I have maps as decoration on my wall. I spend way too much time on GoogleMaps. I even used to draw maps as a kid. For fun. (Feel free to mock at any time.)

I’m a cartophile.

I think the reason that these obscure lines on a piece of paper have such an allure to me is what they represent. Not the delineation of territorial claims. Not the directions from point A to point B. It’s the possibilities.

When I look at a map, I see all these possibilities. I see where I can be. I see people I can meet. Different stories. Different histories. Different cultures. Different perspectives. I see an open road that has no predictable outcome. The excitement of something never yet experienced. The incredible possibilities.

Currently, and perhaps a little too often, I find myself wondering what is out there. What experiences have I not had? What ideas are there to be discovered? I want to just get in my car and take to the road–no particular destination in mind, no particular goal. Just go and explore.

I was talking with a friend of mine a few months back about what sort of Early America job would I have. The typical occupations of doctor, shopkeeper, farmer, blacksmith, etc. all went through my mind, but I couldn’t help but settle on explorer. In a heartbeat, I would join Lewis and Clark, Magellan, Cook, or any of the others in a heartbeat.

But in the age of GoogleMaps, is there really more to explore? Sure there are other planets, but the lack of sentient life (as far as we know) really doesn’t make it that interesting to me. All the cultures have been discovered, they have been documented, and they have been analyzed (perhaps overly so). There is not necessarily any need for an explorer as a profession, but my heart still yearns to explore.

And so, all too often, I’ll stare at these GoogleMaps, waiting for the day when I can get in my car and drive to somewhere new. A 21st century explorer, trying to discover what else is out there for himself.

It doesn’t really feel like fall. At least not weather-wise. The weather teased me with it’s crisp breezes and damp days. But those were short-lived. It now feels like awful summer again. Hopefully that will change. I’ve started to wear some of my warmer clothing even when it may actually be a bit too warm for it. I’m hoping that Mother Nature will notice that I’m prepared for it and she’ll stop being so confused. Seriously, it’s almost October.

Another thing that fall brings is change. I mean, there’s always change. But I’ve noticed, at least for myself, I tend to get in a different mood in fall. More introspective. More philosophical. More desiring of taking on new adventures. Perhaps it’s the change in the weather that makes me want to see change in myself.

Or maybe–like most literary criticism–that’s just as true as saying that my mood change is caused by the proximity of my left pinky toe as it approaches the dark side of the moon.

Life is pretty much the norm. It’s been a bit busier of a term than usual. I found the first few terms at this school provided a lot of work, then the next few were surprisingly easy. Now it seems, I have found a way to create more work for myself than I should. I think I fell into the trap of believing that creating a structured class schedule would be helpful for me and the students. I had an entire plan for this term that I was committed to sticking to. It’s been a disaster. I don’t think I’m meant to be following a plan. I’m much better at just winging it.

I’m going to teach a Philosophy/Literature class next term. It’ll be new. I’m kind of excited about it. Though the idea is somewhat frightening and daunting. There are going to be a lot of questions I have no answers to. But then again, isn’t that what philosophy is all about? I actually was surprised, but there are a lot of high school kids that are interested in this. We’ll see how long it takes for that interest to wane.

Hurm. Other news: My parents are moving to Chicago for a few months for work. My brother is doing well in the Atlanta theatre scene. I get to go to the beach in Savannah for a few days in October. I’ve been making music with my roommate. We already wrote two songs. They are ridiculous(ly awesome). I’m sure more will come.

OK. Good enough update for now. I meant to do a whole thing about my trip to the Pacific Northwest. I never really got around to it. I’d rather talk about it in person anyway. It was amazing. If you ever want to go out there, let me know. All I need is an excuse.

Well, my tomato plant project started out a little rought. One of them just didn’t make it. It was kind of sad. But wait! The story does not end there! In fact, the other plants are doing really well! (Horray! I don’t kill everything I touch!)

The awesome thing is, the plant that you see in that first picture on it’s deathbed, suddenly sprang back to life and is now really healthy. It’s smaller than the others, but it’s a survivor. I guess, the real moral of this story is that I can’t beat Mother Nature (yet…).

I also went hiking with Justin, a friend from work, as we explored the Lynchburg/BRParkway area. It was good stuff. I miss the mountains.

After trying to find something interesting to do in Lynchburg (the pseudo-sinkhole that was filled was probably one of the more interesting things. That or the cat that lives without a head and breathes through a straw), we found that there was nothing! Bummer! But no! We found some Jazz in nearby Roanoke. So we headed down that way, had some beers, listened to some Jazz, and had an all-around good weekend.

