Bloomington, IN and Various Travels...
August 2005 – December 2005
My Liberation
I came to Indiana University and began my independent life. Things went sour with my parents. This was much of my own choosing. I wanted my freedom. I wanted my liberation. I closed the door on them when they first came to visit me in Bloomington. Oh, how wild and beautiful the endless end of possibilities and limitations are when a child has no family and no direction.
My Reconditioning
My growth came quickly. My liberation came when I delved deep into my mind. I spent my energy here – eradicating the conditioned beliefs that were instilled in my mind during childhood. I imagined that each time someone gave me his or her views (all children are susceptible to your energy) a brick was laid in my mind. My mind was full of tall brick walls. It was not free. I was walking through a maze. I wanted it open and spacious! So, I imagined a large wrecking ball that tore down these walls! Ah, the freedoms! The beauty! I cried, I laughed, I nearly died, and I went a little crazy and thought that others were covering up my insanity with their courtesy. This was only fleeting. But, my mind’s clarity was lasting.
I Slowed Down Time
Once I tore down the belief of time. This was a hard one to break. But, when I did, a world opened up to me. I remember, it happened in front of Reed Dormitory. Everything slowed down! Slow motion as I walked to a college classroom. The people walked slowly, I moved slowly, even the American flag in the wind stood nearly still. So slow, like one fluid frame at a time. I’m not sure how long this lasted, maybe a couple of blocks of my walking. I became scared. When my fear came, everything sped up! So fast for only a few moments in time. Time,…here it is again. I brought it back into my life! Damn it! I figured the ‘fast-forward’ was to re-find the balance of what was taken when everything slowed down. Soon, everything was back to my original perception. I have yet to experience this again. The memory is vivid and lasting. What is your perception?
Making Friends and Releasing Fear
In tearing down my preconceived notions, I also attacked and swallowed my own fears. Before this I was somewhat anti-social. I became anxious in large crowds and in parties. So, I began jumping head first into these situations. This is how I got over most all my fears. If you’re scared of heights, start climbing on tall rocks. Our fear is only an illusion. It will dissipate if you jump into it. Don’t stay by the fringes…get to the eye of the storm and you will find your calm.
I lived in Forest Dormitory. Many new friends shared this home. We were a wild bunch of kids. We played Frisbee and soccer down the hallways, experimented with life, pulled pranks (mostly on the strange 30 year old Korean guy who lived on our floor, Jong) and would take unplanned trips to Chicago just to try it out.
Finances and Transportation
I gave my self to IU’s psychology department. I was involved with many experiments. I did this as income. Beyond this, good friend’s helped me out with food and groceries. When things ended with my parents I felt that I needed a car. Some Friday night, drunk on whiskey, I found that I was the high-bidder on an EBay auction for a 1988 Saab 900s hatchback with 2xx,xxx miles on it. Wow! I have a car! $600. But, I soon found out that it was in Scranton, PA and that it was a manual – which I never learned to drive. A long strange trip…
January 2006 – May 2006
Time Off
I was not sure how I would pay for college. So, I took the semester off. Oh, how my friends were jealous! Oh, how often my friends skipped class to play Frisbee with me on the beautiful spring days! I am so happy that they passed their classes! I had nowhere to live, so I stayed, illegally, in the dormitory. I lived with my best friend from high school, David Watters. My friends looked out for me and this was such a blessing. They even helped hide my being when the president of the dormitory came looking for me!
I began to work at the pizza joint down the street, Mother Bears. Oh, a wonderful place for a young college kid to work! Pizza, beer, hippies, and freedoms. I had a short-lived drinking habit of Captain Morgan’s rum. I have since kicked it and rarely do drink now. Please, if you have a problem with drinking (especially if you drink it daily), I’m am open to help you, to hold you, to listen to you. Alcohol in heavy consumption is destructive to body and spirit.
