In 1984, I (Faith) took the Landmark Forum. Landmark Education leads transformational courses that foster strength of character, integrity in word and action, and provide participants with tools for living powerfully. Several years later, I started to date Peter and introduced him to "the work". Last night, Peter was in his third day of reviewing The Forum after some seventeen years (oh my, 17, I kept saying the number to myself last night in disbelief). I had been supposed to attend the whole course with him, but couldn’t for medical reasons. So Peter went on his own. Graduates are welcome to come Sunday evening after dinner and sit through the rest of the Sunday program. I have not done any of "the work" in over ten years. I was deeply involved for ten years prior to my self-exile. It was a great couple of hours last night, I enjoyed hearing some of the distinctions again and seeing old friends. It was alarming to put dates together and admit to myself it has been 21 years since the original course I took in Hamden, Connecticut. Like any organization, there are all sorts of people who participate, a sort of microcosm of the planet, perhaps even a reasonable sample of what (or who) we can expect to meet along the way during our bike trip. Whether you are in college, part of a church, part of a yoga community, a writing community, a theatre group, a corporate office, or the Landmark Education community, (all personal experiences for me and undoubtedly many of you), there you are with people you like, people you don't, attitudes that match the community mission, and attitudes that don't (whether the community has an articulated mission statement or not, there is usually a publicly or unspoken and unconsciously agreed upon appropriate and inappropriate set of behaviors). So two thoughts to ponder ------
1. The first is the idea of choice. That is choice as opposed to decision. I always loved this distinction and it hit home last night when I heard it again and saw it demonstrated with a volunteer from the program. It hit home because when I decided to bike from Key West to Maine (now Key West to Canada), I had no reason, I just chose it because I chose it. I chose it versus hiking the Appalachian Trail for 6 months (I did have a reason to NOT chose this one), versus cycling from Connecticut to California for four months, versus doing nothing or the same old thing as always, versus doing the trip we are doing. The added opportunities came later after the trip was already a given (such as I was born in Key West, my brother was born in Charleston, it will make me healthier, it will be a major break from the madness of my life, it will bring attention to the East Coast Greenway (http://www.greenway.org/) and so forth and so on.....) Nearly everyone wants to know why, there must be a reason to do what you are doing - otherwise why would you do it? It seems to be a significant characteristic of American human nature to have a reason, an agenda, otherwise why would you bother. I cannot say if it is like that in other countries as I haven't traveled much outside the U.S. (Peter, reminds me of the British “mad dogs and Englishmen” mentality, which sounds very similar.)
When I decided on this trip, Peter did not ask me why, he simply said yes, an enthusiastic yes, he just chose it for no particular reason. Now we are doing press kits, we are in an alliance with the East Coast Greenway (http://www.greenway.org/), we are building our web site, filling out grant applications, yes, grant applications. I just completed my first and sent it off on the 15th of January. The theme of that grant is Creativity in Motion, hmmmmmmm, kind of a match if you ask me. It will be April before we know if they agree. The grant, like all the other promotional activities, requires that you have a mission, a goal, a purpose, who or what will you benefit. There is plenty of that developing (Greenways, poetry and arts communities along the way, the touring bike industry, ourselves), but we did not consider any of this when we chose to do the trip (which took about a minute). So we come up with a purpose, reasons, goals, as we need to, to answer people who gawk open mouthed, to apply for grants, and even to make ourselves and our trip more meaningful (tongue firmly planted in cheek). After all, not many people get enrolled in "I am cycling from Key west to Canada because I am cycling from Key West to Canada." As with any project, when people attach meaning and agenda and reason, whether others or the project inventors, the original "just because" zeal can get painted over a few dozen times and we forget what color it was, who we were being in the moment we dragged the paintbrush across the canvas, and we can get burdened with needing to meet the expectations that others and ourselves have attached to the project. I know there will be much that will come out of this trip that will be very rewarding and very exciting and very inspiring and very, very awesome, and I accept that , and I intend to hold onto my original madness as long as I can -- I am cycling from Key West to Canada for no particular reason really, and I can't wait to experience the unexpected in this adventure.
2. The second philosophical notion is the idea of community - and what it takes to be part of a community. This is not a distinction of Landmark Education, though I think something could be gained if they were to consider it. I have a very public life, but I am a very private person in reality. And I am going on the road for three months, where I will have to allow strangers into my life every day (or not), and allow myself to experience what there is to experience from meeting them. So I thought about this a bit last night and compared the people in the room at the event I attended with Peter with the people that I may meet on the road, and wonder if what I saw is what I can expect on the road:
a. People who sacrifice their dreams and visions for others, and are happy doing it, and never complain.
b. People who sacrifice their dreams and visions for others, who give away their power so that others may benefit, and they are bitter about it, as though they are doing time, as though someone spoke to them and said you will not make it into heaven if you don't do this and that, and so they do it, but they are miserable.
c. There are people who just follow the masses, they have no desire to exert their will. If you give them a game to play, they will play it. Join this group, join that group, volunteer for this, volunteer for that, cut your hair short because you look better in short hair, drive 55 because the law says so (I am not suggesting we should not adhere to laws (though some of them are mighty stupid)), vote for BUSH because he tells you to and what do you know from one politician to another, and on and on. These people exist just to belong.
d. The righteous follower - what ever they are doing is the RIGHT thing, and if you don't do it, and believe in it, you suck, or worse, you are the enemy.
e. The partner, mentor, supporter, teacher - weather they are promoting the right to choose, women's rights, equality, peace, tolerance, diversity, there is something special about those who want to CREATE COMMUNITY around a set of ideas and principles they believe or they at least agree are worth your time and attention. I would love to say that this type of person would only spread GOOD. There goes my idealism again. Klu Klux Klan anyone, hmmmmmmmm.
f. The leader - I wish this type of person were only leading others down an enlightened path, oh that damned idealism, to a greater and more inclusive way of living - Hitler or President Bush anyone? Though there are the leaders who have made a difference, Ghandi, King, Kennedy, Parks, and so many in local communities that should be made into saints. Leaders are passionate, and I react to that passionate nature in others, drawn to it or repelled, but never neutral.
g. The lone wolf - I leave this to last because I feel I have been this often, and it has served me well. But how do you do things on a grand scale as a lone wolf? You cannot.
There are times when I retreat and it is good for me, and times when I like the social life and enjoy it, and times when I accept the social life when I would rather not, and sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. But isn't that all life is anyway, try that, try this, consider this, consider that, agree with this, disagree with that.
But listen for all of it even when you don't like what you hear, rejoice in the variety, be willing to hurt for the things that hurt -- such as the murder rate in the United States, my son's best friend who was only 22 when he died in a car accident two years ago racing another car on the highway in bad weather, the war in Iraq, the unemployment rate for technology folks in Connecticut in the past three to four years (around 30% on average), the embargo in Cuba, Bush being re-elected, the parents I had, the fact that my brother took his life at the young age of 43.
The world is a dangerous place (and as we pedal through all those red states, I’m sure we will experience some of that). But I know there is goodness and decency in abundance, and we look forward to that.
I do know this, I will meet people of all types, and when I return to Connecticut in late July, early August, I wonder if I will be happy for each and everyone of them. Somehow, I believe I will (well almost all of them, chuckle).
