What will you do?

      Everywhere I go, I see scars of industry, economy, culture, and the general lust for what could be. There are listless youth with nothing to do, there are burnt out elders who scowl at the world, and there are middle-somethings milling about, all running headlong toward the same cliffs of oblivion.
      I wake, I pedal, I eat, I pedal, I sleep. Whenever there are people hanging out, I stop to chat. Most of the time I get nothing more than some small talk and wonder at the fact I'm riding my bike...but this is not what I seek. I want the reeeall thing. I want to get down to what's in their hearts, what they want to do, how they want to do it, what the fuck their dreams are!
      But this is what I have seen thus far. People are in an endless dream of waiting. Waiting for someone to come along and gift them the magic that they may not even be asking for. Last night in Boise City, OK I met a group of High School girls who all worked at the local grocery. After getting them jazzed up on the prospect of something cool and creative happening in their town, I asked them a hypothetical question of "If someone handed you $10,000 dollars tonight, just because you're a good-hearted person, what would you do?" This question stumped all of them. One girl suggested she might travel to the Northwest, and when I told her she would have $9,600 left, she couldn't tell me what she would do with the rest.
      I don't think this is because they were on the spot, or it is a broad question to ask, or even that they lack the answer. What I am coming to see is that there is an epidemic of broken spirits in this country. I can't speak for the world, but I imagine the globe is experiencing a similar outbreak of spiritlessness. As Chico, the Lawyer Warrior of Las Vegas, NM said, "There is a spiritual battle going on right now." Well, Chico, fuck yes there is. There is a deliberate attempt, not accidental, to break the spirits of people on Earth to subject them to unrelenting capital slavery.
      This will not come as a surprise or even a new idea for most, but if you're not hip to it, then get hip real quick. And if you are hip then hear me now: This is the time to ignite the element of your spirit where your power resides. For me, the Wind brings me power. I create enough Fire for a few, and the Wind just fans those flames. I'm grateful to have Water and Earth around me always to bring me back and keep me steady, but I know where my power lies. It is in creation, inspiration, and change.
      Why is it important for you to ignite the spiritual flame within you? Because your future and the future of all beings depends on you getting free. If one of us is chained, all of us are chained. But if you can break the chains of one, then that makes you a little more free in the process.
      I don't have the script for how you can do this. I don't really have any methods, because they will all be unique to your journey, but what I can suggest is that if you know any young people, inspire the hell out of them. This doesn't happen by words either. This happens by deeds. Do something to make a young person's life brighter and more hopeful and you make us all more free. Try it and see if i'm bullshitting with you.
     For the truth is, if you're reading this, you're probably in or around the age of 30 and the time for you to be passing the torch is coming up. Don't hold it like the generations who came before, pass it off to those who you have given the tools of creativity, love, and spirit to.
      I'm writing this from Elkhart, KS right now. A place with hopelessness in its streets. Don't let the world die just because you didn't know how to live.

What Dreams Do Bring

In Albuquerque, Dave called me Chad the Dreamer. I thought it was a funny name and one that I fully accept and own. I am a dreamer. I always have been. My entire life I have seen countless examples of what it looks like when people stop dreaming and "come back to reality." Whenever I meet someone who was taught to abandon their dreams for a pragmatic reality, well, it breaks my heart. A life without dreams is like dinner without salt. Tasteless and bland, not to mention detrimental to your health.

Well, I haven't ever abandoned my dreams. I live by them, follow my heart in every step and will never stop until my heart quits beating. Then knowing me, I will keep the vision alive through whatever realm I start flying around.

My dream, since I was around 13 or 14, was of a small village somewhere in the world. It definitely was not where I am from because it didn't have paved roads, no telephone wires, small circular huts, and brown-skinned women and children running, playing, working, and laughing. I would sometimes just be viewing the scene and other times I would see myself as an old man among them. It always felt beautiful and real.

