TravelStream™ news feed for member vcfighters on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/vcfighters en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 06 Aug 2008 09:35:23 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vcfighters/1/1211254200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vcfighters/1/1211254200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vcfighters/1/1211254200/tpod.html Wed, 06 Aug 2008 09:35:23 -0400 Buddhas on the Road - Capturing the Spirit of the SGI-USA

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Goshen, Indiana, United States

Day 2

Fjaere Harder is a friend I made through the International Rescue Committee. Two summers ago we were both doing internships with the IRC and became good friends. Always share great dialogues about life, family, relationships, and all the rest. She's quite a talent and I had a chance to see her sing with her International Choir in New York during her spring break. This time I'd have a chance to see her act and sing in a musical entitled Quilters.

I woke up to breakfast by Fjaere! How fortunate am I? She made eggs with a bit of Old Bay in it. I guess that's the bit of Baltimore that she took with her. I soon met mom and grandma, I was set to watch the performance with them. First, the four of us got lunch at Olympia Candy Shop, a neat little small town diner. Then we helped Fjaere get packed and ready to leave. Good thing I had a 5 door, I helped take her desk back to its rightful owner (after dumping what I had in the car out). It gave me a chance to get to know her mother and grandmother. Sweet people. Her mother offered me a place to stay if I made my way back through Mountain Lake, MN. We took a day trip to Kohl's where I secretly got her a thank you card (she got me one). Her mother drove us out there and wanted to introduce me to some fun music. Mountain Lake Gospel Singers. Weren't quite easy on the ears (they agreed) but it gave me a taste of their home.

Later that day after a nap, Fjaere had took off to get ready and Erin and Jenna (the roomies) invited me to go eat with them at Los Primos, a Mexican food place around the corner before going to Fjaere's performance. I agreed not thinking that Mrs. Harder was supposed to pick me up at a certain time to go together to the theater. What I feared happened, I went to the Mexican place a short while and got back a bit too late. There was a note, "We'll look for you at the Umble Theater." I didn't know where that was, so I drove back to the Mexican place to ask Erin and Jenna. They directed me in the right way and I was able to catch Kathy and Ella (mom and grandma).

The musical was great. It was a bit long (2.5 hrs) but I enjoyed it. Ups and downs, drama and comedy. It told several short histories of enduring women in the days of Conestoga wagons and westward expansion in the United States. Here's a bit from the directors' notes by Dr. Debra Brubaker:
"One thing I've wished for during this musical was more time. Time to explore the lives of these real women whose stories we're telling. Time to have discussions about what it means to be a woman in society, how society views women's arts, how beautiful art often grows out of great pain. To be able to get a tiny glimpse of the hardships that women and their families experienced in the early frontier is a gift. To realize that these same women created quilts of great beauty in the midst of these hardships is a testament to the two sides of life's coin."

After watching this performance, I felt in accord with these words. It left me with a desire to embrace those hardships with my life so that I could make them apart of me. And Fjaere was absolutely amazing. Singing, acting, she can really do it all and it's a pleasure watching her perform. I'm so fortunate I got the chance.

I also feel fortunate that I got the chance to hang out with her close friends and roomies afterwards. We went to the local bar and I tried a new beer, Old Style. Dirt cheap, just right for the travelling vagabond. We talked sports, school, travelling, and even magic tricks. I'll never forget my time in Goshen.

I know that I have 10 hours of driving ahead of me tomorrow so I better be well rested. So far so good.

Miles driven today: 8.2mi

Daniel
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Denver, Colorado, United States

Day 21

More driving. But first I had the unique opportunity to do an audio interview with Shannon before I left. I thought it might be good to catch her before I left and get some ideas from someone I was starting become friends with. She helped me a lot with participating in the interview/dialogue. Thanks Shannon!

I packed up my stuff and then headed out with 7 hours+ of driving ahead of me. I got started and remembered that I'd be driving through west Kansas where there isn't much to be excited about. I think it's the first time that I drove the same highway (on the same side) for that long of a stretch, I remembered the scenes. One interesting episode of the drive was my first real notable event of road rage.

