Motivation

My family refers to me as one of those people that has 2 speeds, fast and off. I don't know how true that statement is but it paints a nice picture of my energy use. It has been a year now since I returned from the Asian Rural Institute, it does not seem that long but then again, it never does. My return to America has effected me, I have gone through phases of apathy, frustration, learning, and elation. My ambitions have swung to all points of the compass, and at times I have lost sight of my purpose, any purpose really. I have run from things that are good, and hidden when things seemed bad. I have gotten to connect with people that I have known forever and made deep connections with people that I hope to know forever after. I have slept on couches and traveled the country. I have dreamed many dreams but have chased very few. I have been floating and I have loved it.

In my last post I talked about a roof over my head. Now the next step is a dream to chase and purpose to stand for. I think a purpose is more important than a roof and a dream supplies energy for the purpose. In college and even in Japan I was a lightning rod for ideas and purpose, an advocate for change and new thinking. I was surrounded by people who excited my curiosity about the world and ideas that gave me hope. Over the next few weeks I am looking to get involved with groups that have the same kind of energy and passion. In my aloofness I have not tapped into these sources of energy. I plan to work on that. For now, I hope you are sharing your life and eating well.

Peace and Love,

Mike

A roof over my head

I love being a vagabond, the gypsy lifestyle, floating from couch to couch, but sometimes you just need your own bed. So, to that end I have moved into a little duplex in South Austin. It is a great little place, ugly on the outside, clean on the inside, and there is just enough room for little dinner parties. I have a place to keep my things and park my car, lay down at night and cook in the morning. It is nice.

A lot has been said about the value of a home, a base for operations, a place to hang your hat, so I won't go into it here but to say that having that grounding place really helps me figure out what I am doing right now. Since my return to the US I have floated and my mind has floated with me, it has been a valuable time of growth and questions. Right now, at this moment, I have the opportunity to sit still and my mind has the opportunity to focus.

I am currently expanding my client base for private climbing lessons, trying to expand into other outdoor pursuits, working with a friend on a climbing shoe resoling company, and researching the feasibility of a brewpub in College Station. Along with those humble projects I am scheduling a Wilderness First Responder refresher course, looking into a American Mountain Guide Association course, and an American Alpine Institute avalanche course. I am also still pedicabbing on the weekends for income and entertainment.

I have gotten to see lots of friends over the summer and had even more time with family than I could have ever hoped for. My roommate and I are having dinner gatherings regularly, and looking forward to more. Little sister came into town today, and my parents were in a few weeks ago. Lola, my car, has been parked since June because of a wheel bearing but I am enjoying not paying for gas so I haven't rushed out to get her fixed. I feel guilty but my pocketbook is happy for now... besides have you seen my cycling calves lately? But seriously I love my bike.

I hope you all are sharing time with good people, eating good food, and learning about your passions.

Peace and Love

Mike

Irie

Irie: to be at total peace with your current state of being. The way you feel when you have no worries. (urbandictionary.com)


I regularly stop in at the Irie Bean Coffee Shop on South Lamar to get coffee, use the internet, and hook into the south Austin community. I found the Irie bean when I first moved down here and it has become my coffee shop and I really dig the community that has developed here. As a matter of fact I am here right now.


A lot has been going on recently and it is hard to get it all in order to convey through a few paragraphs on the web, but here is a short synopsis; I am focusing outdoor education right now teaching private lessons and camps at the gym, I went up to Colorado for a week and taught mountain biking and mountaineering, I have started working on feasibility studies and market analysis with two different friends on two different business ideas, and I am training (in fits and starts) for the Austin Triathlon in September (if anyone wants to sponsor me please shoot me an email or leave a comment.) It is all very exciting and I will flesh this out more as more becomes apparent.

A note: I love teaching, I have gotten back into outdoor ed. over the last month and I am looking to start doing outdoor tutoring in Austin. There are people all over the place that would like to learn more about paddling, hiking, camping, biking, and climbing, and I would like to help them. Over the next few weeks I will be rolling out a small outdoor tutoring service in Austin. I am excited about this and hope you are too, I will keep you posted.

Peace Love and good food,


Mike

Rain in Texas

I grew up in Abilene. If you don't know much about Abilene that is ok, but one thing you ought to know is that it can be very, very dry. For a majority (read that most) of the time I lived there we were in a "severe drought" i.e. a desert. So for us, rain storms were the greatest thing in the world.