I have in the meantime traveled, met amazing people, and honed my vision of what is possible in this world. I have also met someone who has become a brother of mine in the world, another peaceful warrior amidst a chaotic reality. Lale Labuko is from Ethiopia and has been a champion for peace and compassion for over a decade, having saved almost 50 lives of children who would otherwise have been killed. Today him and his wife, along with a staff of workers, take care of these children in every aspect of their life. Lale has 2 kids, soon to be 3 of his own, but when asked says he has 50 children.

Today I awoke from a dream and knew that I needed to be in Ethiopia as soon as possible. But this is not the point of this post. I am not begging for help through my words, because I KNOW that Great Mystery has a plan and I am walking through the gates opened for me. All will be provided.

Why I am writing this is about THE DREAMS. If you're not following your dream at this point, if you're living for a paycheck that takes more from you than it gives, if you're working to pay for the things that leave you more empty than you were before, and if you wake up with cold chills from dreams that haunt you...then there is literally no time like now to do something about it.

Don't worry about the details. All you need do is step through that door in your spirit, climb up through your heart, and look out your forehead to see which direction to choose. Don't second guess it. Just step into it. Your arrival is your ticket.

I can't tell you how unbelievably important it is to be living within your power right now. The world needs you. Seriously. Everyone around you will be better for it when you decide to live within the dream.

Now, some might say, "Chad, isn't it foolish to live in the dream when so much real stuff is going on around us? Isn't it selfish to be dreaming while everyone is suffering?" Is it fair to the world for you to be suffering while you're sleeping, suffering while you're awake? Imposing your suffering onto everyone else around you because you aren't happy with where you are? Stop making excuses and using the rest of the world as a scapegoat. The world will not be free until you are free.

I can't give you a blueprint, but one thing I have found is that traveling by bike is ONE way to get closer to the dream. There are so many ways and you have to find yours. I can tell you that if you're not feeling it, then you're not doing it. The moment that feeling of weightlessness comes, when you are brought to tears by a cloud, when the kindness of another shows you the deep scar you have over your heart, and when you can't walk past another person suffering without reaching out your hand...then you will have arrived at the station. Just board the train. Don't make an excuse as to what else you've got to do. Just board that train.

Maybe my words fail already because the experience is so personal, or maybe you're reading this and planning your escape. I encourage everyone to follow their heart. Every moment. The next you hear from me, I will be getting cradled by Mama Africa. Connect the global struggle. If Africa no free, no native no free, no river no free, no woman no free, whole world no free.

/wēd/

weed

wēd/

noun

1. 1.

   a wild plant growing where it is not wanted and in competition with cultivated plants.

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verb

1. 1.

   remove unwanted plants from (an area of ground or the plants cultivated in it).
2. 
   
   

   "I was weeding a flower bed"

      My time in Mexico was amazing, blissful, and educational. I learned heaps about the differences between our cultures, and especially the generosity that exists North and South of the arbitrary border. I went to Mexico with maybe $300 in my pocket, which is a lot for me, and even more when the exchange is 20 to 1. The exchange, however, allowed me to give my money more freely than I may have thought possible here with giving dollars. I was able to buy a roof for a friend's house, get some bikes for some kids, build a compost system, and then just hook random people up with a bunch of cash. 

      In this whole process I forgot that I would be returning to the U.S. and had a 2,500 mile bike ride ahead of me. I crossed the border with 400 pesos in my wallet, which when I exchanged it with a fellow here it turned into $20 USD. So here I was in Arizona with enough money for about two days of regular frugal living. I am pretty resourceful, so dumpsters are groovy, folks are generous when asked, and intelligence plus good timing can amount to a lot sometimes. Regardless, I needed to make a repair on the bike and had to ship a box of stuff home, which in the end requires some greenbacks. 

      I made it to Safford, AZ where I inquired with some folks about part-time work and ended up getting a gig pulling some weeds at a rental property. Since I was a kid, pulling weeds has been one of my least favorite activities. As I have grown and have learned systems of plant stewardship and have developed a system that makes sense to me, pulling weeds has become even more absurd in my eyes. Yet, when you've gotta make moves in the world sometimes we have to do stuff we don't exactly love. The redeeming factor in the pulling of the weeds is that my host Jay is going to come collect the green waste, chip it and turn it into compost. So not all is lost in the immediate act.

