Today is the best day of my life. I am existing in a state of easy and productive balance. My needs are met through satisfying effort, anything I might want for is attainable through work and cleverness. I will be challenged and scared, and I will overcome and be made stronger for the trials.
I spent the past two years in restless fits of globe trotting. Traveling and working with groups of hippies in their caravans, hitch hiking alone, hopping freight trains with America's intrepid "Dirty Kids." I was happy and free as long as I was moving, and I was at home wherever I found myself.
Every day was different, yet the lessons became universal: Be honest, and humble, and kind. Say yes more often than you want to. Rely on human ingenuity and kindness over technology or money. Do your day's work and expect nothing in return, for the effort you gave was its own reward.
Before living outside and traveling, I was in college, where I learned to drink and seduce women and cheat on tests. Before that I was in high school, where my heart was misaligned with my mind, where I tried to hold on to the time because everyone said the pace of my life would speed up as I got older.
The Pace Of Life is what you make it. During a day of sitting in class, indistinguishable from the days before or after, the time flew by. Indeed, the time I was given seemed like something to endure and get past. While on the road, however, every day was fresh and unique. I met new people, and talked to them deeply every day. If anything, as I came to travel more miles every week, moving faster caused me to slow down and truly enjoy my time.
Now I live inside again. I'm putting down roots, contributing to a community, starting a jazz band. I've found a way to support myself by playing music, which is my lifelong passion. I've consented to taking on a routine, which is strengthening my mind and body.
When I feel stagnant, I move. When I am tired, I sleep. When I am idle, I work. The lessons of vagabond life still inform my experience and give me perspective, but now I'm ready for a little responsibility.
Many people on this page seem stuck. Many people on /r/vagabond were also stuck, and now have a new lease on life. you don't have to pursue a massive upheaval of your life in order to start appreciating and enjoying your time, but a massive upheaval was what it took for me.
Take responsibility. Examine yourself honestly. Drink lots of water and go outside often.
Good Luck.
Peaceably,
-Tall Sam Jones
Submitted January 19, 2018 at 12:35PM by PleaseCallMeTall http://ift.tt/2mUhxeH