May 2006 – August 2006
My First Home
Oh, how nervous and excited I was to go off into the ‘real’ world. All my friends went home to their parents for the summer. But, what about me? I found a cheap summer sublet at Fountain Park apartments on 10th street. $200 a month. I packed up everything in my little Saab and moved. My first home! It was so exciting. I moved in on the 4th and had a Cinco De Mayo party on the 5th. It was so beautiful. My friends came with a sense of maturity, gratefulness, and love. We drank wine and ate food that my friends brought. We were free! No college authority, no deadlines, nothing. This was our space. I felt so good.
The Essentials
I had a stereo, cd’s, 2 wine glasses, 2 cups, 1 bowl, 2 plates, 2 forks and spoons, a mattress, books, a bottle/wine opener, one pan, my laptop, toothbrush/paste, and clothes. It was simple living and I loved it!
I spent the summer going on short trips whenever I made enough money from flipping pizzas to take me away somewhere for hiking, canoeing, wandering, and seeing. This was my freedom…endless.
A Lady in My Home
I soon met Kelly Boner. We went hiking together. She came to my apartment. She said she had a long day and deserved to lie in my lap. The next day, she had pretty much moved in. I was a little torn. But, the company was nice. We spent the hot nights sleeping naked on the porch. Our relationship became fluid and easy. Natural.
This is the summer that I bought my bike, dislocated my shoulder and fell off a waterfall.
When my term at Fountain Park was done, sometime in August, I moved into a cheap motel behind the bowling alley. I stayed for two weeks until I flooded the single room. I left and went to the farm in Ohio.
August 2006 – December 2006
Here, There and Everywhere
Still no school for me. I’m broke! I spent all my money traveling. I spent so many days roaming that I still cannot say where, how or when I went here, there and everywhere. All my travels blended together. I learned so much! I was hungry. It filled my belly.
I come back to Bloomington and stay with Kelly at her townhouse near highway 37. I was still working late nights at Mother Bears and riding my bike to get there and riding home with a large pizza and beer.
The Villas
In November I got my own place. At such an awkward time of the renting season, I found a realtor that was desperate to rent out her townhouse. So, I talked her into renting me one bedroom of the 3 bedroom, 3 story Villa townhouse! $320/month. This place was huge! Maybe 2,500 sq. feet? 2 baths, 3 bedrooms, a porch. I had a friend, Vincent Marks move in and next month John Houston came to live. We were all broke. We ate onions and rice that we found in an alley way. But, we had a hell of a good time! We found so much joy in the simple pleasure of ourselves, friends, nature, and being. We furnished the whole place for free – gifts, donations and dumpster blessings. It was a beautiful home. Our parties were wild. We would sneak into the football stadium the morning after games for all the good left-overs and once... oh, once! A friend obtained 4 golf cart keys from Cascade golf course. We made our way to an underground parking area of the stadium and it was full of gold carts! We jumped on 4 different carts and rode the hell out of those carts - bumping into each other and being thrown off! How did we not get caught? We may have been the only ones to ever accomplish this feat. Later, me and the same friends each contributed $50 toward a $200 ford probe - turbo, manual. How much fun we had racing on those gravel roads, through fields, doing skidouts and 180's! Once I got the car airborn - I don't want to exagerate, but it was wild. The oil pan busted open on impact. I persuaded the car to the lily pads of lake Monroe and we began to walk until a good friend, David, came to rescue us! We came back a week later with some jb weld and some oil and got her running again! Oh, I still sometimes miss this era of my life.
January 2007 – May 2007
CORE (Conservation and Outdoor Recreation Education)
I’m back in school! But, the program I am in is not one of the ordinary. CORE is an experiential program of outdoor experience, skills, programming and education. We traveled all over the country learning many brilliant things! This semester gave me to skills to take my own adventuring and traveling to a new level. So many stories, so many ascents, so many rivers, so much cold and ice, so many caves, canyons, deserts, mountains, whitewater, rescues, climbs: I can tell you stories for days.
