Where do we go from here...

“ENERGY AND PERSISTANCE CONQUER ALL THINGS.”

-Ben Franklin



Everglades, Florida

The abstraction that there is no such thing as a new idea, great idea, or an idea that triumphs over all preexisting ideas left me in revolution. How could this be? Is that not what separates the great thinkers, artists, creatives, and business savvy elites from the rest of us?

            No.

Life must come from preexisting life, biogenesis. But had the father of biogenesis, Louis Pasteur, accepted this concept as the same underlying force that pushed his discovery to fruition?  This argument arises more often than not on the metaphysical side of an argument, but I am not taking this out of the concrete. We are discussing epistemology, ideas from ideas. Where else have we seen this argument before?

Eastern Brown Pelican
(Pelicanus occidentalis)
Everglades, Florida

 

 

Life from life requires a very simple transfer of energy. The energy that fuels the very physiological processes that sustain my wellbeing at one point sustained another living organism. With that line of transfer always tracing back to the primary producers, our photosynthetic organisms. These organisms do not consume another living entity to fuel their growth, but rather harness nonliving organic and inorganic sources of energies. These essential photosynthetic organisms produce NO new energy, they simply craft a form that has metabolic value from another source that otherwise would be deemed impractical. A living demonstration of the law of conservation.

 

  

 Remember, our ideas come from other ideas. Someone has had the very same thoughts you are having now. The statistical likelihood that you could string together a sentence or idea that no one had already previously synthesized seems like a shot in the dark. With the exponential growth and ever increasing number of human individuals currently pacing around this planet, clearly someone out there is sharing the very thoughts streaming across your “unique” brain. Interpose our psycho-epistemological intuition, and then there really is NO hope of creating a new idea. But that is our realization, my revolution.

The ideas, action plans, schematics, step-by-step plans, blue prints, maps, graphs, charts, musical notes, designs, and motivation are out there for you to find.

We all want to change, improve, and motivate ourselves to pursue our dreams and conquer our personal quest. The energy to do so is there along with the “how”, you simply need to find the sources that will best fit your transcription. The best ideas are ideas that see the light of day. Your idea might not be new, but that is what we are working with. People have already done what you are trying to do, look to them for guidance and advance what they have already done. Let cooperation be the artistic style you use to blend the colorful strategies used by many to do whatever it is you want to do.

Look to those that have traveled or who travel in the direction you wish to take your personal journey.

                  Take a look at an example of these two individuals and their ideas. Their ideas share a common direction and together they are nourishing one another’s energies to make their ideas happen. It is not their ideas that are so unique but rather their ability to “do” that holds the lesson to be learned. How you choose to use their motivation, determination, and persistence is up to you.

 

And to share the lessons learned.

 

“Today never feels like it will be history, but it will. And more likely than not, you will look back and realize that you should have known.”
                -Scott Belsky, Making Ideas Happen

Huay Tung Thao Reservoir

 

We are all acquainted with the impression that everything we “do” today will affect tomorrow, ultimately writing the script of our lives hours, days, and maybe even years before we have lived them. Consider what it is that you “do?”

What do you do? What are you going to do? What will you “do” today?

 

I think it is easy to identify the contextual definition of the word “do” in these situations as an expected or hopeful outcome resulting from executed or physically completed actions. When someone inquires as to what you will “do” today, what do you tell them? Are you telling them about what you hope to “do” rather than what you expect to do? What about your “to do” list, is it an actionable list of objectives that you will complete or a culmination of what you would like to accomplish.

This has always been a struggle for me. With inspirations violently interjecting themselves into every new introduction, change of scenery, spare moment for idle thought, and cup of devil bean, I have more than my fair share of ideas to juggle. How do I take all of this and turn it into some form a tangible reality? How do you bring them into actualization?

Realization. Discipline. Accountability


Som Tam (Green Papaya Salad) &
Yom Sai Krok (Spicy Sausage Salad) 



In the crafting of my personal legend I am learning that there is an art form to the transfer of inspiration into action. So you want to “do” something? Good, me too. How do you take an inspiration from the metaphysical and transcribe the idea into an executed action?

Realize that there is no such thing as a great idea or an idea that is simply better than the rest, for the value of an idea lies solely in its maturation. You can have a head full of ideas, goals, dreams, and inspirations that all go to waste if you never transcribe that energy into something that you “do.”