We had big booming thunderstorms that would roll in across the plains, sending fresh, beautiful wind out in front to announce their approach. You never forget what those storms smell like. They would come in with big towering clouds, and flashes of lighting that would steal all of the air for the split second before the thunder would hit. We would sit out on the front porch with our blankets and watch the storms at night, or run around in the rain and build dams in the gutter. Dad would load us up in the truck and we would drive around town checking the levels on the creeks (as an aside it is no wonder I get so fascinated with flooded creeks and kayaking as an adult.) Rain meant change, clean air, clean streets, and fresh starts. The world always seems happy after a big storm.

Today I am sitting at my favorite coffee shop, doing some some life-study, and watching the rain fall outside. We ate dinner with the doors open and the rain coming down. Last night while I was at blues on the green I saw these huge clouds piling up with the sunset tinting them orange. We have had a lot of rain and it is great. All of the creeks have some water in them, the lakes are up and the plants are eating it up. True, unlike Abilene, the air has been heavy with moisture, and there is lots of sweating, but it has been great and the cloudy days make everyone appreciate the sunshine that much more.

I hope you are well, eating good food, and sharing time with friends.

Peace and Love,

Mike

The Hiatus

Settling down

Sometimes, you find yourself in an eddy, a place in the stream where you can stop and check your bearings and look downstream for hazards. Recently, I decided to catch an eddy and take a look around for a while. I am sitting in a coffee shop/bar in downtown Austin listening to a new age jazz/hip hop/ string trio play and thinking about life. Last week I signed a 6 month lease on a little duplex with my new friend/ roommate Chris and I am looking into some side projects to keep my income up and start paying down some student loans.

My months of couch surfing are coming to a much awaited hiatus. I could not have foreseen this a few months ago but it is where I find myself and I am happy. As an update for those who do not know I have picked up a few jobs over the last few months as a pedicabber downtown in the evenings, as desk staff at the local rock gym and an itinerant guide for a company in Central Texas and Colorado. Along with that I am looking into a few other projects that I will detail as they come closer to launch.

A note on family; I have been able to see a large majority of my extended family over the weekend and gotten to share some great meals. I live down the street and around the corner (and on the couches more recent than not) of the Young Boys whom I was privileged to grow up with in Abilene, and most of my mom’s family lives in the Austin/ San Antonio area. My little sister just got back to San Antonio from the Dominican Republic and my parents came down to visit this weekend. It has been great getting to know everyone as an adult and I am happy to share my life with them.

More on life in Austin in the near future, get some good food, say hi to your family, and raise a glass for me.

Peace and Love,

Mike

An idea

They say that ideas are meant to be shared... Here is one of my favorites I like to refer to as the Pickadilly Project, at first it was to be known as "Mike Young's center for all things delicious and Beautiful" but I was told that was somewhat conceited. The basic concept starts with an abandoned gas station, then mixes with a taste of beer and bread, add in local food, music, and art, and my affinity for housing (small, efficient, sustainable, and shared) tag that towards my dream of communal land ownership and a flair for the dramatic and you get the Pickadilly Project. It would basically be a space for people to come together and share food, stories, ideas, music, and passions.

The first phase was visioned around the aforementioned abandoned gas station. We would buy the station and land around it, retrofit the building for beer brewing, bio diesel production, and a short order cafe. around the property we could cultivate plants (after breaking up the parking lot) that would leech the negative chemicals out of the soil and eventually produce food on the same land. The cafe would be stocked by food from local farmers, and the beer ingredients could be sourced from nearby as well ( a true regional beer.) The next structure on the property could house a bakery and then further an art gallery with studio space for transient artists. We could build a small recording studio as well and have a potters kiln and even glass blowing facilities. On site we would have different housing structures built from hay, rammed, earth, and reclaimed materials, experimenting with in the earth homes, yurts, etc. Some of these could be rented out, or used as Bed and Breakfasts (featuring local art, and food) Others could be permanent homes for employees, and community members. Once a year we would have a huge festival bringing people together to share in the synergy. The goal would be to create a destination that entertains, relaxes, and inspires individuals, part experiment, part reality. I set a goal of 2017, I will let you know how it goes.

