Saturday, January 22, 2011

The Road To Self Discovery

Been racking my brain the past few days as to what the hell I'm going to write about next. But the past 24 hours has put me on a new agenda for this year.

I've been out of school for about 3 years now and have been working an office job the entire time. I picked up my second job about 4 months ago with the intentions of putting a halt to my financial responsibilities of going out every weekend and to save money for a newer vehicle. The down side to it has been not being able to see my friends as much as I was used to. I miss their energy, their smiles and their laughter everyday. But I've tried my best to allow them to understand that taking a second job was a necessary and positive move for me. I needed to work my life style flaw of low discipline and lack of financial responsibility. A lot of them are very understanding and supportive of this, which I am truly grateful for.

Since the time of acquiring my second job I have greatly improved on my self discipline and money management. I have saved about $2,500 for a car. At first my plan was to save about 5-6 thousand and buy a newer Honda Civic. But that idea has been recently thrown out the window over the past 24 hours. If figure there's plenty of time later to been seen driving a nice car. So I am now on the hunt for a Honda Civic that is clean and will last me another 2-3 years, that's worth 3k.

I've spent 3 years of doing nothing but work, party, get through the divorce of my parents and figure out how to rebuild, the once monumental bridge that was, the relationship with my mother. Oh and of course figure out what the hell to do with myself. But in the past 24 hours I have approached a climatic epiphany that I need to explore myself in ways that will allow me to see the world in new eyes and some where along the line I'll discover my calling in this world.

With this epiphany I have began my plans for a month long journey spent in Europe in July. All money I make between now and July 1, 2011 will be put solely towards this adventure. I already have plans to spend 4Th of July in the Jersey Shore with a few of my friends. I figure this will be a good fair well trip before I begin walking down my road to self discovery. From Jersey I will fly to Madrid, Spain where my cousin will be residing in her year long stay. Once there it will be as simple as spinning a globe and going to where my finger lands. But some of the places I intend to visit are Paris, France; the island of Ibiza, Spain; Germany; England; Amsterdam; Italy; Greece; Portugal and Morocco. In Paris I will visit my good friend (and very talented artist and photographer) Jasna. I look forward to this rendezvous because if its one way I would like to see Paris it would definitely be through her eyes.

I get nothing but butterflies when I think of this trip. It's about as comparable to the vulnerable and innocent excitement I once had as a child, staying up all night in my room, waiting for the sun to rise so that I may rush into the living room to see what some magical man in a sleigh had brought me. But this journey does not stop after a month in Europe.

Once my time is up in Europe, my next move, on the chess board of life, will be to live in California for a month. Hopefully my Aunt and Uncle will be kind enough to allow me a temporary stay in their elegant estate. While here I will probably do some labor work for my Uncle's company that will allow me to support myself and save money for my next venture. Enter stage - The Burning Man.

I've heard of Burning Man once before. But was properly introduced to it last night by a very commendable and respectable co-worker at the bar. I began my research on this event at about 4:30 this morning and have been captivated since. Allow me to give you a brief description of this event, at which point any further interest will need to be taken upon yourself.

The Burning Man - "through the history of Burning Man 0 from its early days on a small beach in San Francisco through its evolution into the bustling city of some 48,000+ people that the Burning Man event has become today. These people make the journey to the Black Rock Desert for one week out of the year to be part of an experimental community, which challenges its members to express themselves and rely on themselves to a degree that is not normally encountered in one's day-to-day life. The result of this experiment is Black Rock City, home to the Burning Man event. There are no rules about how one must behave or express one's self at this event. (save the rules that serve to protect the health, safety and experience of the community at large.); rather, it is up to each participant to decide how they will contribute and what they will give to this community. The event takes place on an ancient lake bed, known as the playa. By the time the event is completed and the volunteers leave, sometimes nearly a month after the event has ended, there will be no trace of the city that was, for a short time, the most populous town in the entire country. Art is an unavoidable part of this experience, and in fact, is such a part of the experience that Larry Harvey, founder of the Burning Man project, gives a theme to each year, to encourage a common bond to help tie each individuals contribution together in a meaningful way. Participants are encouraged to find a way to help make the theme come alive, whether it is through a large-scale art installation, a theme camp, gifts brought to be given to other individuals, costumes or any other medium that one comes up with" - www.burningman.com/what is burning man. (see also YouTube, search: "burning man")

Well I must be off to work now but there will be a continuation of this post tomorrow.

Hope for good feed back on how I am doing with this blog.

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