      But as I was pulling these plants from the place they chose to grow, knowing they would positively effect the ecology of that particular location, a piece of me reached the end of its tolerance. That piece is the world's misunderstanding of the word Weed and the huge effects that has on the planet. I wrote a paper in school about the Dandelion, prompted by the school's practice of weed management against the beloved medicinal plant, which I will post in conjunction with this essay. My feelings around the misconception of weeds has only become more resolved and possibly more urgent now. 

      What is a weed? The definition above says it is an unwanted plant, but I would argue strongly that it is only unwanted because it is misunderstood. I think currently the metaphor of immigrants could be placed in here and draw the same conclusion. Do we want to eradicate immigrants from this country, Natives, Africans, Latinos as well because they are in competition to the cultivated culture of White America, or is the culture of these people just misunderstood and thus rejected by the cultivated "majority'? I know farmers who couldn't identify more than a dozen plants, a dozen being a high number, yet they know they need to eradicate that unknown plant asap because it is stealing nutrients from their crops?

      The truth is that every plant, in my eyes is a blessing and can be utilized to create fertility and balance when diversity may be lacking. The "weed" growing next to your tomatoes, sure, it might be pulling nutrients away from the soil that the tomatoes could be grasping, but how many people in the world then spray round up on the weed, or pull it and take it to the burn pile to eradicate it? This is so common it is mind numbing. Rather than pulling that plant, or nuking it, stop and think about this for a moment. That plant spent all of that time pulling nutrients from the air and soil so create roots, stalk, leaves, flowers, seeds, etc. It worked tirelessly to convert raw materials into green matter. It has captured those nutrients into its being and concentrated them right there next to that tomato. What if you cut the stalk, laid it down next to the tomato and let those nutrients drop right down to where the tomato can eat it? The roots become worm food and a channel for water and air to have access to the microbes.

      This all seems so simple, but I have encountered so many people who find this to be as foreign to them as chicharon. A story: I was in Boulder, CO chilling with Pfrangenstein and wanted to help out around the house while I was staying. There was this little garden in the backyard with a Buddha statue, so I thought that would be a great place to start the new vibration. It was full of thistle that had just started to flower so I knew it was a perfect time to chop and drop the plants to achieve a high level of nutrient conversion and at the same time add a big shock to the plants in hopes that a succession of something else could be planted and take over the space. 

      I cut all of the thistle back and laid them right where they grew, the next step would be to plant some seeds around and maybe lay a little compost down if it was available. Well, the homeowner Greg came home and immediately questioned why I did what I did. I explained the thought process and the science behind it, but I could tell he wasn't really listening. At the end of my explanation he said something to the effect that his house wasn't a farm so my idea wasn't going to work out. He didn't want it looking that way. Certainly, Greg, considering you had 3-foot-tall thistle growing in your garden. But I knew what he was getting at. Another slave to the aesthetic, and that IS the largest issue with why folks even have a perception of something called a "weed." 

      When your aesthetic is based upon a limited understanding of plants, maybe 4 plants that belong in a landscape, of course everything else would be a threat to that aesthetic. So we spray Agent Orange on our lawns where kids play, let it run into clean waterways, all for the aesthetic. I know the frustration is coming out in my words, good. I think if you're reading this and not completely enraged about the unwillingness to examine our systematic destruction of the ecological bubble we need for survival, then I suggest suicide, because your complacency is creating matricide. 

      Next time you see the goon in the truck spraying Round-Up at guardrails, say something. Next time you see your neighbor treating his lawn with weed-be-gone, do something. Take a tomato over and have him sprinkle some on it and ask if he'd like a bite. If he says no, then perhaps you could move into a conversation as to why the heck it's utterly idiotic to sprinkle that stuff anywhere on this planet. If we continue to lay down to the destruction of our planet, then we won't have one.

