Get In Line or Die? Hmmm................. Well, How Long is the Line?

So a disclaimer to today's post
I Have No Idea What I'm Talking About.

http://i.imgur.com/m7Bvt3L.gifv

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHumksS88Zs

     Social Norms
     We determine what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior by observing what everyone else is doing or isn't doing. For instance, it's a lot harder to get up and dance at a music show if no one else is dancing. Still possible of course, but an unspoken pressure to conform is there, and often difficult to overcome. That's not really a problem normally, and sometimes it's just a good idea to do as everyone else is doing. Stopping at a Red light is probably a smart move for example. However, if it's 4am and no one else is around and no one is coming, why wait?
     While harmless crimes and questions of safety are debatable, some social norms aren't quite laws but unspoken rules. Such as a 20 year old dating a 40 year old. Some might see nothing wrong with this, some might want to know the gender of each individual in order to judge, and some might be appalled regardless. Even if we disagree with the way society thinks, our environment restricts our behavior. One such way is through the fear of judgment from others.

     We don't want to be judged. Why not? Some people hide in their homes just to avoid it. What happens to us when we are judged? Anything? You can kind of feel it though, can't you? And what happens to us when we judge another? Does it do us any good? What about when we have to judge someone? To live one's Life without fear of judgment—how can we become that person? 
       When we meet someone and interact with them we might come to admire something about them. I personally believe that every single person in The World has at least one thing they can teach us, though Judgment and bias can get in the way. Once you both get past each others' walls and nobody puts the other beneath themselves, you really have the chance to connect and learn from each other. When that happens, you might be surprised at just how much an impact someone can have on you, and you them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JWOKGK9pis

     Can The Heart Be Wrong?
     We often hear the adage, "Follow Your Heart."
     But this advice is often given with the assumption that the listener's Heart is good, pure, and true.
     Where then do dark desires come from? Are they purely a corruption of The Mind? Ideas we get from The World, with all of its brutality? Do these ideas seep their way into out Heart when we want something?
     We want something we do not have or perhaps can not have—that desire itself is not evil. Then our minds concoct plans to get that which is desired. The plan may be more or less thought out. The plan may or may not consider others. If it does, that scope is limited by our sight and by the limits of our compassion. The more sight and compassion we have, the greater good our plan will pan out. Patience and self-control are needed to do and not-do, as best to "stick to the plan."
     God knows the limits of our patience, self-control, and compassion. God can see our plans. I am told they make God laugh.

     Though I often wonder—Can God be surprised?

 I got a table at an Art Show selling the pipes!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/BambooEtcetera

 I've got plans for this corner...

 Yale at Night

Music - Vibration - Energy

Yeah I need a better camera before I can really make this a photography blog.
Though at the point that the photographs are worthy I aught to just put them on facebook.
I suppose I'm hiding here on blogspot
expressing my raw unpolished ideas quietly.
Ah, I'm reflecting about myself again.
Blog End - Journal Go!

Reflect Upon The Whatevs

In case you missed it last week
My FB Artist page!
Buy a pipe!
https://www.facebook.com/BambooEtcetera/

     Okay I got it!
Less talk about myself

More talk about things
In other words
Reflection

Here we go!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJPnmaPB3-g

     We all want things out of life.
     At least I assume everyone does (if you no longer want anything you have transcended desire and are now on level with The Buddha. If you only want to Give Love then you're like Jesus. Good job).
     By the Buddhist philosophy, want/desire is the cause of our suffering.
     I don't know if I totally agree with that though. I think it depends on what you want. If you want good things like Peace and Prosperity then that will probably alleviate a lot more suffering in the World than it causes. If you want to give and help others that too will probably be more positive than negative.
     I don't think that most people know what they want, at least not too concretely. Figuring out what you want is definitely a good first step towards getting it.

