The Road South
I graduated in August 2009. I spent the last week and a half living out of my car, since my apartment lease ended before the graduation ceremony. Fortunately I spent the summer practicing Tai Chi, and was able to apply the calming effects of moving meditation on the otherwise stressful conclusion to my formal education career.
I moved to Austin, Texas within a month.
I packed my Honda Accord with everything I could fit, including my partner, and we drove South. And we drove South. And a little West. Making it to Texas was itself an accomplishment. Very little planning went beyond just getting there.
We were able to find a swanky apartment within a week, on the third floor of a brand new apartment building. With less than 20% occupancy, we were some of the only people in the building. The complex was located at a Metro stop, but the Metro train was several years behind schedule, and did not stop once during our 9 month lease.
My first job was as a community organizer. I spent 8 hours a day knocking on doors, gathering signatures, donations, and letters. I was terrified at first to talk to strangers in their own home, but by the third week, I was a pro. It became a joyous game to meet and talk to so many different people.
The campaign itself was focused on creating more responsible channels for e-waste – those old computers and tvs and printers filled with toxic metals and precious bits of elements that all end up seeping into our ground water when they’re thrown in landfills. I held that position for three months, until “I could donate money to you or buy presents for my kids for Christmas” overtook my ability to meet the nightly $150 standard, and I was let go.
Fortunately, I had been offered a job the previous week by one of the folks who signed my clipboard to cleanup the customer database of a telecom company. I proceeded to work in an office for six months, making good money but not developing the kind of skills I wanted to develop.
The saving grace was my weekends, which I would spend at a sustainable habitat outside the city. It was so clear being out there what I wanted to do (fulfilling work surrounded by nature and good people) and what I didn’t want to do (menial, meaningless work for a mediocre company).
It’s occurred to me at this point I’ve mentioned very little of my family. The whole story thus far has been a random assortment of events, without much emotional weight, that have just happened to me as my life floats along.
My parents both work for a pharmaseutical company, and I am wholly blessed to have both my biological parents still married, something I gather is quite a rarity in America these days. I have a younger brother in college, and a still younger sister who work for DirectTv in Frenso, CA. My mother’s side of the family I grew up visiting and vacationing with frequently, the only one I knew on my father’s side was one of his brothers, Uncle Jerry, who works as a librarian at Albany State University.
These are the people I share blood with, blood I learned recently goes all the way back to an ancestor who came over on the Mayflower. I guess exploring is in my blood. So is creativity, obstinance, rebellion, and (if I may be vain) beauty.