I wanted to stay slow but the driving is really tough. It just lends itself to the heavy foot syndrome where you just want to leave the repetitiveness as quick as you can. I was driving relatively fast. I was in the left lane and there was a guy in a small Suzuki SUV ahead of me in the right lane. He got into my lane and braked in front of me. My first thought, "Something is wrong with his car..." I switched to the right lane and drove by him as I looked at him wondering what that was for. Then there was a truck in front of me so I sped up to get in front of the SUV to pass the truck. I changed back to the left lane and kept going. At this point, I knew something was up. The guy in the SUV sped up to creep closer to me. I just kept driving. Then once the truck was out of the picture, he slammed on the gas to pass me. Then I thought, "Is he trying to race me?" I may have naturally sped up but not to catch him. After a little while, he seemed to slow down and I drove passed him once again. After about 5 minutes or so, I was driving side by side with another car and then this is when the guy in the SUV makes his move. He drove into the thin shoulder opposite from me, passes me, flipped the bird outside his window, and then promptly took the next exit off the highway. It was interesting, I was listening to this Japanese song as I was a tad disgusted by the gesture in which I wasn't even sure what upset him. There's a line in the song that talke about being a "positive warrior". I thought about what that meant and assumed responsibility of the multitude of ways I could react in that situation. I decided to let it go.

After a long drive I made it to Denver and got to Nina's parents place. Nina was my boss and good friend back at the Baltimore City Community College and I met her parents at her wedding. I never thought that I'd be staying with her parents but hey, that's what adventures are for!

I made it to a neighborhood party that they were attending and ate. I ate. I met the nice people of that certain block in Denver and all seemed to be very nice. I don't think I have a single negative impression of the city yet. It's beautiful. Kate and Jim helped me settle into their basement for the night after the party. So this is where Nina grew up... Pretty sweet place. I get ready for some hiking and rafting tomorrow!

Miles driven today: 538.4mi

Daniel
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Seattle, Washington, United States

Day 29

Four weeks has passed now. The day was pretty. Temperature relatively high. My camera was still broken. It wouldn't fix itself over night like I had wished. The decision was hard, but it was easy. I have to get another one. When I get home, the old one might be fixable.

I went to the Seattle Culture Center to scope it out and meet some people there but when I got there, I found out that they weren't open today. Because it's Father's Day? I dunno.

We decided to go to the beach that day after I got back. "The beach?" I said. It was barely 70 degrees? I thought, no one'll be out there. Channing made sure that I knew we were in Seattle and that they didn't wait until it got hot, because it rarely does. People would be there, he said. Okay...

First, we invited dad over. I got to meet him and he immediately started asking me about what I was doing a crazy road trip. He's a bit of a traveller himself so he had many questions for me. Only problem was, I was watching this movie on TV and it was hard to do both. I gave up on the movie. He asked me a lot of questions on Buddhism since he had very little experience with it. I hope I shed some light.

First, the matter of a camera. Best Buy. I got there and my brother, Justin, assist me in research as I looked around. You're a terrible shopper when you're in a store and you know you have to leave with something that you know is expensive. In the end I made the choice on a Panasonic Lumix FS3. I caught up with the others at the same bar and grill that we went to yesterday, Sloop's, to get some food. The beach is close. We drove down and I was stunned. Not that hot, tons of people. Maybe more than I've ever seen at a beach in Maryland. Again, I just bought my new camera so no batteries were charged. Meaning, no camera for me at the beach. The marina right by reminded me of back home. So we stayed for a little while, I walked around, and we headed back home.

There was a little matter of a video interview that I needed to settle before I left this fun place. That was my job being here. I got in touch with my contact Angel and she was good to meet up. I drove over to her place, had a great chance to get to know who she was and her story then we got down to interviewing. After some lighting jury rigging we were underway. Angel was great because she was so open and shared so much about her experience practicing within the last 12 years. After the video stuff we continued to talk and share for quite a while. I could tell that she was a very strong and encouraging woman from our dialogue. It was my fortune to come into contact with this woman. Argentine poet, Almafuerta said, "To the weak, difficulty is a closed door. To the strong, however, it is a door waiting to be opened." President Ikeda followed that up and shared, "Everything is determined by our attitude, by our resolve. Our heart is what matters most."

Miles driven today: 77.3mi

Daniel
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Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

Day 51

So send off breakfast! Even more of a surprise, Erica wanted to join us! I picked her up and the three of us, Diana, Erica and I ate the most amazing breakfast made by Diana. Erica shared some of her determinations as a newly appointed leader and how she wants to support the young women in the area. I know that she'll develop into a great support system for not only the young women here but all the youth. That's the impression I got from all the youth here. A sense of hope.

