Anything which exists in this world can be broken. People, objects, hearts…and of course vehicles. We like to ignore this vulnerability to brokenness; it’s distressing to contemplate and even more distressing to experience. But it’s the inevitable consequence of the fragility which characterizes this life. Throwing oneself upon the mercy of the universe sounds liberating …
I spend a lot of time thinking about and tending to wounds; in one way or another, my entire professional life has been devoted to the task. It’s an almost unfailingly worthwhile endeavor. But with time I’ve noticed that once suffered, wounds are never quite the same as they were before. Sometimes they scar, sometimes …
This post isn’t about much of anything fancy or philosophical. It’s just an impromptu reflection on what I’ve come to value and love about my rather unusual home over the last two years. I recently did some wandering which involved a few days indoors at an AirBnB. It was a tiny house in the middle …
Before reflecting on the notion of possibility, a confession: despite the recurring dormancy of my blog, I have a stockpile of posts that just don’t seem to make it from my decrepit laptop out into the world. Vulnerability is hard. Knowing that my posts are imperfect and some better than others is hard. Finding internet …
A quick preface: After a brief (aka seven months) unplanned (never really meant to stop) hiatus, I’m returning to the Level Ground Blog. I came up with a lot of explanations about why I stopped writing when others asked: the daily novelty of life in a van ebbed as I entered my second year, my …
At the end of last month, I officially passed the one-year anniversary of living in my van full-time. There was a notable lack of pomp and circumstance marking the occasion, the only co-celebrant being a county ranger who curiously approached my van and struck up a conversation as I returned from riding my mountain bike …
Humans excel at holding tight. It’s difficult to think of another species which clings to people, places, and possessions with a comparable determination. In fact, I would argue that much of the blood, sweat, and tears which humanity has poured forth upon the earth over the years have been in the service of such objectives. …
Time is a complicated thing. I don’t really know much about it, and I’ll leave the finer points to the physicists and philosophers who have a better grasp of its nature and nuances. But time is also the common denominator of all human experience. We are forever fretting about if we have too little or …
I’m currently spending some time wandering the deserts of Utah. While I have aspirations for more posts arising from these travels, this dispatch from the road is the story of just one evening spent in search of level ground. It started immaculately; despite having no real plan when I woke up other than moving, I …
This post is the story of Harriet. Harriet was not a person or a pet, but rather a miniature succulent plant who accompanied me on my van life journey. She died this week following a long battle against myriad ravages (essentially the van-based equivalent of the biblical plagues of Egypt), and it’s caused me to …