A Creative Tale From The Streets of Taiwan

Finding My Artist's Way

I'm currently reading an old self-help book called  the Artist's Way. The author maps out  a sixteen week program for her readers  to lead them towards a more creative lifestyle.  The writer takes a much broader than usual definition for the idea of creatives. She doesn't only mean  people wanting to become artists, writers, rock & roll stars,etc. She goes into great detail how being more creative can help individuals in all areas of life. She puts a heavy focus on three main activities to help participants achieve their goals.

 1.) Morning Pages- She requires participants to wake up 30-50 minutes early every morning for some free wriitng. It sounds overwhelming to most people at first. I usually spend the full fifty minutes on my Morning Pages. I try not to use any prompts in an effort to clear the clutter in my mind. My progress has been great so far. I have only missed three days in three and a half weeks.

2 .Artist's Date-This is where you spend some time alone nurturing your creative side. Suggestions range from a trip to the museum, the library, painting, or maybe just watching the sunset at the beach. I would say I am one for three on this so far. I plan to camp on the beach tomorrow night and hopefully get a morning surf session in as a part of my Artist Date this week

3.)Weekly activities_- These are a set of activities found at the end of every chapter. Usually, the activities assist you discover ways your creativity may have been blocked. She also usually follows it up with a solution to help you get unblocked.

I found one of the most interesting activities in Week One. Readers are required to make a Hall of Fame for all the people that have supported them in their creative endeavors. She goes on to suggest that  you tape some of the best comments you ever got about your creative work in an area you can see on a daily basis. I found it to be an especially interesting activity because II usuall try to discredit any encouragement I get in my creative work. I was very surprised to reflect on how much praise I have actually gotten over the years.

As a part of a commitment to myself after reading the first few chapters of the  book, I have decided to start documenting some more of my outdoor adventures.

Here is a simple take from a 50km ride after work yesterday.

Tales From The Road

Today is Thursday, May 23rd. I got out of work about 3:00. So, I decided to jump on my Merida bicycle and head out for a ride. Finally feeling normal again after our hike to Beidawu over a week ago, it was good to feel strong enough for some exercise.

The clouds were pretty thick, as they always are in Taiwan during the month of May. It had to have rained at least twenty days so far this month. This means that by the time a typhoon or two rolls into Taiwan this summer, the waterfalls should be absolutely raging.

As I left my house, The Chocolate Factory, I had an urge to go to in the most beautiful direction, East. This is always the same  in Western Taiwan. In almost every city, you can always figure out which way is East by looking for the most beautiful mountain.

For some reason, I went north when I got to the main road. This meant a lot of ugly things. I looked at the factories on my left side, and luckily smelled the bread over the pollution. But, by the second light, I turned around when I got tired of waiting 90 seconds per light .

I was heading east toward the mountain. I meant to check the name for the mountain before I wrote this. However, I have gotten used to not knowing the name of the majority of my surroundings. In the beginning of my time in Taiwan, I used to ask the locals questions like, "What mountain is that?"

Maybe, I just always asked the wrong people. But, I stopped asking questions like that after I got a bunch of blank stares. It's a tough thing when you're interacting with people from other countries. You want to give them the best impression while still being real. Because without a doubt, if you don't give them a good impression, you risk someone mentioning you in a blog some day , like I am doing right now. But, it is generally admitted among Taiwanese that they seldom know much about the geography of their country. Apparently, in the days of Martial Law, the government wouldn't allow much more information into their textbooks than Taipei is a big city, that everyone should stay near.

The path eventually cleared from factories, scooters, and way too many cars around 5:30. It certainly wasn't going to be a day for a great sunset due to the clouds. I kept meandering up the road and eventually drifted into a place called Zhushan. I looked at some more factories and actually headed west a bit.

In one of the rare stretches of road in Western Taiwan,the West actually had a nice little mountain to stroll past.

I finally got off the bike to take my first picture of the day when I noticed a couple of farmers working their field. I felt a bit odd for a second as I was looking down at them. I started to think about their life being unfair since people are always looking down on them. Their teachers when they were little surely looked down on them if they didn't get the grades their classmates got. The only people I could think of that probably don't look down on them are their grandchildren.  I swore I would go home and write a piece on Facebook about why we look down on the most important people in the world. What would we do if they refused to farm? Would we turn to eating Tofu and soy beans three meals a day.

Then, I remembered something that bothered me about farmers. I  have been living in tiny farming villages for the last four years in Taiwan. If I were to be completely honest with you, they drive me crazy  when I have to deal with them. There are 7-11's and Family Marts I refuse to go to. The screech of the workers'  voices, the beetle nut on the sidewalks and in their customer's teeth, the workers seeming bothered by your presence. All the stuff that drives me absolutely crazy at times about living in the same community as the farmers.  I realized I probably couldn't write something very sincere if it wasn't something I deeply believed in.

The peddles kept going in circles via the demands of my feet until I saw a nice set of rice paddies. Nothing but me, the open road, the chatter of the frogs, the view of the mountains and the temples. And, then suddenly two high school girls on an electronic scooter trucked past me. I could see their mouths were both full of shiny braces. In this area, they are fortunate  to get that kind of dental care. The blue in their skirts and the white on their jackets, I remember as well.

By seven o'clock,  I was back at the Chocolate Factory while sitting in the Lotus position. I put a 90 minute Vipasana Meditation Youtube videoon, with the intentions of meditating for 90 minutes. I lasted only five minutes until I grabbed Hemmingway's A Farewell to Arms, and read the last fifty pages. When I yelled at my co-teacher today for the third time before 10:00, I wished I would have meditated last night.

What's Next For Me?

 I don't have any comedy shows this weekend even though I wish I did. But, I am working on what I hope is a funny blog. I was blown away when a legit article in the newspaper covered the price of vegetables going up this year during the rainy season. Is that really the most important thing going on here?

So, I chose to blow it out of proportion for my fictional newspaper I call Bullshit News, and talk about a guy who seems to be wasting the prime years of his life writing about the price of Cabbage.

I also plan on being a guest host on a podcast about meditation this weekend with my hiking and writing buddy, Stephen Morin.

And for the Summer...

 I'm foaming at the mouth waiting for summer. As of now,  the first week of summer vacation is up in there. We are waiting to find out if we have to do a summer camp or not. But, I know I am heading to Korea on July 7th, and I already have a stand-up gig booked for my first night in Seoul. Then, I will go on to do a 10 day silent meditation retreat in Korea. After the retreat, I plan on riding from Seoul to Busan. It's about a 600 km ride.

After Korea,  I will hop a plane to Vietnam, with no set plans before August 6th. I need to be in Thailand by August 6th to start on a Permaculture and Natural Building Course.

This is something I was supposed to do in Nepal back in 2017.

I chose to do it especially because I teach in the rural areas in Taiwan. And, I also have a lot of flexibility to teach what and how I want.

So I highly believe in making the kids do something active and just talk about what they're doing during English class. I haven't stayed indoors for an entire class in over three months .

 One of my hopes is that the course will give me the skills to do some more   outdoor projects during the next school year.

I also have always secretly wanted to marry a Filipina, and live completely off the grid on one of their islands.