11/11/11 ?

With my time at work coming to a close, I have been more attentive to the planning of my wanderings. I will remain at my position at the park district until a new person is hired and trained, so I will be working Mon-Wed for the next 4-5 weeks. My original plan of leaving on 11/11/11 came surprisingly close.

The world has once again become a wide open place, open to varied interpretations and realities. The money I have saved would seem small for most, but being able to live comfortably on $1000 a month means I can live as if independently wealthy for 18 months before having to return to wage slavery. I plan to use some of the money to travel to Thailand, but I am still determining how long I want to stay, and if I should extend my journey to other places. The plan which looks most secure is to wander Thailand for 4-6 weeks and then return to my apartment in Urbana. Once back I plan to spend my time practicing guitar 4 hours a day, meditating 2 hours, and walking/running/writing/thinking/sleeping with the remaining time left in the day. By the end of a year I could possibly be a better guitar player with a calmer heart. Time will tell.

Buying Time

Today I resigned from my job.

Two weeks ago I requested to work 3 days per week, reducing my hours from 40 to 24. This was accepted. I then requested a 4 week unpaid leave of absence so that I could wander around Thailand during the month of November. This was not accepted. Before asking these two things I decided that if either were rejected I would resign, and today I followed through on that decision.

Quitting a decent job with no negative aspects would appear to be stupidity, or worse. And although I could find no logical reasons for quitting, I did it anyway. What is life but a continual preparation for death? Death is leaving a known space and time. Sleep reminds us of this, but a conscious altering of circumstance done under a warm, shining sun is more potent. By doing so I reaffirmed my faith in the power of life. Walking home I felt powerful, free, and strong-willed. In a years time I may find myself living on the streets, or worse, in my parent's home. It is all the same, though - I will breathe, sense, think. I won't have any money, but in a way I don't have any now. I save everything I earn, only spending on food and shelter. The money saved will now be spent - on a year's worth of glorious time.