The Small Feats

Barefoot, and in a green mini skirt yesterday morning on my front porch, I successfully changed my first flat bike tire. No anger, no help from Google or YouTube videos, nor distressed damsel calls to a bike shop- this small feat will take me miles.

We are told not to sweat the small stuff, enjoy the little things, and transcend past the desirous lower pleasures towards the higher ones.

So, how is one to operate? Where does a dreamer begin to achieve great things, as we are accustomed to believe is necessary to do in this lifetime? Yet, I recognize, when I say "we", I am really speaking from first-person perspective, as an American conditioned to subscribe to the American Dream. That being said, "I" am a sucker for a good cliche: A walk of a thousand miles begins with one step.

Every step won't be the best, but the constant forward motion is by far the most important. Once the success starts, the desired goal crisper on the horizon, perhaps one can take the time to reevaluate and revise the steps. Ask themselves, which actions are necessary, which are a waste of time, energy, or money. Instead of fretting over the details of the ambitious end-goal, I'm enjoying every small step. For now, the name of the game is movement.

Ah...yes. I'm sure you're thinking, What is all this idealist chatter dancing around? What is this great thing you are gearing for here, Kim?  Well my friends, the plan is to bicycle across the country.

Young & Broke, this Amateur Bicyclist, Athlete, and Camper is finding a Way!

And I'm going to write to you about it. My grammar and composition abilities are raw and humble now, but I know they will improve with everything else. This is what I have to offer. This is the beginning.

Training For Those Rainy Rides

More about the group I am riding with:
Green Riders Across America 
http://robgreenfield.tv/greenriderstour/ 
We are the Green Riders, cycling in the service of others and the earth summer 2017. All across the country we will be helping others to grow their own food and live more sustainably. We’ll be starting gardens at people’s homes, at schools, and in the communities of small towns and urban cities in every state that we pass through. Plus we’ll be Freestyle Gardening all over the country! Each place that we pass through will be left a slightly better place than we found it.
We’ll also be stopping into many farms and gardens across the country to learn from the amazing things they are doing as well as share their work. We’ll visit permaculture farms, organic farms, off the grid homesteads, sustainability centers, and more. By joining this adventure you’ll not only get to help others but also expand your knowledge and skills.
We will travel in a low impact style living in an environmentally friendly manner. You will learn and practice simple living, sustainable living, zero waste, and holistic health as well as how to live with less money. We will be camping and staying with hosts along the way so the costs of the trip will be very minimal. This journey will be an immersive experience in sustainable living and we hope you’ll come away inspired and informed on how to be a positive impact on the world around you.

Words are Sacred

So, after declaring to cyber world my plans for a day of silence the next day, I woke up that day remembering the need to work that night. Re-route! to a mindful choice-of-words type thing like those times I was quiet before, but "required" by some perceived construct to speak at school. I didn't mind.

It was a good test to notice the words that sneak by..the curses and grumbles in those stub your toe moments...the effortless answer to a passing "how are you"...yet I found no emotion or profound message in any of these! Isn't speech to communicate with each other? Isn't it to share tips for survival, to cooperate, and to practice our communion as a species?

While recognizing the increasing prevalence of social media in our everyday lives, I noticed how much is a sort of "outward" motion. As if everyone is in bumper cars shouting at the top of their lungs. We are all in our own cars operating at different speeds, different attitudes, and with different goals. Expressing and consuming constantly, I sometimes wonder, are these thoughts even mine? There is an obtrusive way screen time in general operates. They demand acknowledgement when we choose to invest each flick of the thumb to scroll through Facebook, but also when we're doing nearly every menial task like pumping gas or sitting in a waiting room. Our technology interferes down to the way our phone can interrupt our thought process with one *zzt!* vibration. Subconsciously, it rearranges values and impacts our overall attitude and outlook. Which in itself is not harmful, if we know how to access that inner truth that discerns and discards.

Is what I'm saying for me or for you? What's the point in saying anything? Is there importance in broadcasting, receiving, or speaking about discerning truth in the Information Age? Of course, nothing I am saying means much of anything. Just another hippiecrite screaming her beliefs from her bumper car; simultaneously uploading to the Google marketing team intel on my innermost thoughts and desires. On the other hand, it is also everything.

What we choose to do in this life is all we have. (For certain anyway ;) There has been many lives before us, and many to come. I do believe every life and every voice is important. However, I think we need to invest more time in learning, discerning, and knowing ourselves before we speak or use a social media platform. Because words are sacred.




So, after a day of focusing on what is within, I chose to start this blog again. By minimizing what was consumed and expressed, through fasting, turning my phone off, and communicating considerably less, I have decided to let *some of it* flow out onto the platform. For now.