Not too long after, I had to go down to the Charlotte area to go to a family funeral. Not the most enjoyable of times, but good to see family. I also actually visited the town of Monroe, NC. Weird that my family has lived outside of it for so long, and I’ve never really been into town. It has a gorgeous courthouse for a small southern town.

For my Fourth of July 3-day weekend, I spent the beginning hanging out with Justin and checking out Chapel Hill. Then, later, I went with Chris (a co-worker) and Miriam (his girlfriend) to the Uwharrie National Forest. It’s located just a little northeast of Charlotte. I had no idea there was an ancient mountain range in the piedmont area near Charlotte. It was nice to go hiking–even if the “strenuous” trail we chose began to kick our butts. But in a good way. (If there is a good way to be kicked in the butt? Maybe not the best metaphor.)

Finally, this past weekend Chris, Justin, and I went to the Danville Braves game. It was good stuff. The D-Braves were not exactly the most talented team–perhaps since Bobby Cox (former head of the Atlanta Braves during my childhood) was there watching the D-Braves, they all felt a little nervous. Or maybe they just weren’t that good. At any rate, other than the sweltering heat, it was good to get out and see a game. Plus, only 5$? How could I argue with that.

School has been about the same. Not much going on there. Maybe a bit more stressful, but the term is almost over.

I do have some exciting travel plans coming up. I’ll be going to Buffalo, NY with Justin to see Reign of Kindo live. It’s going to be a ridiculous but awesome roadtrip. Then later, I’m planning on going out to Seattle, Vancouver, and Portland (as well as some coastal-goodness). It’s been ages since I’ve been to Seattle and I am itching to get back. Thanks to Laura for being my travel buddy and helping to make this happen. Plus, I’ve never been to Vancouver or Portland. I also will probably hit my 1000th county visited in the United States. (Yes, it’s lame awesome that I know that.)

Whew. It’s going to be a crazy few weeks that are coming up. The rest of my year is pretty chill. No plans yet…yet. YOU could change that. THE POWER IS IN YOU.

Something new and different in the life of Matt. I am not in charge of a living entity! Four in fact!

My landlords came by and told me about someone who was giving away some seedlings. I was planning on getting some anyway, and so this just worked out perfectly (and gratis, to boot!) So why, you may ask, would I even do such a thing? Well, as most Matt-answers, the answer here is three-fold:

• I like tomatoes. They are expensive. This will be cheaper. (Hopefully).
• I need to be doing more things. As much as I may deny it, I actually end up having a fair amount of free time. Not enough to travel very far (what I’d rather be doing) and I don’t have enough money to do much. So this is free and a good activity.
• When I eat this tomato (or with any luck and a blessing from the plant-gods, these tomatoes), it will be more rewarding than one I just bought out at Food Lion. And, I think that’s kind of cool.

So, that’s my story. If in two weeks I am on here complaining about how I have a black thumb, well….it wouldn’t surprise me.

Doing the harder thing.

Most people have heard the phrase, “the path of least resistance”. It’s something that pops up all the time. Nature doesn’t like to work any more than we do. Water in rivers will always flow on the easiest path possible to get to the ocean. Electricity will try to get to the ground as easily as possible. People even try to get to their destination as easily as possible–hence all the beaten-down grass where the corner of two sidewalks are slightly more inconvenient than cutting through. This was nothing new to me.

But, I never really thought about how the path of least resistance works in the human psyche. We are really good at doing the least possible to get what we want.

But what does this lead us to?

We build our lives trying to make everything easier for us. We don’t always particularly enjoy work. It can be hard. It can be frustrating. Many of us start our workweek and immediately begin thinking of what we’ll be doing the next weekend. When we take vacations, we often wish we could extend them. Not working is way easier than working. Even for those of us who like working where we work, most of us wouldn’t mind having the same benefits for a little less work.

We even invent things to make our lives easier and give us more time. We choose to use our cars so that we can have our temperature-controlled environment with our own personal music that will take us from our house to our destination with the least amount of physical effort. We choose to use our computers to communicate with friends so that we do not have to be bothered going out or dealing with others’ time schedules. We choose to go to grocery stores so that we don’t have to be bothered working the ground with our hands to provide ourselves with food.

Now, not that there is anything wrong with cars, or computers, or grocery stores. I use all of them. All the time. But what do we sacrifice by using these (and many other) inventions? When I’m driving my car somewhere, I’m missing out the benefits of walking and being outdoors. When I’m communicating on the computer, I’m missing out on the real direct conversation that comes frmo being together in real life. Even when I’m going to the grocery store to get my food, I’m missing out on the benefits of fresh produce that you know where it comes from and how it was treated.

Even when most of this gives us more time, how do we end up spending most of that time? I would venture to say that most of us spend that time in realtively unproductive persuits…possibly even complaining about the minimal amount of work we have to do now.

