Cause and Effect - Work to Live, Not Live to Work

                How many times have you said; “there just isn’t enough time in the day?”  We have become so busy with school, or our careers and family, that we couldn’t possibly find time to consider doing anything more than we already do.  All of us have become time poor.  We are slaves to debt, material possessions, and social placement.  We have allowed what we do for a living to consume who we are and define us.  We are completely missing out on the real experience of why we are alive in the first place.  We are not here just to exist, but to enjoy life.

                Most people I know work a full time job or are in school full time.  We all have family and peer obligations and every one of us gets trapped in a daily commute of some sort.  Our rushed lifestyle becomes a constant chase of time, and as time goes by it always leaves us with the familiar feeling that there never will be enough of it to do all of the things that we think we need to do before we die.  How will we ever escape from our daily grind when there is only twenty-four hours in a day and we are busy for all of them?  Where will we ever find the time to be free?

                We choose to cling to certainty and to the things we know.  We conform to a time consuming schedule that robs us of our spirit and passion for living.  We choose to become prisoner to routine, promising ourselves that we will find the time someday; to travel, escape the daily grind and leave our cares behind.  We make these false promises to ourselves as if we are dangling carrots in order to lead ourselves like a horse to the finish line.  Where is this finish line we are rushing towards? Is it death?  Is this all there is to life?  We forget why we are working so hard and on a deeper level we mindlessly surrender to the fact that we feel we absolutely have to keep this pace in order to merely get by.  We lose track of how little we actually need to survive, while we justify the consumption of life on it.  We completely overlook the endless possibilities for travel and adventure, and we miss out on the narcotic feeling of wanderlust as our spirit for life fades and we race to our death.  People drop dead every day never having known anything more than school, work, marriage and children.  They never chose to take the time to feel freedom from any of those things.  I refuse to leave this world with that regret.  I will not die wondering “what if”.

                Henry David Thoreau wrote: “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.”  We should embrace the song within us.  We need to stop making excuses and just go.  We need to stop waiting for that perfect moment in time that never seems to arrive.  We also have to stop telling ourselves our time will come when are able to save up enough money.  We must give up being a slave to the financial save and the wait for time to magically appear out of nowhere.  These restraints are mystical creatures that do not exist.  It is time for us to face our fears and realign ourselves to see the importance of our personal freedom.  When we choose to take control of our circumstances; then, and only then will we ever be truly free and give up the lament for a life we might not see otherwise.  I am not suggesting we quit our jobs or drop out of school, but I am saying that every one of us should treat our time here on earth as though is it meant for the enjoyment of living.  The world would be a better place if we all embraced our passion for life and fueled it with adventure, travel and the things that free us from social normality.  At least then, when we check back in to society and the daily grind, we are able to remember specifically why we are doing it.


Thoreau, Henry David. Walden. Radford, VA: Wilder Publications, 2008. Print.

Why I Blog - Assignment

A blog is like a diary but different according to Andrew Sullivan.  It allows a way for people to add their personal experience to a topic.  Blogging provides the avenue that allows for people to express their self-professed expertise on the subject through trial and error.  Simply, a blog is an expression of a human with a passion and the need to share it with others through their eyes.  For me it is a way to chronologically track my adventures.  It gives me a way to document progress and the ability to evoke specific emotions that are felt during that moment, through the words written.  Most find blogging as an appealing avenue of expression because; your blog can have anonymity.  That gives you an uninhibited freedom of expression to instill your desires and passions in a limitless audience who have a shared interest.   You can basically say whatever you want.  The worst that could happen from a difference of opinion is you lose that reader, just as easily as you would gain another who shares your views.  You will therefore be surrounded with like-minded individuals that could offer their opinions.  This network would provide a collaboration of knowledge to assist you while you continue to pursue your passion.  These readers would also be likely to offer support and encouragement.  Having constructive feedback from others is a great way to ensure your success. 

Process Analysis Final Draft - How to Tie a Bowline Knot

Learning how to tie a reliable knot has always been a key survival skill.  Unfortunately it is also a skill that tends to get overlooked.  I have learned in my outdoor experiences that there is a good and a bad knot for every situation.  It has to be useful, reliable and easy to tie and untie in extreme situations.  A proper knot can save lives in extreme situations. It is essential to carry a rope in your backpack of survival equipment but it is imperative to know how to tie a knot.

The term bowline originated in the early maritime days. It comes from the process of attaching the edge of a sail with a knot at the end of the rope to the bow of the sailing vessel holding it firmly into the wind to maintain proper direction and prevent the sail from moving about.

By now you might be asking yourself; why would I need to know how to tie this knot?

The bowline knot is useful in every situation where a knotted rope is required.

This knot is simple to use any time you need a fixed loop at the end of a rope.  This knot will not slip.  It will hold as much weight as the rope itself can tolerate and it comes easily undone after holding a load.  Knowing this knot will definitely speed up some of the most frequently-encountered survival activities, like preparing a shelter or securing gear.  The knot you choose to save a life needs to be easy to tie, and it should not slip. It needs to form a fixed loop around your person or object that will support the weight without cinching down, becoming untie-able or suffocate you while you’re being pulled to safety.  The bowline is perfect for this, and you need to know the quick and easy way to tie it.

The bowline knot is often taught with the story of the rabbit coming out of the hole, in front of the tree, going behind the tree, and back down his original hole.

In other words, first form a loop on top of the long end of the line.  Second, pass the free end of the line through the loop and around behind the line. Third, bring the free end down in the original loop, while maintaining the secondary loop which becomes your Bowline loop. Finally, once the “rabbit” is back down his hole, pull the “tree” up and the Bowline is tightened.

Some people prefer to look at diagrams or photos to learn how to tie the illustrated knots.
Perhaps these step by step photographs will help.

 

Step 1                                                   Step 2

Step 3                                                       Step 4

Knots are known to weaken the rope or line.  If a knotted rope or line is strained to its breaking point it almost always fails at the knot or close to it.  The bowline knot is reliable and strong.  When the bowline knot is used the rope or line retains 65% of its strength at the knot, where other knots would work loose, capsize or fail completely by breaking the line.  The load ability of the rope or line will in fact fail before the bowline knot would fail.

I could be wrong but I think the next time you find yourself in a situation where you need to tie a knot, I think you will remember how to tie a bowline knot.

Robbins, Royal. Basic Rockcraft. Glendale, CA: Siesta, 1971. Print.  

         Robbins, Royal. Advanced Rockcraft. [Glendale, Calif.]: La Siesta, 1973. Print.

Cinnamon, Jerry. Climbing Rock and Ice: Learning the Vertical Dance. Camden, Me.: Ragged Mountain,              1993. Print.

"Bowline." - How to Tie a. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2013.