Going Strong.

Many things are moving. Fast! I am caught up in a new life that lays all around me. Currently, I am reading a book called Letters to a Young Poet and I couldn't have been found by this book at a more perfect time. My first weekend I found a craigslist advertisement for a free stuff give-away and ended up carrying a plastic bag covered arm-load of books home with me through the rain. Among these titles was this book by Ranier Maria Rilke. The author encourages a young man to embrace the trials of living in this world. Everyone is alone but people seem to forget that the aloneness is what actually allows us to grow. I am not alone in my life. Many people care about me and love me, yet still I live in infinite space of possibility. Tonight I saw a man that works at the Adult Education Center where I take my art class on the street and approached him. I introduced myself. The interesting thing I learned today from Mr. Rilke is something about risk in life. I combined this with principles I recently learned about the evolving brain and thought about risk. What is taking risk in life? Thought processes and thought mechanisms in the brain are thought to be adaptive. People, genetically, possess rules and guidelines for thought and interpreting the world. Our brains have evolved certain capabilities that are seen in many people. Binocular vision, language and syntax, emotions... Everyone has them because they evolved. And what about risk? I thought today that it was healthy for us to experience risk because our ancestors experienced it everyday. We feel good when we do something challenging or possibly risky because we have minds that are created to use risk to grow. I grow.

On sunday I went on an Epic trip to the beach, literally and figuratively. I forgot how much I love my road bike. I love it so much. And how empowering is it to pick up and ride to the beach? Wow! So much energy.

I thought you would appreciate my friend I met near my new house in Cambridge. I took a picture of him for you.




I then went to fix my bike...



...before the Epic trip!