Updates from January, 2016 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

  • kittycurry 6:07 pm on January 30, 2016 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:   

    BOS->BOM Part 1 

    IMG_0037I went to India the second week of January for work. My colleague, a videographer, and I, a writer, were there to cover a water desalination device developed at our university and its impact on the lives of villagers in rural India, where electricity and money and clean water are all hard to come by.

    It doesn’t sound scary, I know, but I have to admit I was a little nervous. For one, I would be away from my daughter for almost two weeks.

    Two, I was going to a developing country, a first for me. I’ve traveled to well developed countries like England, Iceland, Italy, and France, but never anything like this. I really had no idea what I should be prepared to see or feel. All I knew was that apparently I was going to stand out, I should bring my own toilet paper, I’d probably get ill, and I owned zero appropriate clothing.

    Three, I was going on a work trip, so, while I was traveling with a co-worker and wouldn’t technically be on my own, in a way I was going alone — another first for me.

    Four, we weren’t going as tourists, meandering around big cities to see the sights and shop and eat our hearts out – we were going to mostly small, poor villages that lack basic amenities like 24-hour electricity and clean water. Did I mention how long the flights were? Oh, and I would be practicing a type of extended in-the-field journalism that I had never done before, getting nice and cozy with subjects and environments that were quite different from anything I’ve ever known.

    Talk about moving outside your comfort zone. I didn’t know if I’d get there and burst with joy from experiencing so many new things all at once, or start crying and maybe vomit from the shock and horror of it all. It really was a toss-up.

    Nevertheless, I was excited. (More …)

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  • Kimberly Hula 9:41 am on January 30, 2016 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: clean slate, never, not, regrets   

    “Never look back unless you are planning to go that way” 

    “Never look back unless you are planning to go that way.” – Henry David Thoreau

     

  • kittycurry 10:18 pm on January 5, 2016 Permalink | Reply  

    Dip in to a Sea of Possibilities 

    Polar Bear Plunge_2015I stood there, numb.

    Not emotionally numb. Physically numb. That shit was freezing cold.

    In the course of telling me about her idea of 52 adventures for the first time, Kim mentioned taking part in a Polar Bear Plunge, and I knew instinctively she would ask me to do it. How could she not? It was karma. It was my worst fear. I won’t even dip into the ocean on the warmest summer beach day. I prefer near-bath-water temperatures myself.

    I cringed internally and hoped to God I was wrong.

    I wasn’t. She texted me one night and said, casually, as if it were no big thing, “Wanna do the Polar Bear Plunge?”

    Shit.

    I couldn’t answer. I pretended not to see the text. Maybe she’ll think it wasn’t delivered, I thought.

    She asked again a couple of days later. “I’m not sure,” I finally said.

    “Let’s discuss it in person,” she said. “I’ll convince you.” “We’ll see,” I replied.

    We met up for drinks at a local bar. We drank wine and talked excitedly about many things, and for a little while there, I thought I was home free.

    Wrong again.

    “I really think you should do the plunge,” she started. “It’s a great way to begin a year of 52 adventures. It’s very symbolic of a rebirth, a washing away of your past self. It’s very refreshing.”

    I was scared shitless, but I knew I had no defense. This was the whole point of 52 adventures: to force yourself out of your comfort zone, to confront your deepest fears, to prove to your irrational side that you can do anything, that the only thing to fear is fear itself, and that discomfort, whether physical or emotional, won’t kill you. It will empower you. Invigorate you. It will allow you to bust through whatever walls you’ve built around yourself that are preventing you from living the full, boundary-less, bullshit-less life you know full well you would have if you could just get rid of all this baggage that’s been growing around you, slowly, sneakily, so that it actually took you quite a long time to even notice it was there.

    No, fuck that.

    “Of course I’m going to do it,” I blurted out, before my weaker side had a chance to protest.

    I thought about the idea of a rebirth, and I liked it, but for some reason it didn’t quite resonate with me. But then I remembered one of my favorite Patti Smith songs, “Land.” I’ve always loved the line, “Dip in to the sea of possibilities,” and I realized what the plunge would mean to me, and that gave me the strength I needed. I was actually looking forward to it now. I’m going to literally and figuratively dip in to the sea of possibilities!

    And that’s exactly what I did first thing in the morning on January 1, 2016.

    Well, actually, I didn’t dip. I ran into Dorchester Bay. For one moment, I stood there, numb. But then I jumped up and down and waved my hands around wildly. And it was awesome. And it was beautiful. And it didn’t hurt.

    Here’s to a year of running into a sea of possibilities!

     

    -Alissa Mallinson

     

    • Kimberly Hula 10:37 pm on January 5, 2016 Permalink

      Congratulations lady! I’m digging Patti Smith as a source of inspiration. Can’t wait to see what you do next!

    • abstractangel7 8:46 pm on January 6, 2016 Permalink

      Wow, I admire you both but this is something I don’t think I could ever do! I get cold just thinking about it. You are both so brave!!!

    • eatveggiesdrinkwine 1:45 pm on January 10, 2016 Permalink

      Yes, so brave — way to go!

  • Kimberly Hula 3:20 pm on January 4, 2016 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , Albert Camus, awakening, Lake Ontario, , raymond carver, remake, reuinon   

    In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer. 