Peace and Love

Mike

Surprises

The other day, while sitting on the greenbelt in Austin, I noticed a boisterous group of 20 somethings hanging out on the other side of the creek. I didn't realize it at first but they were all talking to each other in sign language, I thought it was just that they were too far away to hear anything but they were all just signing. It was the first time I have seen a large group of otherwise non-descript 20 somethings using sign language, and I was surprisingly warmed by this. Maybe it was the momentary glimpse into the lives of a group I am admittedly unfamiliar with but the experience touched me. There are so many different types of people in the world with different challenges and dreams and goals in life, sometimes it is fun to be reminded of this. I hope you take the chance to look around and see the lives going on around you and share yours with someone else.

I am in Dallas at my buddy John's house, 3 of us are leaving for Florida this afternoon for a wedding, 17 hrs of driving either way. I am excited about getting to spend time with friends and see some more of this great country. I hope this finds you well, share some food, and I look forward to talking to you soon.

mike

Aristocracy

I am a modern day aristocrat, an aristocrat of the 21st century. I spend my days as I please, rotating between rock climbing, kayaking, looking for jobs and socializing. My fare consists of robust ramen feasts and peanut butter platters. I am free at the drop of a hat to join you in a climbing expedition or on a jaunt out of town. If the creeks are swolen with rain I can meet you at the river in record time. I can spend most of a day idly chatting about life. My nights can drift from gathering to gathering.

I am as free as if I were a 4 year old, or the child of an industrialist with a trust fund, yet I am neither. I am a middle class American, with college debt to pay, and an education to use. But I find myself in a limbo land, a purgatory of sorts waiting to be cast into my lot. I am between those with much and with little, I am below the radar. I am floating.

Eventually I will find paying work and join my peers. I will move from the impoverished vagabond, floating with the wind, free of cares and possessions set loose by my poverty. Eventually, I will have responsibilities.

I have been told to enjoy being unemployed, that I will do, nay that I must do. Until otherwise, go see some friends, share a meal, and give someone a place on your couch, it could change your life.

Peace and Love

Mike

Road Trippin'

A few weeks ago I embarked on a road trip with 3 friends, 4 backpacks, 4 sets of climbing shoes, a malfunctioning GPS, and 2 cameras in a Mazda Protege for 3 weeks of the Southwest. We had few plans and no idea what we were getting ourselves into, but since a picture is worth a thousand words here is a slide-show worth about 7,367,000 words...


Elissa is an aspiring slide-show professional, and photographer. You can find more of her work here and here and she is starting to blog here. Leave some comments.

Special road trip thanks to Sante Fe's finest The Flying Tortilla restaurant, The Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, the Ouray Ice Festival, the US highway department, bread, peanut butter, and pesto.

More coming later

peace and love

Mike

Climbing

This year has been a big year for me in the sport of climbing. About 12 months ago I started bouldering at a gym near ARI, in March I got to go see the Bouldering World Cup in Saitama, Japan, in April I did a little climbing at Railay Beach in Thailand, in June I went bouldering at the famous Shiobara boulders near Nikko National Park, in November I led my first sport climbing routes at Reimer's Ranch in Travis county, in December I led my first trad climbing routes at Enchanted Rock SP, and last week I got to lead part of a trad route in Zion National Park before heading to the Ouray Ice Festival in Colorado where I took an ice climbing clinic and got to do some climbs in the gorge where I met Steve House a climbing legend.

I have wanted to be a good climber for a while now, it's been and off and on kind of thing throughout college. I would get really excited and climb a lot at the gym, maybe go outside a few times, get pretty strong, then stop climbing only to pick it up again from the beginning a while later.

I can give you all kinds of reasons why, but I guess I just wasn't that into it. Now though, I am not just climbing (pulling myself up a wall) but moving forward in technique and learning how to climb in the traditional sense and protecting myself as I move up the wall which makes everything a little more real. I started trying this type of climbing to improve my outdoor resume but have found that I really enjoy the challenge and the exposure. Now it is not a matter of how difficult the actual moves are, now I get to think about where I will stand to place gear, or how I can get to the next bolt on the wall. It has added a whole new dimension that forces me to climb within my limits in order to safely protect a fall.

Over the next few months I hope to do a lot more climbing and I will keep you updated on those exploits as I move along in the sport. I hope you are all well.


Peace, Love, and Goof Food.


Mike