Life Lessons From a Convict

Three years ago, I walked 160 miles with a convict. As we took our first steps, he shared his first words: "It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured." We walked our miles in 43 hours over a span of five weeks. During this time, I learned numerous life lessons from the convict. The convict is Gregory David Roberts.

The convict, Gregory David Roberts.
(Image from: www.goodreads.com)

Gregory is the author of Shantaram, a novel that tells the story of a man named Lin. Lin, like Gregory, was a heroin addict and bank robber. Lin, like Gregory, escaped from an Australian prison. Lin, like Gregory, fled to the streets of Mumbai and lived life as a fugitive in the Indian underworld. At a lengthy 944-pages, I opted to listen to the audiobook so I could enjoy the novel while on foot. As I walked miles-and-miles of country roads listening to Lin narrate his story through my earbuds, I came to know and admire Gregory.

No More Bitter Fruit

Within a few days of arriving in Quetzaltenango, the owner of the yoga studio, Kevin, asked me if I was familiar with bitter fruit. Hmm, bitter fruit. Like grapefruit?

Nope! Kevin was referring to bananas.

I never knew bananas could be so bitter!

Kevin then handed me a bootlegged copy of Bitter Fruit: The Untold Story of the American Coup in Guatemala, by Stephen Schlesinger and Stephen Kinzer. The book was lent to me with an open return date. Books about history, war, and politics typically don't hold my interest, and so I was afraid I would be returning the book -- unread -- at the end of my three months in Guatemala.

Seeking Ornamental Hermit Position

I am seeking a position as an Ornamental Hermit. Please spread the word.

As a self-proclaimed loner, Anneli Rufus's Party of One: The Loners' Manifesto had me hootin', hollerin' and hallelujahin'. With every turn of the page, a smile spread across my face, punctuated by frequent belly chuckles and empathetic nods.

An entertaining, feel-good read
for anyone who considers themselves
to be a loner.

Society often views loners as losers. Psychopaths. It is true, loners prefer to be on their own. Small talk bores them. Social gatherings drain their batteries. But that does not mean that loners are pity cases or unabombers. What it means is that solitude is where loners are least alone.

My Mind is Blown

Below is a photo from my September 21st Facebook post:

The photo of me, posted on Facebook on September 21st.

The accompanying post reads:

Sometimes life is a little crazier than I prefer for it to be. It feels damn good to just sit still and read a book. I'm finally getting (ok, "making") the chance to devour Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. Yeah for peace and quiet!! And year for a fantastic read!!

It is 52 days later. The above photo and post, for the most part, are still relevant. I happen to be wearing the same orange shirt, which may come as no surprise given that I am a minimalist. While I am currently donning neither hat nor sunglasses, I do have a Kindle on my lap and a cup of tea by my side. Just as in the photo, I am devouring a Yuval Noah Harari book. The title is different, though. At present, the words printed in eInk on my Kindle are from Harari's Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow.

Ingredients for a Tenday

Recently, I've been noticing myself thinking: "Today is a tenday."

"What is a tenday?," you ask.

Well, for starters, I should clarify that the term is my own device. I never intended to create the word; I just started using it.

Now, imagine a scale that ranges from 1 to 10. At the far left of the scale is the 1, which represents "not-so-hot." At the far right of the scale is the 10, which represents "flippin' fantastic." Given that scale, a "tenday" is used to describe a day that is a 10.

"Today is a tenday."
Coming across the words of Mary Oliver, chalked on the front steps of a home.

For the record, I experience sevendays. And fivedays. And occasionally, though rare, onedays as well. After all, it's very much part of the human experience to have ups and downs in life.

Legacies of Bicycling Divas

Once upon a time there was a woman named Annie Londonderry. Her real name was Annie Kopchovsky, but that's not important.

Annie Londonderry was a bitchin' bicycling diva. This is Annie, alongside her trusty steed:

Annie Londonderry, a bicycling diva.

Our bicycling diva, Annie, set out to prove that a woman could ride around the world on a bicycle. (Thomas Stevens was the first man to cycle around the world. He spent two years accomplishing the deed on a penny farthing, completing his journey in 1886.)

The year was 1894. Annie left her husband and three children to girdle the world around.

Alastair's Lessons

Alastair Humphreys rocks my world.

For one, he has a gnarly name.

For two, he is an adventurer from England who spent four years cycling around the world. (Oh, and he also ran 150 miles across the Sahara desert, walked and pack-rafted across Iceland, and rowed across the Atlantic Ocean.) <Insert salivation here.>

But cycling around the world is Alastair's baby, as it was his first adventure. Alastair wrote a book about his journey, called "Ten Lessons from the Road."

Alastair learned a helluva lot of lessons during his four-year journey. So why does he only include ten lessons in his book? Because life is short. Because each day we inch closer and closer to our deathbeds. Because we can't spend too much time theorizing. We just gotta do it and get on with our dreams!

Hunting Typos to Save the World

Nom, nom, nom. Punctuation is critical. It can spare granny's life!

My appreciation for written language began as a youngster in Spelling class. I loved spelling, mostly because it came naturally to me.

My appreciation for language further developed in junior high, when I learned to map sentences in Ms. Limbos's Language Arts class. I discovered that as complicated as the English language may be, it's quite formulaic.