     So there is this idea of "manifestation." Some people might explain it differently, but if you ask me it basically is the idea that if you try really hard to achieve something The Universe will actually help you. In a perfect World where we are all striving to better ourselves and better our World this is awesome! But what if someone is striving for something negative—something that will bring others down. Will The Universe help them?
     So when you want something, where does it come from? Well, depends on what it is. If you want rain then it comes from the sky. If you want a potato it comes from the ground. If you want money it either comes from your community or it comes from somewhere else (but it comes from somewhere). If you want a pen it was made with x, y, and z from a, b, and c. If you want a free pen well someone probably has to drop one somewhere. If you want complicated things better start thinkin' and/or prayin' and/or hopin'. If you want a simple thing, maybe just go try to get it yourself. Or make it yourself, if ya' can. That's fun!
     If you want a person, they're pretty easy to find. You usually have to leave your house though. If you want a certain type of person, maybe go where that type of person goes. If you want a certain person, better first find out if they want you too, 'cause if they don't ain't nuthin' you can do. Hang around, do your thing, talk or whatever, but if they don't wantcha sometimes ya' just gotta move on. No hard feelings though, lotsa people in The World, and everybody that's out there is busy lookin' for something, otherwise they wouldn't be out of their home!
     Some people are lookin' for water. Some people are lookin' for a potato. A lotta people are just lookin' for money. Some people are just lookin' for a pen. Some people are lookin' to make their dreams come true, and some people are just lookin'. Some people are lookin' for some other people. And of all the billions of people in The World looking for other people right now, every second about 77 people find that other person.
     And out of all the possibilities of what one person might be searching for in another person, we can barely even begin to imagine the start of it. For example, somebody out there is looking right now for a Chinese trapeze artist to join their collective party and escape the confines of their Society to venture the land as street performers. Perhaps more traveling performers will join them and they will one day become a circus. Hopefully the government doesn't shut them down. Godspeed young band of Wild Dreamers!!
     Somebody out there is also looking for you. Someone is out there lookin' for you right now. No not you specifically, but a person exactly like you, whoever you are. A person who has something exactly like one thing you've got, or one thing you do, or something you know that you might not even know you know and you won't even know you told them when you do and they won't know you did either but they will then know what they needed to know from you and then you both move on, if you want to, or have to. Or maybe you both want what the other has got.
Maybe you got money, and the other has a thing you want. cha-ching.
Maybe you have charisma, but the other has somehow attained peace.
Talk  :  Listen  : :  Show  :  ______ 
Maybe those eyes of yours are on fire. Maybe theirs are deeper than any part of The Ocean you've ever looked into. With a reason like that why even question it?
And who knows, they might have been looking for you for a while. Who are you to not give 'em a chance? And why pass that person up 'cause of the kind of shoes they are wearing, or the color of their skin, or the job they work (or don't lol), or their hobbies, or their friends, or some odd thing you perceived about them and assumed a conclusion about and now you feel they are beneath you? Why ever do that, and who do you think you are to do that anyways? But hey, maybe you'll both do this in some way or another, at the same time really fast, and you'll juuuuuust miss each other. Tragic, but so it goes. You're probably too busy for them anyways.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtjBXwwT2xE

     And now a short reflection on Love. It's a tricky thing. Love is simple in that all it is is an emotion. Love is complex in that everyone interprets that emotion in a different way, probably feels it in their own unique way, and for most people it is the most powerful moving force within them. Usually, that's beautiful, like parents taking care of their children. Sometimes, it's scary, as people can do some craaaaazy things because of Love.
     Love is a need. People need Love. If someone doesn't have Love, they're going to do what they feel they have to do to get it.
     So what is The Way? How much Love is okay to need? What is the greatest or most appropriate way to express and give Love? People have been trying to figure this out forever. That's why I'm not going to even try to answer it, at least not here. If I've got you thinking I recommend looking into a dude named Jesus and reading about what he has to say on the subject. He figured a lot more stuff out than I ever will.

