First day back on the job

So just like the students, a little anticipation is healthy the first day back in school. My naturalist job is sometimes like the first week of school every week. Its a wealth of exciting. You never know what you're going to have to work with, what to accomplish, what is on the horizon that you could never see coming. This week is all about group bonding and getting to know new classmates (and old ones better) so I'm getting to delve deeper into activities than many past weeks, its great. It also is quite personally progressive for many of the same issues that the students are just beginning to struggle with. Tomorrow is going to be mostly just fun and games but I bet they will do or say something smart. I wish this could be more descriptive or poignant but I'm exhausted. Maybe better in a few days.  

time is in miles and sights seen

So my time in one place has yet again come to an end and I find myself back on the road. The first day went very well. Ten hours and roughly 666 miles seemed to breeze by. I had a lovely evening of seeing some sights and enjoying some culture here in historic Nashville, TN. Its funny how you seem to find the familiar everywhere you go. I see a lot that reminds me of Athens, GA here. Now how to fully explore, physically and mentally, the next 2000, that is the challenge. Its just me, my little car and whatever middle-America's road has to throw at me. I already had a few nice bumps before I even took off. I'm actually oddly appreciative of those minor impediments because they make me enjoy the freedom of the road that much more.

new favorite thing: Freakonomics podcast (is is cheating on Chuck and Josh from STYSK?)
best sign of the day: Frozen Head State Park somewhere in Virginia.

until the next town!

Smiles on a rainy day are always worth more...

While I always try to stay as calm and positive as possible, because that's the best way to stay healthy and productive, it is increasingly difficult in today's urban existence. My university education was constantly questioning whether or not natural resources and intrinsic pleasure there-from are a privilege of the elite in society or not. The more time I spend in this seemingly urbane city; I seem to be leaning heavily toward the positive answer to that query. Many days, it gets increasingly more difficult to justify running off to the woods, jungle, desert, or coral reef in an effort to pacify my personal urges for adventure and knowledge. I just don't learn from books. I learn from the world around me by finding myself in unplanned corners. Maybe life has an even more unexpected corner that doesn't involve a plane or a foreign nation or anywhere that requires extra vaccinations, but the oddest thing is that scares me ten times more than getting kidnapped in Peru or handling snakes in the desert. How increasingly challenging will it be to try to find new and positive experiences to translate to students while I know all of them are going back to cities that bombard everybody with hourly reminders of our current state of deficiency? I just keep thinking back to my grandparents generation, not that long ago, that learned from growing up with even less resources that we have now; that every little thing has value so long as you take the time and effort to figure it out and that nothing is truly broken until it has been fixed up beyond repair. It boggles my mind how in 60 years we can become such a disposable society. Unless you think that all life is truly disposable, how can you think living is? Everything comes from somewhere. I'd really like to see people learn from this shift in financial affluence and use it as an opportunity for real life education. The most concise definition of "value" in the Merriam-Webster dictionary is "relative worth, utility, or importance". I can't help but bask in that wealth of subjectivity.

Introductions are always awkward....so here it goes:

     
 If life is the question, then what is the answer? This utterly simplistic view is absurd but rattles around the brain nonetheless in people from all walks of life. Why? We ponder the meaning of life constantly; much like a 5-year old might ask 'Why?' two dozen times in a day because, at our core, we are extremely curious creatures.
      Philosophers paved the way for thousands of years with their observations in discussion-based education systems. Now we are taught that every equal and opposite reaction must have a quantified result or else the pursuit was a failure. But I truly believe that a quality education is nothing that can be bought, sold, or even qualified because it is your personal journey of inquiry and understanding. The major component missing is the dynamic community or willingness, open minds fostering growth in future directions, unrestricted by outdated 'educational' paradigms.
       My experiences traveling have served as more of an educational medium than anything else in my life. It is only when we get not just outside ourselves but also outside our comfort zone that the opportunity for real growth germinates. Heading confidently into the personal unknown is only the beginning though; being equipped to experience, process, and learn from what follows is the skill set needed to develop one's mind from endeavors.  Just like any expertise, this takes time, practice, and desire.
        This interactive journal is the beginning of a discussion on life as a perpetual journey of knowledge; the kind of knowledge that not only leaves you with more questions than answers but ceases to make sense of the world around us, instead opens it up to limitless possibilities.