Happy 14th Re-Birthday to Me!

Happy 14th Re-Birthday to Me! 

Fourteen years ago, I decided to go off-script. Instead of following the playbook, I started ad-libbing. I said "no thanks" to what was expected of me and began embracing whatever moved me. 

While I sometimes have no idea how my story will unfold in the moment, looking back, it all seems to fall into nice, orderly, entirely sensical chapters. 

After leaving the work world came the nomad chapter.  I assumed it would have a tidy ending and that I'd move fairly quickly into whatever came next. Alas, I spent a good chunk of time in a liminal, who-am-I-now space. Looking back at my re-birthday posts over the last few years, there's been a recurring theme: "I don't know what's happening next." And while I suppose that's always the case, I now seem to have found my purpose. At least for this chapter of life. 

In last year's post, I mentioned I was excited to start my own biking endeavor. Within a few months, I'd fully severed ties with my previous biking affiliations. While that was sad at the time, hindsight has given me a healthy dose of gratitude for those endings. They've allowed me to pour my energy into creating something of my own. Little did I know that would mean starting not one, but two biking endeavors. [Gulp.]

Life per Gallon

Yesterday I went for a bike ride. At one point, I was pedaling up McLeod Road, inching my way up the hill, when I caught up with a man on the adjacent sidewalk. He was wearing a yellow Pearl Izumi vest — ah, perhaps a cyclist? — and walking with a cane.

I looked over, smiled, and said, "You want to race to the top?"

We both paused in our climb and introduced ourselves.

"Hi, I'm Fred." 

"Hi, I'm Sarah." 

Fred reached into his belt bag and said he had a book for me. 

I was confused. A book? For me? 

He handed it to me. 

I looked at the cover. "Life per Gallon." There was a photograph of a cyclist touring down a road, and beneath it: "Writings of Frederick Su." 

Ah, Fred was giving me a book he had written. 

Happy 13th Re-Birthday to Me!

Happy 13th Re-Birthday to Me! 

Thirteen years ago today I started living intentionally. I stopped spending my time doing the things I should do and started spending my time doing the things I wanted to do. For twelve of those years, I was a home-less nomad. For the last year, I've been living in my new home in Bellingham.

Time is what I value the most. The twelve years I spent roaming about felt like six entire lifetimes. And yet, the last year I've spent rooted in my new home seems to have passed so quickly. How, I've wondered, can I slow down time? My curiosity with this question has enabled me to better understand the illusion of time. I'll keep that explanation for another post. What I'll say now is that I've learned that time is slowed by expanding the depth and breadth of experiences. 

Happy 12th Re-Birthday to Me!

Happy 12th Re-Birthday to Me! 

Before I was reborn, there was so much I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to bike and travel and see the world. I wanted to explore my curiosities, live my values, and give life to my dreams. I did not want to spend my days plugging away at a career I didn't love. And so I said "no more." Twelve year ago today I quit my job. I downsized my belongings and responsibilities and began living as a funemployed, home-less, and sometimes car-free bohemian. 

Re-birthing myself was not easy. It is, after all, hard to swim upstream when everyone and everything else is moving in the opposite direction. But I gave myself permission to take the leap, and I trusted that I would find my way. I'm so incredibly grateful I did. This new life I chose to live twelve years ago has given me a level of contentment that I never would have imagined. Simplicity has brought with it richness that money could not afford.

A Photo Journal: African Safari - Part V (The Big Kitties)

If you were to ask me "What was your other favorite part of your African Safari?," I would tell you that in addition to the Hot Air Balloon Ride, I really enjoyed watching the big kitties. During one of our game-viewing days in the Serengeti, we were fortunate to observe a pride of fifteen lions for more than an hour.   

That afternoon, we took a turn onto a quiet road. Guide Driver Miya was in the lead, piloting the Land Crusier in which Mom and I were passengers. Guide Driver Dotto and the rest of the group were in the other Land Cruiser a ways behind us. We didn't travel down the quiet road very far before we spotted a group of lions casually walking in our direction. 

Miya radioed Dotto. "We've come across a pride of lions on such-and-such road," he said. "Come quickly." Meanwhile, Miya pulled over so we could watch the lions pass.