      Been feeling sick recently? This will only get worse people. Our planet has a cold, it might catch a flu soon, and what happens if it gets pneumonia? The word Weed is simple, but its effects are catastrophic. Every plant is sacred and every plant gives a gift. Chances are you're pulling up food or medicine, so think about that one when you've made up your mind it is an invasive plant in your landscape. The only invasive organism I've ever met walks on two legs and looks around like it's lost in its own landscape...

Below is the Essay from a few years back on the Dandelion. Enjoy.

Click IT

No Maps, Just Naps

When traveling in a manner where you are the pilot, it is generally helpful to know where you're going. But what if already knew where you were going, you just needed to practice finding the way?

The conversation around travel by plane and car and how rapid and disconnected they are has come up a lot recently. I meet so many folks who feel completely helpless in their options to move without a petroleum based option.

The squad and I have coined the term "slow travel" in hopes of engendering a radically different culture around traveling. Moving slowly has undeniable virtues over rapid movement. It allows for so much more flexibility and openness,, giving you the freedom to stop and take it just what's in that very moment. But this is well known and hopefully obvious at this point.

What I'm getting towards requires a little more of an open mind to grasp. The map, a tool of so many intrepid explorers before me, a simple piece of paper that holds mountains of information. This is the go to when you're trying to plan a trip of any sort. You map a course and proceed to follow it with diligence.

Yet, is it possible to travel without a map and still get to where you need to go? What happens if you take a wrong turn? What happens if you push your bike hours down an arroyo only to realize you need to turn around? What happens if you get lost? Well, what happens?

The answer for me thus far has been to stop, find shade, hydrate, eat a snack and take a nap. When i wake from my peaceful slumber I will still be lost, but at the very least I will be rested and ready to double back and find another way.

I'll find my way eventually, and perhaps some light will be lost in the quest, if you're worried about counting hours, but if you can shift your perspective and see that being lost is just a perception then those hours won't be lost in the end.

I'm not advising to throw away your maps, or even hint that maps are a bad thing. They're cool and fun as heck to look at, but what I am advocating is to get lost and allow yourself to work through the process of getting lost. It's possible you might come to the conclusion that you're exactly where you should be. Stay wild, get woke, slow down.

Expand, Always Expand

   

   It´s been a minute. So much has happened but i´ll keep it real brief.

If you wake to find

That all you had known was wrong

Collapse or Expand?

Mexico is the truth. I´ve been a little more stationary than I intended but it has allowed me to see some pretty amazing truths in this land. Neo-Colonialism is alive and well, economic oppression of natives and brown people is alive and well. So i´m going to do my work, shine my light, and strengthen these communities with all the elements at my disposal. 

Holler in email or instagram if you looked at your bank account recently and felt badly for having too much. I know some folks who might use it.

One love. 

Pinche Muro

      This post is to be brief, because the concept I want to unfold is a simple one. If you can pontificate on its validity after you've finished reading then I urge you to stop thinking because that is surely sending you down the wrong path. This is a matter for the heart. Are you ready?
      When you look at a map, drawn all across it are lines, some based on natural contour and others are merely angular and arbitrary. No matter what they look like, they are pure illusion. What is a border? Is it a real place? Maybe when someone has built a wall of fence it might make the illusion more tangible, but nevertheless that wall is still a creation of someone's dimented perception of the world. Ownership is a perception, one that implies power over people and power over planet. It forces people to be across the fence, making them someone else. An other.
      Riding the train from New Orleans to Tucson, we passed Ciudad Juarez and folks were talking about how "those people" don't deserve to come here. How "they" exploit our education system and hospitals. How disgusting it is for "those" pregnant women to have their children here so they can gain citizenship. When I questioned them simply about their family's heritage and how they came to live in the U.S., they didn't seem able to make the correlation. When I asked them if they could imagine what someone must be going through to make the deadly trek to cross an arbitrary border in a land that they are originally from, they seemed incapable of empathy or perspective.
      Waking up in Mexico, hearing a language I am not well versed in all around me, different smells and tastes everywhere, and somewhere that I am a drastic minority...I am filled with the feeling of love and gratitude. How can I look into someone's eyes, into their heart and see anyone but the reflection of me? You may say, "That's an awfully sentimental perspective. It's not how the world really works." I say shut your mouth hole and stop the story that you think you know something. If you're still convinced that there is a difference between a person and yourself because Colonialist drew a pinche border, then you're lost.
      If you don't feel that way and you are someone whose heart is open to those around the world, then you cannot in good conscience sit and watch the destruction of your brothers and sisters any longer. If you don't act with all of your power NOW, then watch it fall apart in front of you. And get ready for that same destruction to come your way.
      No muros, nunca. Liberate your mind and the borders mean nothing. One love.n

