Freedom

I sit here on a plane, ready to go to the UK. I am going for a month, and have no real agenda. It's going to be an adventure! I will write more when I get there, but I have to turn this off because it's time to fly....


Hello UK! My journey has begun...

 

Well, I am in Bristol- I have a few things to take care of here before my adventure really begins...

This marks my first time staying in a hostile. I have to admit that I am a bit underwhelmed. The place is not the cleanest, and there seems to be people that never leave. Is this the English version of Hotel California? The showers are communal and as an American, its very strange. But this is an adventure!

I want to talk more about why I am doing this. Simply put, life is too short. A great friend of mine and collage from my first job is a perfect metaphor: When I was a kid, my first job was selling guns & I was terrible at it. I always kept my head down, had no confidence, and did not take rejection well. My boss wanted to fire me. One day while cleaning my bosses 2,000USD handgun, I left it in the ultrasonic cleaner and forgot about it. I wound up melting the finish off. Needless to say, my boss was pissed and when you are a socially awkward 16 year old, its hard to take a verbal assault in stride. I was so ashamed, I couldn't bring myself to come in the next day.

When I did come in, I was too embarrassed to speak to anyone. I just went upstairs and kept to myself. Then Ken came by. He looked like someone out of the Hells Angels. He had biker tattoos all over his arms, his face swam in a big, nasty beard. And he was one of the most genuinely nicest people I have ever met. He told me that I need to stop worrying so much about mistakes and what other people think of me. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. "If Ray blows his top, so what?" (His exact words were "**** 'em"). And from that point on, something clicked. I stopped worrying and started enjoying. Ken was someone who really loved working with and helping people. And thanks to him, I got to experience that, too.

The sad part of the story is that when Ken went to the doctors office complaining of a hernia, the doctor diagnosed him with testicular cancer which was malignant and had spread throughout his entire body. He went home and killed himself. That was Wednesday. I am still in shock. He even stopped a woman from killing herself!

I have decided that my life will not be defined by my having cancer. Nor will it be defined by the clothes on my back, or, and I am being bold here, what I did yesterday.

I am taking myself out of my comfort zone and travelling here with no agenda because it isn’t something I would normally do. And if it is something I wouldn’t normally do, it isn’t something I would normally experience, and if it isn’t something I would normally experience, then I can learn something extraordinary.

Life is a symposium of all that is good and bad, happy and sad. It is our choice on how we want to live. More to follow.

(P.S. Steve, it would be great to meet you! I will PM you.)




I need a tripod...

 

I love Bristol- I've been to it many times, and have been to all of the sites you guys have mentioned, but that was in another life. I'm here in Penzance- got in this evening and I have had no chance to take photos. I'm going to explore this place for a full day tommorow and then... Off to who knows?! (one thing is for sure, it likely won't be south! )

I'm really looking forward to my adventure. I want to meet all of you but that will have to be discussed more later- as soon as I can get to a normal computer (instead of my iPhone).

 

Having Lands End all to yourself... Is Freedom... For the mind...
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