     Pictures:

It snows in New England

This bamboo thicket is pretty much my livelihood now

The bamboo thicket itself means a lot to me though
Lots of amazing memories there

So I really entered a different mindset when I left home
I understood and accepted the real possibility that I might never be back

So much for that
I came crawling back a couple months later haha
I can only hope I'm wiser from it all

Even though I really yearn for adventure
I have to admit I wanted and needed the break

This is where I want to be
It's Home

I am so so so lucky to be here.
Where else could I want to be?

Storms are awesome
When you have a shelter to retreat to.

What is the meaning of a flame burning through the night?

Just then!
A bird?
A plane?
A Dog!
It's SUPER ROGER

SUPER ROGER and his sidekick Awesome Oakly rush to the rescue of this poor man trapped in the snow.
The State of Connecticut can rest easy knowing these hero Dogs are on the job!


I learned this week that Hemp is NOT Weed.
It is a great agriculture crop that can be used to create many great things
Such as clothes, strong thread, delicious seeds, healing oil, and super heady necklaces.

I remembered the tale of Icurus
And I also remembered that no bird soars too high when he flies upon his own wings.

Awe crap, I'm doing it again
Talking about myself in some bizarre metaphorical nonsense that I don't think anyone gets (my fault, not yours).

So I got an idea for when I get back on The Bike!
I'll need to get a GoPro.
I Love my current lil' Digital camera but the bike helmet cam would be pretty me.
And I'll definitely need a functioning laptop...
Library computers just won't cut it
Check this guy out!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BvwWHzbJUY

 I'm not going to do it just like he does his though.
If I did it like that I bet I'd find myself doing things just for the camera and that would suck!
I'm just not used to having a camera on me like that...
It's just an idea
Might do it might let it go

Holidays Part 2—It Was Definitely Worth it

     So in the last month or two I have not really been putting any time or energy into my blog here. That is mostly because Life and Living got even crazier than what it normally is living on a bicycle and I just honestly did not have the time/energy to spare. I'm going to try to continue updating my blog, but I'd definitely like it to change its form, as it always is. Not sure how \:
    As an unrelated side note—my blog apparently gets more traffic from Russia than from the USA, which confuses me because I've never been to Russia nor am I passing out my blog to Russian citizens. If you are in Russia and reading this, I'd Love to hear about how you found this! Let me know!

My adventures in Carbondale continued.

Though I started reflecting on where I was going
What I was doing
And the impact I was having and wanted to have on My World

That reflection brought me here

A march for Sexual Assault awareness on the campus of Southern Illinois University’s campus.

Here's their facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/CarbondaleConsentParty/?fref=ts

 Awareness of this issue really needs to increase

This is just one campus
But this is a nation-wide problem

Perhaps the problem is woven into our culture
But we're also moving forward.
Just think about where we were just like 50 years ago!

I don't feel this sign is good enough
How about lights and patrols and an emergency call box for starters?

Being part of a march/protest/demonstration is an empowering experience
I encourage everyone to get out and give it a go if you ever hear of one that embodies an issue that is important to you!

 After walking around campus everyone marched into the Board meeting
It was pretty badass!

And here are two videos of all that:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThCQL_Z-wpE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meLtL4Udb6o&feature=player_embedded

Here's one of the campaigns of the group.
I'm thankful I was able to be a part of it, however small.

The issue is ongoing so feel free to write and mail a letter if you feel so moved.

I guess I'm getting pretty good on my harmonica
I made enough money for a bus ride home!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-p0J3bHlVTk&list=PLyBZCmY_WXkBV_HIn6ASUpY-ahNid3az0

I really Loved The Yoga House and really enjoyed my time there.
I left in my usual spontaneous way
I hope I cleaned up enough though

Thanks to some fellow travelers I met
I found myself a bed in their Awesome DIY-Punk House

I Love being surrounded by Art
That sort of environment just directly contributes to me feeling inspired

As far as expression goes

I prefer positivity that gives way to good vibrations
But I thought this was really funny

I wanted to stay here longer
But I had to get home.

