Meeting Ken Ilgunas - Author, Walden On Wheels

I had the great pleasure of meeting a young author, Ken Ilgunas, this evening. Ken's book, Walden on Wheels, has earned him considerable recognition as an adventurer, thinker and counter-culture young adult.

Tonight's intimate gathering in a local Winston-Salem home allowed me to visit with and glimpse into the life of this novel man. He is certainly on a journey and it will be very interesting to see what his unique living and the resultant societal recognition means for him and others - as time progresses.

From his own website:

Once I was a cart-pushing suburbanite from New York. But then I fell in love with Alaska and Thoreau, so now I go on adventures and write about them. 

I originally started this blog to chronicle my "vandwelling" adventure at Duke University in January 2009. When I enrolled in a graduate program at Duke, I was nearly broke because I'd just finished paying off my $32,000 undergraduate student debt. So I bought a van -- a 1994 Ford Econoline -- and I secretly lived in it on campus so I could afford tuition and not have to go back into debt. 

In May 2011, after two and a half years at Duke, I graduated debt-free, with a little over $1,000. A book about my experiences, Walden on Wheels, will be published in May 2013.

His writings will entertain you and quickly reveal an independent and resourceful spirit committed to living life differently. Click over to Ken Ilgunas' website and get to know Ken a bit and consider reading his book.

Currently he is writing his second book which will catalog his experiences of hiking the 1,700 mile route of the Keystone XL pipeline.

You GO Ken!

Stop. Look. Listen.

Before you cross the street, stop, look and listen. This advice was drilled into my head as a child. Before you cross the busy street - which for me was often traffic crammed Ocean Boulevard in the heat of the Summer tourist season in Myrtle Beach, SC - you should stop, look both ways and listen for traffic coming as well as look. Stop. Look. Listen.

One of our kids, at preschool age, learned this phrase incorrectly and would utter "Stop. Look and Licken," when we would prepare to cross a street. In loving and nurturing parental fashion, we never corrected her and soon we all had a new phrase for practicing safe crossings.

There are all kinds of crossings in life.

The saying stays with me. Stop, look and listen. My life is busy. I plan each day for a busy life. I enjoy it. Living is a lot like showing up at the Sunday buffet and having to chose what you are not going to taste. I'm not particularly good at saying no. I want the entire feast!

Last weekend I spent some time in Asheville, NC. I had two wonderful days with nothing planned. I went for a hike in the mountain woods, visited the Folk Art Center, took a long sit at a Blue Ridge Parkway overlook, and tarried for hours in a local coffee shop writing, reading and relaxing. I stopped, slowed down, looked at the world I was in and savored, listened, to the details and nuances of my living - that one day. It was a beautiful day. I think I'll do it some more.

When is the last time you followed the simple direction: Stop, look and listen?

A Poem About Hiking - Feelings and Emotions

Hiking It Off

The earth under foot

Passes

Thought fades into

Absence

Embraces singularity

Feels

Effortless striding

Forth

Coming homeward

Bound

Less of me resting

Heavy

Burdens dripping

Soaking

Into the soil beneath

Me

I miss hiking...

Hiking It Off - repost

Hiking It Off

The earth under foot

Passing

Thoughts fade into

Absence

Embraces singularity

Feels

Effortless striding

Forth

Coming homeward

Bound

Less of me resting

Heavy

Burdens dripping

Soaking

Into the soil beneath

Me

10 Day Changers - #6

There are things I do and say that make my day great. This 10 day series is about those things.

6. Take a hike. I do hike often, but what I'm referring to here is more of a simple walk. I will get up from my work and walk for 5 minutes. A brisk walk down the hall or around the building always rearranges things. It is a great stress reliever and a powerful perspective changer. Stand up and walk away - just remember to walk back, too. 

Yes.

Yes. I'm back from my weekend at the historic Grove Park Inn.

Yes. I saw President Obama as we walked down the hallway.

Yes. I delivered a devotional message to a few hundred Rotarians at the Grove Park Inn.

Yes. I enjoyed the vistas and expanse of the NC mountains.

Yes. I am tired and looking forward to returning to 'normal' starting now.

Gently Walking

Gently Walking

beads of perspiration mark trails down my temples

paths of the journey of necessity, vigilance

arms stretch outward to maintain balance

delicate steps along the precipice of doubt

pain

once more muscles constrict and release the rhythm

of a task that moves me ever forward

mental anguish and withered cravings scream

threats of rebellion and unwillingness

fear

while gentle wisps of liberated mist rise from the earth

once bound to soil and stone now free, rising

swirling forms of supportive hands caress my frame

lifting forever a small piece of life's weighty matter

relief

i stroll on

Digital Disengagement

Digital Disengagement

I'm confessing upfront that I don't know where this experiment will lead, but I do know that I must do it.

I have been spending too much time engaged with the Internet lately. Between my work (Digital Marketing Agency) and my personal 'play' in the realms of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Four Square, I have been constantly engaged with the digital world. I enjoy all of the connections that this interactive world allows. I have people who I know and value only via the web and others who share with me in the flesh-and-blood world and enhance that sharing via the virtual world. I enjoy the pace of interactions, the laughter, the positive massages and the extension of myself that Digital allows me.

My work involves some measure of interaction on the web, as well. Yet, when I really analyze my work-related time (and I have this week), very little other than email and research is critical to my goals vocationally.

I do enjoy the digital world and its constantly changing and ever teaching environment keeps me stimulated and growing, but I am paying a price.

Here's the rub. I've noticed some changes in my life - more my experience and enjoyment of life - that just won't do. I will not go into the details here, but will generalize my concern thus: I am not a natural child of the digital world and to continue to process and engage at such an intense and constant level is tiring and is changing the way I think, process and most importantly the way I care for myself.

So, here's my confession. I will be backing away from the Internet. If you are a regular reader here, you will likely not notice a difference in my blogging frequency. Blogging, as I practice it, is less about frantic, quick thought and more about thinking, writing, and creating. I'll not stop blogging. I am backing off of Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn in terms of frequency of interactions. The same is true with my non-work related email interactions.

I will be blocking time (some of the 86,400 seconds of every day) for non-digital engagement, and limiting my online time with a timer. My commitment is to the next 21 days. Already, this weekend as refreshed my spirit as I have only spent 3 hours online and left my iPhone sitting by itself for hours at a time. I have spent the newly reclaimed time: hiking, reading, listening (just sitting and listening) to music and song lyrics, playing with my dogs, and talking face-to-face with family and friends. I like it.

Wish me success.


Photo taken October 2008, Appalachian Trail Hike

Some Green Worth Sharing

Let's Hear It for Green

I wandered in the woods off the Blue Ridge Parkway one spring and found this place. Now this is some green worth celebrating.

No need to ask, "Where's the green in that?" (see previous post).