traveling

summer sabbatical

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 →