     And that's it. Then I took a bus home from Chicago, and now I'm home. I made it Justin Time for Christmas, the evening of the 24th. That was a good day.
     The End? Well, not exactly, but it certainly feels like the closing of a chapter.
     So why'd I turn around? There's a lot of reasons actually, and it sure ain't simple.
     Even though I don't actually want to, I suppose I feel the obligation to explain why I came back here, at least partially. If you've read this far then you deserve to know the ending. Especially if you're following me from Russia.

     Due to my knee hurting, I had to stop moving. Also, with winter approaching and my regrettable realization that I was not prepared for the cold nor did I escape it, I didn't feel that continuing South on the bicycle was possible. So I had two choices: Stay in Carbondale, or head home for the holidays. Spending time in Carbondale I met a lot of people, made a lot of friends, found that I could totally live there and be happy, and hopefully even helped some people. But at some point, it hit me. Despite all the awesome people I met, I realized that no one could replace all My Loved ones that I had left behind. Every day is a gift, and as all of their Worlds spun around without me a part of it, I started thinking about what I was really giving up for this Journey. I had a thought that, if the World ended just then, I would only feel regret that I was not with my family and other Loved ones. And it was at that point that my Journey ended.
     I spent a lot of time thinking about it. I didn't want to stop my adventure. Turning around felt like giving up. All one needs to do is read just about any other blog post to see just how important this endeavor is to me. Just how much of myself I've put into it. I've learned though that stubborn pride only gets appendages broken, so while it wasn't easy, I let go of this dream, because I couldn't let go of any more people.
     I rode my bicycle nearly 3,800 miles. I broke my arm. My ego was broken down and rebuilt more times than I care to remember. I've met amazing people, made stupendous friends, and hopefully helped some people along my path. I encountered the Infinite Love of The Universe. I found my Home. I experienced Peace. I learned how to calm my Mind through meditation. I learned all sorts of different ways to express my ideas and emotions. I have felt more alive than I ever imagined or understood and my entire being, my entire world-view, my entire perspective of reality and life is forever changed.

     So now I'm at home. I got back just in time for Christmas, the night of the 24^th. I've been making sense of everything that happened ever since. Every single day was an adventure. Every single day had a lesson. I grew and changed so much, I don't even recognize myself any more. It's nice being here. Old habits are comforting, even if the sugar and calories of a midnight cookie snack are not conducive to my ideal healthy lifestyle and cause me more guilt than it's worth. Another part of coming home was that I wanted to slow down. I want to see how this guy I am now does. Have I grown enough? Have I changed enough? Am I good enough?

     Despite all the accomplishments I listed above, I know in My Heart that I did not make it. I'm trying to remind myself of everything I gained, but I can't stop bringing myself down for retreating. I had a goal and I failed. That's just the truth of it. I do want to get back on my bike and try again. I don't see how I can let it go. But I'm also not sure how I can get out there again if My Heart just isn't in it... I've seen and learned so much and there is so much more I want to do now in life than ride my bicycle alone in the Woods. After all those months, I'm quite weary of being alone. Ideally, I'm hoping to find some adventure partners. I never said I'd do it alone (; But who's gonna wanna ride their bike into the sunset with me?

      So, Time Will Tell. I can say that I cannot see a future for myself here in Connecticut. This will always be my Home, but I can't live the way I want to live here (cost of living is WAY too high and there are no bike trails). Plus, I've really really fallen in Love with traveling. I don't want to stop! I just want to do it a little differently. I sort of expect/plan that come Spring/Summer my folks' will have driven me crazy enough that I won't miss them for a while and my ties will all be at an acceptable “To Be Continued...” point and The Road will just call me again and maybe somebody cool will come along. 'Til then, I've got to get ready. My money is all gone, so I should probably get some of that, but I feel working on road skills are more important. I'm trying to seriously study music (so I can make money busking). I'm working with wood (so I can make money selling things that I make as I travel). And of course I'm trying to eat right and stay active and I plan on taking some Krav Maga classes once I get the monthly fee together.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5a4elfRnCc
These blocks have a lot of meaning to me and my family.
I actually came back for a bunch of other reasons too
But despite my best efforts
I can't put every little detail of my life and my introspections up here
(Just look at that block of text up there haha).
But my blog is what it is
My attempts at being all manner of things I'm not
Over-dramatically and long-windedly put up here for anyone that is curious to see
I'm sure I'll use this in years to come to reflect on what the heck I've been doing these past months
But I plan on traveling again a lot sooner than that.
I'd like to keep using this blog to talk about myself less
And post higher quality photographs more!
If you think that's cool then check back, otherwise
In case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!