 

The transcription of our inspirations into something real takes honest effort and hard work, we all know this. If you want to “do” well in school, you study. If you want to do well in a race, you run. If you want to climb hard, you train. Wanting to climb harder than you ever have before will not make you stronger. You might have ideas, strategies, and hypotheses as to how you will become better at what it is you “do”, but the true success deserves the discipline of understanding the language of ideas and actions. Just as a musician needs to learn, practice, and understand the tone of sound and its symbolic representation to fashion a melody, we can learn to transcribe our ideas into what we “do.”

The hardest aspect of sharing an idea is knowing that you might not ever follow through, as I know I am very, very, very guilty of this. As I had mentioned before, I am stricken with the unfortunate disease of constant streaming thought and inquisition. There needs to be an irrepressible sense of accountability in our transcriptions. You have to find the energy and power to “do” in those around you. If their contribution is a simple interjection, rejection, encouraging suggestion, or time spent playing audience to your ideas you need not to waste their shared efforts. Time is the one commodity none of us will ever have any more of, what we have is what we have. If someone shares their time with you in regards to one of your inspirations, let that alone hold you responsible.

 

The energy to “do” is out there. Remember, the basic principle of energies? They cannot be created nor destroyed, only transferred from one form to another.

Check out Scott Belsky’s book, Making Ideas Happen. The book has a slight “self-help” feel to it with the target audience being business oriented, yet I feel that the message he conveys in his writing and research easily transcends into all realms of personal legends and journeys. It was an incredible read from start to finish. Short but sweet; this book delivers a simple message.  We all have ideas, but very few of us make our ideas happen. Maybe this book will help you get started.
 

For no other reason than to know that you were wrong...

…and the road carries on over bridges, through tunnels, and to the very place where roads end with boat docks and landing strips. My idle speed has drifted me across a couple states, countries, and oceans leaving me currently residing in the Northern city of Chiang Mai, Thailand.

 I want to start off by thanking everyone that helped lend their efforts in making this possible. As I had mentioned before, not one person is solely responsible for crafting, planning, and executing a brilliant (and in some cases not so brilliant) idea.  Even if you were one of the unlucky and unfortunate individuals that had to endure the endless hours of my hypothetical future situations and endeavors, I hope that you know you had a hand in making this happen. And to my family, the very people who helped create and polish the traits that have carried me so far already, I am grateful for all that you continue to share.

Thailand. What a ride it has been so far. With the initial flights here leaving us tossed, squashed, seized, and uncomfortable our transition was nothing short of what felt like an interplanetary excursion. After 20+ hours of flying our jet leg left us wide eyed and stumbling to articulate sentences. Thankfully Stephanie had already found us a place to crash our “farang” confusion prior to our departure.

This past month has taught me a lot about what we can learn from stress. In my references to “stress” I am not specifically referring to the uncomfortable situation that presents itself preceding a college exam but in more of the biological sense. A stressor, or stimuli that challenges equilibrium. My equilibrium has been challenged on many fronts, requiring me both physically and psychologically to alter my processes to maintain “homeostasis” or the optimum state of existence. Any time you are placed into a new scenario, your processes are put to the test. Some fracture under the strain while others withstand the surmounting pressure.  We can then address the value or validity of the reasons behind our processes, which ultimately define our actions.

 A dynamic environment provides a consistent and constant stream of stimulus for a cell or an organism. These dynamic environments provide these organisms or cells a “stress” with which they are able to further test and refine their processes. This results in the survival of the fittest, natural selection. Nature provides the test, life takes the test, the winners…well they get to continue living. This repeated “testing” or application of stress allows life to shake unnecessary, deleterious, and inadequate processes while simultaneously increasing the prevalence of the more advantageous processes. Therefore could one then consider that the more stress we encounter in our personal experiences the more we are able to shape and refine our very own processes? A dynamic environment provides us this opportunity to change, grow, and evolve.

I came here with a plan and with a level of certainty simply supported by what I had heard and read. I wanted to challenge myself personally, romantically, and professionally. I needed a dynamic environment to refine my processes and Thailand fit the bill. The goal, to find a teaching job that would allow me to continue my quest to “stress” my ability as an educator while being able to provide me with enough time to focus on the growth of my relationship and my personal goals with climbing. I am testing the strategies and processes I have relied on in the past. Some prevail and others do not, failure is always the best way to learn. I was able to find the job I was looking for by simply hitting the pavement, further reiterating a concept I had read in a book prior to leaving.  Sometimes it is not about how good your idea sounds but rather how good you are with making your ideas happen?

The chaos and shell shock of the arrival has faded but the stimulus is still here, and seemingly endless. For now this is my dynamic environment that I will use to refine my processes and challenge myself to write the story of my life that I dream of reading.