I said my goodbye and thank yous to Diana and then I took Erica to work since I drove her. She works at this restaurant in town, so she showed me where it was, I dropped her off and I parted with her. I'm glad she was able to eat with us in the morning. The open road was again mine, for about 10 hours. I had plans to make a stop in Lake Tahoe to take some pictures. Initially I had planned on being there the weekend and doing some camping. But after Diana invited me to stay the weekend, those plans changed. So Lake Tahoe became a pit stop. I stopped there after a 2 hour or so drive and checked out the beach. I was surprised to find that South Lake Tahoe was a decent sized city with lodges, restaurants, and recreational shops and stores. I stayed only for a bit to sit around and take pictures, pick up a rock and then I was on my way. I kept driving with Salt Lake City as my destination. The drive was long.

Through Nevada, there was very little of interest. I drove through the parts where there aren't cities and it's mostly desert. Once I hit Utah, there was some green but the lakes are nice. Mandy was showing me that in certain parts I was surrounded by water but in these places there wasn't any blue. Instead I saw white around me. It was actually salt. I guess water had dried up in certain places to leave salt behind in these white traces. And it covered some pretty big areas.

Salt Lake City was beautiful to drive through at night with its lights. After a short drive through the city, I found myself at Chelsea's, someone from couchsurfing.com. I learned that she was on the track team at University of Utah when I contacted her and that was pretty exciting to me so I decided to ask her if she could host me. It worked out. She lives in a nice little neighborhood house divided into a few units. I got there and met her friend Ryan who was over hanging out. Since I got there late, they were just looking to wind down. We popped in an old movie (Batman, the original) and laughed and talked about the when we first first watched it for about an hour. Then Chelsea's friend Adrian came over and we decided to light up some sparkler fireworks that Chelsea had got after the July 4th for really cheap at the dollar store. Good buys. It took us only a few minutes to waste them outside for a momentary pleasure around midnight. Her friends went home eventually and we all called it a night. Glad I had some brief fun and something to call memories in Salt Lake City before I left!

Miles driven today: 696.5mi

Daniel
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Sacramento, California, United States

Day 49

Again, its great to be so warmly accepted where ever I go. But Sacramento and Diana's home felt a little bit different. I felt like belonged her for some strange reason. Like a second home, like I lived another life as a Sacramento-ite. Diana (and the others followed) started calling me DK because I know her through the other Daniel. In some ways this city reminds me of Baltimore. If you're not from here, you don't know anything about the city. Kinda like Baltimore.

Diana wanted get some breakfast in the morning so we walked around the corner to the Country Kitchen Breakfast and Lunch to get some morning grub. Diana was meeting with another SGI meeting to talk about plans with some activities back at the house so I said I would go check out some stuff to do in Sacramento. What is there to do by the way? Back at the house, I got to meet Jimmy, who was Daniel Perez' sponsor in Sacramento. He talked to me a little about his experience growing up in Okinawa, learning Japanese only when he got to college. He's worked all over the world so he had a lot to share with me.

After talking to him, I walked and visited the California Museum where famous and important Californians are honored on walls with tributes to them. Some of these people include Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson, John Wayne, Steve Jobs, and Tiger Woods. The most interesting thing there was the exhibit on the Japanese internment camps of the 1940s. I don't know much about the reality of the history during that time period but reading and checking out this exhibit definitely put these events in some kind of perspective.

I got back and Diana had to get some teriyaki sauce for the dinner she was preparing. We only found soy sauce at the Asian market across the street and the woman at the counter gave her some tips as to how she could make it herself. Thanks...

Diana was gracious enough to set up a get together for me with some other young members in the local area. In the afternoon Alex and Jana came over to sit, eat and chat with with me. We had Diana's experiemental teriyaki sauce with the food and it turned ot pretty good. These guys were so genuine and real youth with a passionate attitude towards their practice. It was clear to me that they've challenged their lives to get to the point that they're at now. Alex told me about his recent trip to the FNCC for the Young Men's Division Conference. It was his first time there and he really enjoyed the experience. It gave him the inspiration needed to take his practice seriously and aroused his desire to take care of the young guys in Sacramento. Jana and Alex now work together to help support the Youth Division in Sacramento and they're a great team with a growing group of support. Jana had to leave for work but I got to chant with Diana and Alex for half an hour before he left. I asked Alex and Jana if they were doing anything tonight and they said they'd let me know because they had some plans to go out.