P.S.
Here are some links:
My cousin's blog, which is way better than mine:
https://ramiejacobson.wordpress.com/

I put some of my favorite shots I took on this website.
Don't buy them though they're way too overpriced
(Clearly I will never be a salesman)
But I'm pleased with my profile regardless
http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/justin-heriot

And I started making cool bamboo pipes!
I made an FB Artist Page to sell them
Though going to shows and trading and meeting people is a lot more fun
https://www.facebook.com/BambooEtcetera/

Holidays Part 1

     Introduction:
     An apology—it's been weeks since I last updated! Consequently, all the pictures and information are dated from weeks ago.
     I've grown a lot on the road. I've learned a lot too. I still struggle with this and that, but I'm also still trying to improve myself. Though I guess I can't say I'm "on The Road" at the moment. As of December 8th, I was firmly hunkered down in Carbondale Illinois.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WLQkXecgnw
A quote, for all you Dr. Who fans:
"I'm not running away. But this is one corner in one country in one continent in one planet that's a corner of a galaxy that is a corner of a universe that is forever growing and shrinking and creating and destroying and never remaining the same for a single millisecond. And there is so much, SO MUCH, to see. Because it goes so fast. I'm not running away from things. I'm running to them before they flare and fade forever. That's all right. Our lives would never remain the same. They can't. One day, soon maybe, you'll stop. I've known for a while."

     Pictures:

How'd this nice boot get here?

Carbondale has an active bar scene

Mostly students from the local college

I just went in for the music

Fading Signs

They got him ),:

After an uncomfortable night on the street

I found this place called The Yoga House!

I spent the last of my savings on this little room in the basement
Compared to the cold nights in my tent I'd been experiencing
This warm little room is more than I needed

And after I spread my stuff out

I picked this tapesty up from a brotha' in Tennessee
Helps me Zen

Got this tapestry from the Amish
Helps me Be

I wrote this out and put it up on my wall too
Helps me Focus

We all need positive affirmations to keep us on The Path
Helps me Do
What do you do to motivate yourself?

I even got my own shower!

This place might be haunted...
I even caught a picture of a ghost!

Only so much room in my pockets

I found this cool Barotone Ukelele in the basement!
I started practicing on it

I made lots of friends in Carbondale
Here is Rowen Oak!

I kinda took over the basement and made it a cool hang out spot

This was a pretty sweet set up for a bit

Welcome!

Carbondale has a couple different faces
Well, every city does

I hear Lightning comes from The Ground
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ou3oFGhlNQ

Close Ride

Ride Close

Everybodies gotta wait on the Train

I busked at a parade for the first time
I made $20!

People from the whole district came to this huge family friendly celebration

A Parade is also a display of Power
But let's not ruin the mood!

Who wants to come be free with me?

Thanks for the hospitality Carbondale!

     City Chalk Project:
     I'm just getting started on this. The intention is to spread positive energy throughout the community—especially around where people are interacting with each other, or just where many people will see it.

My new roomie noticed this before we met!

It's a good idea

Some more than others I suppose

Leave a comment for what you'd write for #3!

I write this weeks later
When my direction has been decided
But at the time of these pictures I was struggling with the decision to either push onward
Despite the cold and the lonliness
Live in Carbondale a while
Despite my friends and family back home
Or return to CT
Despite my dreams of travel and adventure

I believe I made the right decision