But, it seems to me, that the important thing as human beings is to actually pursue the path of greater resistance.

Why? Basically, it could be answered with the well-known axiom on how life is about the journey, not the destination. By having all of these things that “give us more time” in our lives and “make our lives easier”, we’re actually sacrificing things that could make our “journey” so much more enjoyable, and satisifying. We need to spend our lives not trying to figure out how little we can do, but how much we can do. Sometimes, the easy route is not the preferred route. It seems counter-intuitive, but I think it’s entirely better for us. In fact, I think the choosing of a path of greater resistance is part of what makes human beings so different and special.

OK, now that I’m done with my psychobabble, anyone have any thoughts?

It’s odd how stress and crap can just seem to melt away so quickly. I’m spending the next ten days not thinking about school at all. I’m going to relax. It’s going to be good. Plus, there will be good people there too. BONUS AWESOME TIME.

There are many things about my school system that bug me. One nice thing, though, is that I get a week off every 9 weeks. I get to restart. If the term isn’t going well, it’s only a few weeks before it all changes again. I think I couldn’t survive here if that wasn’t the case. I’m realizing more and more that I just need a lot of change in my life. If I stagnate too long, I get antsy. I’m the kind of guy that’ll just rearrange his furniture just to have something new. I’ll travel out of the way when I go somewhere, just so I can see somewhere I’ve never been before.

It’s not that I’m against stability or something staying the same. I understand its role and its purpose. And I accept it as part of my life. But in the parts of my life that I can change, I tend to need their change.

So thank God for this break week. Even if it’s just a little change.

I might even have some changes coming my way. There are some opportunities for change in the air for my life. But, I’m trying not to get too excited about it (which is basically impossible) as to avoid disappointment.

But here’s to you and here’s to new opportunities.

This year is going to be good.

the air is clear and cool

the sun breaks through the clouds

the light dances on the hills

but the greyed-over sky keeps these shadows on the ground

the colours are richer in comparison

the beauty is clearer

the wind in my ears

the beauty in my eyes

the fragrance in my nose

the hope in my mind

spring is here

spring is here

I looked at some reviews of the movie on Netflix as well, just to see what people were saying. Most had good things to say. But there was one that stood out.

This person said, essentially, that the movie just discusses all of the stupid stuff that people get all hung up over in college and then move on from. It’s something that should be left in the halls of Academia and dorm rooms. Not something for the real world.

It made me wonder. I mean, it does seem that no one really discusses these kind of things any more. Is it because adults end up not caring? Is it because it is just too difficult? Or do people think it is not worth it? Is it worth it?

I think it is.

Or maybe I’m stuck as a child.

Or maybe I’m just not giving up.

We’ve all heard it before. It’s one of those double-trochee axioms that sticks with you. You probably don’t recall where you first heard it. (I don’t.) You probably don’t recall how many times you’ve heard it. (I definitely don’t.) But you know it. Everyone knows it. It’s something we don’t even question very often. And why should we? There are countless examples out there that seemingly prove this point! Who would not say that they wouldn’t want a bigger house? a bigger paycheck? a bigger TV? How many countless spam e-mails and advertisements encourage you to buy their products for bigger muscles, bigger boobs, or bigger…hammers? (OK, so I realize that you cannot ask how many of something that is countless… or CAN YOU??? … no, no you can’t.) If you go up to any kid (or most adults, for that matter) and ask them if they would like one chocolate or more than one chocolate, you’d be hard-pressed to find one that would say that more chocolate is a bad thing.

Point being, “Bigger is Better” is drilled into our heads and we see the obvious benefits from it all over the place. In fact, most businesses and countries (they seem to be nearly the same nowadays) tend to run their respective entities with this as a motto. Businesses get bigger and make bigger profits. Cities do the same thing. Look at the massive growth in city size in the past few decades. Housing size. Supermarket size. Yard size. And we praise each other for each new accomplishment. Governments and businesses, just like men and women, acheive a goal and suddenly find themselves needing more, more, more.

Our lives become focused on the quantity and not so much the quality. We become focused on bigger that we don’t ask if we’re ready for bigger…or if we even need it in the first place. We strive to have more. Why? Because that’s the goal. And then we get so much that we lose sight of what is important. We sacrifice the beauty of quality for the instant gratification of quantity.

Not that bigger is always bad. But what is more quantity without an equivalent proportion of more quality? Who would buy a big screen television that only projected a pixelated 12″ video that was blown up?

With this in mind, I’m finding it very hard to remind myself that even though it isn’t as pleasing, even though it sometimes doesn’t seem worth it, and even though it’s a lot harder, quality growth is better than growth for the sake of growth.

Quality is not measureable. It’s much more difficult to notice its effects. But it’s worth it…

…right?