We are taught that the Alpha Character (alpha male, most commonly) is the goal.. since the Alpha is always the protector, the best provider.. the active and involved. But, equally important is the Shaman, the teacher, the wierd one(s) who see things.. differently.

 

Last year, I watched as Tez Steinberg rowed a small ocean going boat from Hawaii to Australia the whole “Alpha Male” ideal was definitely visible! And~ I’ll admit~ I felt a bit brought down since I don’t have that spirit in me. If I ever did, it was definitely beaten out of me by abuses as a child and in to adulthood. That’s OK.. I’m not supposed to be the alpha male.

IMHO (In My Humble Opinion), the things Alpha’s do isn’t really long lasting~ Tez’s ocean row is already forgotten about. But what the Shaman wants is CHANGE… long lasting, educated, GROWTH.

And, with/ through Ocean Cyclist.. I want to instill CHANGE in the hearts and minds of people near and far. That’s why, when I realized the slogan of “1 more parked car” and the goal of getting 1 million cars, parked.. I was psyched- that’s my shamanistic platform and with it I can lend information, share ideas.. and generally get people to LEARN to change.. and in changing a teensy little bit, they can start the journey towards larger changes, bigger changes, and deeper learning.

And the SHAMAN…
It’s taken me nearly 60 years to realize that I am a shaman.. partly because I needed to EXPERIENCE life before I could share about it.. but also, partly because I was abused away from my desired path. I am an artist.. I am a teacher.. I want to pull the curtain back to expose the gears, cogs, and flywheels that are running our ruined world.. I’ve always wanted that, and nothing more!

And the shaman has some sort of internalt (infernal?!) fire that motivates this desire to SHARE information.. learning.. growth opportunities and experiences. A fire that has been burning.. raging inside me for these 5+ decades.. a fire I could not explain. A fire that, sometimes, I felt would consume me entirely and immediately were I not to CREATE.. not to share. So, here I go- down my shamanistic journey. I think I need to do some sort of psychotropic.. go on a journey or something (below, the young shaman teaching meditation to the previous generation).

Wanna come with?

 

originally posted @ DEVIANTART.

 

There’s a boat in Cape Town that is, apparently, prepping to take off in 14 days. I’ve been ghostly stalking the project for awhile now and, now with a route change, they are planning on heading around the world.

Leaving from Cape Town.

I’m excited to see this boat set sail. It’s design is interesting and it’s been built to haul 600L of water in it’s holds.. and there is SO MUCH ROOM inside I can’t get over it! My boat is a *scant* 46″ side to side at the pilots chair  meaning she’s more of a “cigarette” style boat- long and narrow.

The choice, of mine, to go with a long and narrow boat came from my windsurfing days.. I had a Cobra 260 Slalom.. a sub 90L board that had three linear footstraps and was a low- production “copy” of a board that held the world speed record so.. it was 260cm long and~ at the footstraps it was just about a “foot” wide. Not 12″ .. one of my feet width. Long(ish), narrow.. and FAST!

I’m curious to see what takes place when the boat starts moving.. with it’s “soft rubber propeller” and 600L of water in stowage. And the weather on top of all that! Apparently, there are “high waves” recorded, currently, and weather isn’t the greatest overall. Hmm- it never really is in that area, apparently. And with the Central/ North Atlantic headding in to Hurricane season, the effect on S. Atlantic weathe is undeniable. 

Don’t get me wrong- I want them to set sail. They can take off first, for sure! But I do NOT want them to die! The Atlantic is kinda like Lake Superior- calm and subdued one moment and then whipped up in to a frothy frenzy a MOMENT later. Squalls.. swells.. surprises aplenty are there. 

I’m doing a TON of work behind the scenes right now. Finishing up Sponsorship documents, Support documents, web work.. and setting up an Art Show/ Sale in Kelowna (with Name The Boat tie- in).. and taking over management of The General Bean.. lots of work that is keeping me away from my boat. But, I’ll be in Calgs shortly.. either late Feb or early March.. then I’ll be taking her to Kelowna to fiberglass her and take her out for some fun on- the- water testing!

Just a couple words about a side project…

I’ve been doing a TON of work behind the scenes on this site and other sites in “the network” and.. with all this coding momentum going on, I kept working and tuned up the Teeny Tiny Art Collective that I run with my wife/ life partner SparkleFaerie (and I just found a URL I can use for her archive website YAY!!!!)

Anyhow- we’re prepping for Season Two of The Teeny Tiny Art Collective and it’s already shaping up to be AWESOME! We have four exhibitions- art shows that all open with an art walk.. we walk from one to another tiny gallery and~ usually~ the artist gives a bit of a talk about their piece. It’s super awesome and I’ll be video taping the walks this year for broadcast in the Stream 0 Thon hybrid events.

We’re networking with some of the local artists and art affecionados for onsite presence but I’ll be in Calgary for the first and second show.. The Boat will be heading out to do it’s test run right after the second show (and hey- if I’m fast enough.. I might be back in Calgs by the third show! Who knows).

Anyhow- pretty psyched.
Share/ Repost/ ReTweet.. what ever.. is appreciated. We need to spread the werd!

I’ve been wanting to talk about time and space and why its taken so long for me to get to this point for awhile…

First off, I’m not flush with cash.. some people (and todays ‘entrepreneurs’ are definitely amongst these populations) have a lot of money.. the more cash you have, the more you can throw at a project to reach your goals faster. The less you have, the more you have to do yourself and oftentimes.. each individual step carrys with it.. it’s own set of ‘learning curves’ that.. slows down development.

So, as I have never had more than just enough to ‘get by’ .. i have to search, research, learn, practice, and grow at a staccato pace.. irregardless of what I am looking towards doing. Graphic design- 100% self taught.. photography- 100% self taught.. web design and admin work- yup, same there again. And each lesson.. each hurdle.. takes time out of goal attainment.

However..
..passion speaks louder than bank accounts!

Thus, step after step of this project (and this life in general) has been met with lessons aplenty.. and today, what I know is far more complex than learning off a set of blue prints.

Take, for example, my route..
.. in 1992 I was planning a bike ride to attend and present at the first Earth Summit.. and to reach goal attainment, we needed to fundraise along the way. I was *less sure* of myself and so allowed a non- cyclist to determine the route.. which resulted in ‘diminished capacity’ to schedule funding events.

Today, the route I have selected is~ predominantly and~ almost specifically designed to hit large population centres for funding event scheduling. 

Reach the people where they are!

as for the route, again- I also look to minimize the potential number of days “at sea.” I know, from reading, research, and learning, that there are *problems* if oyu are at sea for too many days~ particularly in a tiny boat like the one I’m building. Sea Salt sores, sweat buildup and bacterial infections are just two things that are prevalently problematic. So, plan for landfall as soon as possible and make the route FIND landfalls where ever viable. 

Leaving Hawaii will be difficult.. but all in all, my route finds landfalls within the 20 to 50 day range.

anyhow.. its been a long day already and i’ve somewhat lost track of and focus/ intent… suffice it to say that each and every step has been plagued with a pervasive and excessive learning curve.. which has slowed my build and progress down massively.

I am, however, emboldened with the fact that much of the learning curve that remains is more scholastic.. pertaining to navigation more than anything.. and it is my plan to do ‘my studies’ this fall/ winter.. once build is done.