"Out of catastrophe comes opportunity"

The Graduate

I picked up my younger brother from Portland Oregon on friday. He has been a student at The United Bicycle Institute for the last three weeks.  Noah has a passion for bikes that is growing and clearly a driving force in his life. I am so happy that he decided to follow this ambition and I genuinely hope that he finds what he is looking for within it.

It is inspiring for me to see my brother take life on and assert himself into it in the way that he sees fit.  Historically i have followed the philosophy of "going with the flow" of life, but as time goes on I begin to realize that you must act on your impulse. When your gut... or your heart screams for action it is most wise to obey.

My heart has recently sent me on several, rather contradictory courses.  I strongly feel the urge to leave the country and Ecuador has been the subject of that ambition... yet always at the back of my mind hangs the idea that i will find what i seek in New Zealand.  I cant not pretend to know why I feel this way but I have, for a long time, thought that when i do make it abroad to either New Zealand or possibly Australia I will find what I am constantly and blindly searching for.

The UBI classroom

I feel a pull towards the country as both a generally unpopulated area and as a place on this earth where those seeking simplicity in life may find it.  Complication and drama do not become us.  To actualize the feelings of Love, Beauty, Freedom and Truth is all i can ask to achieve. I seek the truth through my career as a biologist and the course of action I follow in my daily life. I wish to find love in the world that is based on ideals but rooted in reality.  I practice art... mostly photography, drawing, a little music and once-upon-a-time glass-blowing as my acts of beauty.  While my heart is a compass directing me towards freedom and therefore my own happiness.  I have found that at the worst of times, when i feel the most lost... the most desperate... if i am willing and able to listen to what my heart desires I can move beyond this moment and gain insight into exactly what it is that will fulfill me in the future.

"We are men of action, Lies do not become us"***

The world crumbles around us as perspective deformed to obsession,

Life becomes a single pursuit infected with blinded progression,

to seek what lies before us as an answer to our quest,

as lies do not become us, frankly, clichés say it best.

***(Westley from The Princess Bride)