sudden” exit had been in the works for years, in fact, and was the result of far more important changes that aren’t as easy to see as a fresh end-date in the work history section of a resume. Continue reading “What’s all this hullabaloo about? (Full Version)”