    “They had laughed. They had leaned on each other and laughed until the tears had come, while everything else–the cold, and where he’d go in it–was outside, for a while anyway.”
    ― Raymond Carver, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love

    1003397_10156378892700284_14679645118229807_n

    SPOILER (?): If you are a Star Wars purist who somehow hasn’t seen the newest installation, don’t read on lest I SPOIL something for you.  In all honesty, what I’m soon to say isn’t so much a spoil as a near expiration but I thought I’d forewarn you nonetheless. (More …)

     

  • abstractangel7 12:44 pm on January 4, 2016 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , friendship, life   

    Hi, fellow adventurers! I thought it would be helpful if we began with some introductions (or re-introductions). I just read my posts from 2010- wow, time flies! I found them hilarious. They brought back some great memories.

    For those of you who don’t know me, I am 33 and the mom of two boys, ages 10 and 12. I’m a self-professed travel addict who loves randomness, nature, and tries not to take life too seriously. My day job is as a therapist (LPC, CADC) in a supportive-living facility on the Southside of Chicago.

    This blog inspired me to continue making short-term “bucket lists” of things I wanted to do and accomplish. My list for 2015 included:

    *Buy a car
    *Drive for Uber/Lyft
    *Visit at least 1 foreign country (Two! Spain and Turkey)
    *Take the boys to visit at least 1 new state (12!!)
    *Try LSD (that’s another story, lol)
    *Take a trapeze class
    *Take a swing dancing class (it became my new monthly hobby!)
    *Take the kids on their first horseback ride
    *Bring Jake to visit a dairy and pig farm (it ended up being a pre-factory farm. oops!! lol)
    *Run my first 5k
    *Live with a roommate (previously I’d only lived with my ex-husband and sister)
    *Join the Red Cross Disaster Action Team

    Last year was a mixture of emotions for me. I dated a bit but stayed intentionally single, trying to work on myself as much as possible after a devastating break-up near the end of 2014. I feel like I’ve grown spiritually, gained confidence and clarity in my identity and passions, and am redefining what “adventure” will look like for me in the coming year. (More …)

     

    • Kimberly Hula 2:54 pm on January 4, 2016 Permalink

      So glad to have you on board! Can’t wait to see all that 2016 has in store for us!

    • eatveggiesdrinkwine 1:41 pm on January 10, 2016 Permalink

      Thanks for the reintroduction! I love what you did in 2015 and your plans for this year. ! I re-read my 2010 adventures recently, and it was a great way to reminisce and to get re-inspired.

  • Kimberly Hula 10:12 am on January 3, 2016 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: "Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt", , Kurt Vonnegut, year of adventure   

    Everything is beautiful, and nothing hurts 

    I take liberties with the subject heading: “Everything is beautiful, and nothing hurts.” If I’m to stay true to the original (and perform consideration citation!) I should say, “everything was beautiful and nothing hurt.”  So said Kurt Vonnegut, and by proxy the Tralfamadors as they attempt to destroy the earth in Slaughter House Five (or Children’s Crusade dependent on your title allegiance).  It may seem silly to quibble over tenses, but I’ll argue quite the opposite.  There is a quiet danger to disregarding your tenses.  There is a tension to every pull of every year.  And while I’d never advocate against reflection and nostalgia, it’s my aim to promote the possibility of the future.  That’s why I’m here.  And, essentially, that’s why I just can’t quit adventuring.

    I don’t think I’ll make friends with the subject heading alone.  Some things are not beautiful.  Some things really do hurt.  It would be easier to adhere to the true quote and think of beauty in past tense.  Can I see through the piss and shit of the past and find beauty in it?  Sure, of course – it’s over and hindsight is a lovely trick of the mind.  Can I sit in the pain of the present and find the same semblance of beauty?  Now that’s a tall order.

    I’m a runner.  Of roads, yes, but also of life.  Of my past and my present.  I’ve convinced myself that my future is a product of my own making and that wealth and prosperity and love will be found in it if only I impel myself to move.  There’s nothing wrong with working toward a better tomorrow, but there is something scary in not attending to your present.  Was, is, will: they are conjugations with real consequences.  For me, I need a reminder of the beauty that is around me.  I need to stand still and take in my surroundings.  Revel a little – unravel a lot.  I know that life isn’t a screen print of sunshine and roses.  But if I apply basic science I can find a reaction in every action.  I can find beauty in certain hurt.  I can give this year a light I might not have otherwise been able to see.

    I hope you’ll join me.  Your adventures can be loud (see: singing in the subway; riding a roller coaster), or soft (letters to loved ones; letting something you love go).  They can be intimate or shared.  They can be in response to your past or in hope of your future.  Whatever the case, make it your case.  Do whatever you need to do to remind yourself of just how beautiful you are, and that the world, with you in it, hurts a hell of a lot less.

    Thanks for joining me.  Community like this – and weekly reminders like these – really reaffirm the notion that everything is beautiful, and nothing hurts.

    Go forth and adventure you crazy lot, you, and keep doing what you’re doing.  You do it so well!

     

    • eatveggiesdrinkwine 1:32 pm on January 10, 2016 Permalink

      Kim, I love this! It’s so good to receive another invitation to live fully this year by the original adventurer!

    • Kimberly Hula 11:08 am on January 13, 2016 Permalink

      Will you be joining us again this year?!?!

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