... and Drink the Wind...
The last year has been the best... and it's been the worst, but really, how can I complain?
In the past year and a half, I've ridden my Raider to Alaska and back. I've rolled her along the Pacific Coast Hwy in Oregon, and on San Juan Island in Puget Sound. I've run the twisties of the Goin' to the Sun Road in Glacier Nat. Park up in Montana... Twice! She's been through Yellowstone, over Lost Trail Pass in Montana, and into Flagstaff for some BBQ!
She's taken my to Mt. Shasta, Payson and over Mingus Mtn. to Jerome. We've ridden the Flaming Gorge country of Utah...
I've run to the Black Hills, and over the Beartooth Pass on the Chief Joseph Hwy. I've ridden Hwy 12 on the Escalante and Arches National Park in Utah.
I've toured Yosemite, the Arizona Desert and the High Rocky Mountain Skyway of Hwy 550 through Silverton in Colorado.
It's been a hell of a year...So... How can I complain? Aw, I ain't really! ;)
The thing is... lately, the negative, downer crap that seems to be piling up in the world faster than a man can shovel or outride it, seems to have caught me, a bit... and run me off into a rut. It's sorta contaminated my thinking. It's something we all need to fight off... and Keep Living! We all need to Keep it in the Wind!
I live in a way that I'm sure many riders find enviable. I work for no 'Bosses' any more... just myself. If I want, any time I want, I can just step outside the rig, climb on the Raider, twist the throttle and ride!
But... the feeling that I Need to take care of business has wormed its way back into too commanding a place... once again. It's regained some power I thought I'd taken away from it some time ago.
I worked myself into the lifestyle I live now, 'cause workin' for the man, Slaving for the man, was just no longer a tolerable way of livin'. I managed to build my two websites... which led to the publishing of my fiction... and they are a major part of what keeps me on the road... and a major and growing thing that supports the Freedom that I get to live in.
... and THAT... is where the rub comes...
Without meaning to... that Freedom I've enjoyed for more than a year now... seems to be getting a bit tarnished by that pressure and worry to Take Care of that Publishing Business... that contributes a heavy % of our living.
That pressure has come, I believe, from the doubts that the world around us can infect a mans head with. It's come from the unending drone of bad news everywhere you look.
That's the dicey part... Finding the balance 'tween maintaining the Freedom of the Road... and Taking Care of Business... so that I can STAY, on the road... in the face of all the Damn doom and gloom that we're beaten down with...
If a fella isn't careful he falls back into the same old trap of workin' all the time... and not Living. It happens so slow you don't see it coming until one day you look up and you're gettin' full circle, falling back into the same rut you worked so hard to climb out of.
To avoid that, a guy's got to pay attention to the Dream too! He's got to use just as much discipline to protect what he's workin' FOR... as he does, takin' care of the work he does for the necessities of life, that supports that Dream.
Work should ALWAYS be secondary to LIVING. It's only a TOOL... to provide what's needed to LIVE.
If the Dream and LIVING... starts having to be sacrificed to take care of secondary "Business"... then it's my opinion that I'm doin' it wrong and I need to back off a step and take a fresh look... and figure out how to do it right! I need to put a fresh shine back on the Dream.
So... the next few weeks, as I finish out this year, and start off in the new... are to be spent re-evaluating what I'm doin' and how... for the purpose of putting things back into a better balance...
... so that the next year... sees as many, and hopefully more miles splittin' the Wind with the grin of Freedom decorating my ugly bald cowboy biker brain pan, as the last...
Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian
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5 comments:
Hope you keep writing Brian, but the shadow of slavery to your "work" is a harsh mistress. Pretty soon you find yourself running, stressing, and the pressure seeps in. I've noticed the leaning towards "the dark side" in my own life struggle. Makes me forget the whole point of "freedom from slavery."
It is winter times... we are going through the same here! Keep in mind, balance is never achieved only for brief moments. They are the peaks one needs to recognize, and then down the valley we go to climb back up again... If it were only peaks we would never know what the taste of balance is...
Happy Holidays... Ara and Spirit
First, I have really enjoyed your blog and book! Second, my motto is "work to live not live to work"
Third, love your horse (mammal or machine), respect your wife and honor God.
Take everything you can from life. Chase freedom till you catch it. Then ride in its vacuum as long as you can.
Again, thank you.
wanderer; No worries... and I hope your difficulties lighten soon.
Ara; Ah...that balance thing... that is the part that takes constant attention isn't it :)
Anonymous; Thank You too. I like your words as well!
Pretty much! We can to recognize where we are and move on accordingly... Snow the other day! Yes, winter is making it's mark... Let's think Spring!!! :-)))
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