The End of a Self-Made Sabbatical: Reflection and How-To

On a Sunday afternoon I was in a dark, cozy, cavernous room in Portland’s outer southeast Lents neighborhood putting acupuncture needles in a patient. He was jovial despite chronic pain from a bad accident years ago. “How’s your weekend?” he asked, and then hastiliy added, “Oh, I guess you don’t really get a weekend since you’re working today.” He looked at me apologetically, as if I might be offended, having been reminded that I was working on what is most people’s day of rest. “Well, I’ve had a six-month weekend,” I smiled back. Continue reading →

Into the Wilds with an Open Heart

I find myself once again in an airport, this time heading to Wisconsin to visit loved ones for the holiday season. I’m getting used to the logistics of the wandering life but am still not quite comfortable with the emotional make-up of it. I am in-betweener by nature, often existing in the grey areas of human duality, but this is the first time I’ve chosen to exist in the no-mans-land of being jobless and houseless. I have found that it comes with its own language. Some people speak the language of the wanderer and some people don’t. Continue reading →

On Doing Good Work and Avoiding Martyrdom in a Capitalist Society

It has been a week and a half since I got back from the East Coast and started the next phase of my sabbatical. The trip east was more vacation than anything, all about re-kindling creativity and zeal for life. It got me out of my comfort zone and into the risky land of new ideas. It takes a certain amount of courage to re-evaluate one’s life and had I stayed in Portland I think I would have been in danger of falling into a state of paralysis, not knowing what to do with myself or how to move forward. So, I jumped into something completely different to reboot my outlook on life. But, for me traveling becomes weary after awhile and now I’m ready to refocus and find clarity amongst the chaos. Continue reading →

A Tender-Hearted Lament

I woke up in sunny, gentle, quiet Portland at my friend Turtle’s house where I am staying for a couple days. She is in California for the weekend and I am alone in her homey three story house. I’m glad to be here, regrouping after such an eventful trip. There are still so many untold stories that I plan to share with you. Here is one I wrote on the way back. Continue reading →

That New England Feel

I finally felt that I was in New England on the trip to Boston this weekend. Edna and I took the Megabus from New York for a gig, and the drive was gorgeous. I couldn’t believe how forested it was. I saw much less human presence than I expected between towns; it was easy to forget that New York was just a hop, skip and a jump away. And, the trees were changing into their fall colors, something that reminds me of Wisconsin and feels like home. Continue reading →

Lincoln Center, Juilliard, and Elmo

I’m back in New York and in love with the City anew. Amanda took me in again, in all her generosity, and fed me zucchini fritters with yogurt sauce in her Brooklyn apartment this morning. It took me all morning to get situated, and to prepare for our gig on Saturday. Edna and I are heading to Boston for a fundraising concert for Hope Church, and inclusive Christian community in Jamaica Plains. It’s only my second time in Boston, the first time was to go whale watching during a high school summer internship. Of that experience I mostly remember puking for hours in the boat bathroom. I didn’t get to see any whales, so it can only get better from there. Continue reading →

Asheville, Southern Charm, and the Journey North

It’s 7am and we just pulled out of the Amtrak station in Charlotte. It was still pitch black when Stephie and I left the house at six but now the light is steadily growing and changing the sky from dark black-purple to orange, and now to neon pink. There are still puddles of fog nestled in fields and other open areas between houses. This is one of my favorite times of day but one I rarely see, also loving the mysterious potential of late night and my sleep. It has been a long time since I was on a train and I’m glad for the excuse to see the sunrise and to ride the rails again. It’s fourteen hours to Penn Station, plenty of time to catch up on stories and make new ones. Continue reading →

Something completely different

Charlotte is for slowing down. Since getting here a few days ago I’ve mostly been sleeping and eating, which seems perfectly in line with this place. Not only because I’m staying with John and Stephanie, my comfortably worn-in friends, but also because the day I arrived it turned rainy and fall-chilly, which sent the whole city into hibernation mode. They teased that I brought Portland weather with me, and it certainly has felt like a warmer and slightly muggier version of the Pacific Northwest. Charlotte also has one of the densest urban canopy covers in the U.S., something the city maintains scrupulously and takes pride in. The green adds to the city’s sleepy rural flavor, and it’s kinship with the Cascades, a delightful change after the concrete slabs of the North. I traded garbage trucks and rowdy neighbors for cicadas and song birds. Continue reading →

Philadelph-i-a

I know you’re going to throw a fit with this one but I’m going to say it anyway: “Philadelphia reminds me of Portland.” How could it not after New York? Well, because demographically, geographically and culturally it’s completely different. I know, but human beings are pattern-recognizing animals and I can’t help but see the familiarity in this place. Continue reading →

Today 400,000 People Marched for the Earth

The Huffington Post ran an article saying there were 400,000 of us in the streets of New York today. We spanned four miles and included people from all over the world fighting for environmental, economic, and social justice. Nurses, teachers, musicians, indigenous farmers, and Hollywood stars all paraded through Times Square to show our shared concern for our future. Continue reading →