Purchased Power

      Perhaps it is the company I currently keep, or maybe it is truly where the climate of society is, regardless, I hear on a regular basis how upset and scared folks are about the political and social devolution we are apparently going through at the moment. From utter disbelief to straight up anger, I hear negativity exiting people's mouths on the daily.
      The negative cycle of emotions and the expression into the world has interested me, disturbed me, and startled me when I find myself in similar cycles, so I have really tried to dissect what it is all about in order to possibly find some medicine to help heal it. Ignoring the disgusting behavior we see isn't the answer, fighting it with violence feels alright for a while but serves to fuel it in the end, and acknowledging it in order to transform it ends up sucking the life force right from us.

Da Fuck?

      This is not to say that when we come together and create direct actions as collectives, we can't stop violence against the earth and people. That, to me, is a moment of expression that can be largely positive in its results, but truly teeters on the balance of everyone in the collective having the highest spiritual intentions to break the cycle that is directly in front of them. There are also those select opportunities when individually we are presented with the chance to open our hearts and singularly take on someone or something who is attempting to draw on existing negative cycles. These moments should be cherished and stepped into with all of your spirit.
      What I am talking about, however, is the day to day. When we are with the homies, the family, or just some rando on the train. When conversation descends to the basic levels of "the bullshit around us." Here is where, IMHO, we have a chance to do the most radical work in our lives. Self work. Because in the end, the work we do on ourselves defines the vibrations we express into the world. This is one of the basic tenets of Eastern Philosophy and Spirituality, as well as many under-appreciated Western schools of thought. Heal yourself, heal the world. Right, this is basic. But when we really look at it, how complex can it really become in our daily symphony of expression?
      First, step into the realm of modern Violent-Capitalism. Small groups of individuals who sit at the top of corporate pyramids derive their power from millions of unsuspecting consumers who make up the foundation of the pyramid. For instance, Tide detergent, one of many products sold by the parent company Procter and Gamble, which is a volatile and toxic substance and belongs nowhere near humans, animals, land or waterways. Yet, P&G, who netted over 80 billion dollars in 2014, doesn't need to care about any of that. The power comes from the money. Reason would say, however, that if folks didn't buy P&Gs products, they would no longer have the power to manipulate markets, force child labor in other countries, and pollute the entire earth.

Slash and Burn Palm Oil Production

      Set the same stage, the same players and props, but change the title from Violent-Capitalism to Patriarchal-Politics. Power is derived from the bottom, and in reality their power is derived from the masses buying into their products, whether that be ideas or tangible products since most politicians are major players in corporations like P&G. We allow hate-mongers and war-profiteers to become powerful even when we hate them. Love is as empowering as hate, so choose your tool.
      I know this becomes abstract in thought, but in action it really does become crystal clear. The next time the feeling arrises to say something hateful about a far away fool, remember how useless it is to spend your energy that way. Breath through it, and let it go. The big scary monster that has got you all worked up may just melt away in front of your eyes. We truly can redefine the world through love, and it will most definitely be a hard road, but that's the point! We are the ones who can handle it, so we chose it.
      Please don't misinterpret what i've said for being complacent and just letting fools have free reign. Let me be very clear. To take power away from those who cannot handle it, we must stop giving them power. Figure out piece by piece how to decolonize your life, and when you've stopped buying their products, their ideas, and falling into their traps again and again, maybe then we can call ourselves free.