Later on that evening, Alex picked me up to go to Bistro in the downtown strip where there are some things to do. THe criticism I keep hearing from people from here is that there's very little to do and nothing really special about this place. I dunno but I was feeling some special energy from this place called Sac-town. We got a chance to sit down and talk between the two of us about our lives and where we're headed. We also discussed the future of the SGI with each other and what we want it to look like. It's great to have a vision and that actualize it through sincere effort. SGI President Daisaku Ikeda urges us to ask ourselves, "'What kinds of causes am I making right now?" "What actions am I taking?' The answers to these questions are what will determine our future."

After getting in touch with Jana a little bit later, we made our way to Whiskey Wild and met up with her, her friend Mika and Mark. We stayed there only a bit because it was crowded and loud. So down to R and 15th we went to a place called R15. There's pool tables and an outside area for tables and things. Erica was there hanging out with her friend Maria. Another SGI friend Reggie came along with a friend and soo we had a crowd hanging out. Jana, Alex and I returned to our conversation about the youth in Sacramento and how they're really going to grow in the near future in their practice and in taking responsibility within the SGI and their communities. They really are pioneers of the youth and it's cool that we can discuss that even at a bar over drinks with friends! Throughout the night, I gained a lot of respect for them in particular but also the other practicing youth in the area with their spirit. Alex drove us back home and I was to see them tomorrow at the Sacramento Community Center at the World Peace Prayer event (Diana convinced me to stay the weekend for that).

Miles driven today: 0.0mi

Daniel
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Sacramento, California, United States

Day 50

I decided last night that I would go to both World Peace Prayer (or Kosen-rufu Gongyo) services. The youth that I met from last night would be at both and I felt the more time I could hang with them, the better. There was one at 10am and another at 1pm. Diana had already told me that she would only be going to the 1pm. She doesn't drive so I volunteered to take her to the Sacramento Community Center at one. It's like a 10 minute drive. But I was also going to go the early one.

I got ready and left. I got to the Saramento Community Center. The room was pretty filled up and there is an overflow room to the left with windows, that's where I sat down. I knew that Alex was going to share some words about his experience at the FNCC so he asked me if I could help him out when he was going to ask everyone to cheer. He wanted to be a real Young Men's Division and cheer and fill the place with energy. Hell yeah! So I floated around finding the best place to do that from. I found a seat in the main hall, in the back and when Alex got up to share his experience, I let it all out! The cheers he shared, which he had all the people in the audience participate in, were from the conference.

After Alex, A guy named Mark shared his experience. He's in the army and he just got home from Iraq. He share about being in that environment, death so close and frequent, and how his Buddhist practice helped him through such a trying time in his life. Every chance that he gets, he's been sharing with people the practice of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo over in Iraq. His experience was truly genuine. He goes back for another 6 months or so on July 16th. Everyone's praying for his safety. At the end of the meeting, we watched a video from Japan of the May headquarters meeting in Japan. In it, there are arts performances and SGI President Daisaku Ikeda shares encouragement with members all over the world. It's great because he shares quotes, experiences from renowned individuals all over the world and throughout history: Hugo, Tolstoy along with a plethera of individuals I haven't heard of.

After the service, Jana, Erica, Mika and Sabrina invited me to go eat with them at the mall before the 1pm service (I had to pick up Diana for it). We got some Mexican food and at the table, I did an audio interview with the 5 of us about what we see for the future in the Youth Division, especially in Sacramento. This place is a diamond in the rough for youth standing up.

I picked up Diana and we went to the second service. This time when they had the guests stand up, Alex threw me out there and made me introduce myself in front of the crowd of 150 people. Erica was appointed into a leadership position at the meeting and Diana and I cheered for her when they announced it. In the SGI when members are appointed leaders, it means that we've taken the responsibility to take care of the members in our local areas by staying in communication with them, supporting them in their struggles, helping run our activities and chanting for them. When we left, we picked up some food for the night at the Smart and Final (thought it was a funny name for a bulk grocery store).

Later that day at Diana's, her friend Monty came over to drop off some flowers that his partner's been wanting to give to Diana. The three of us talk about what Sacramento's like, and him being direct and native, I got a sense of what it's like to grow up here. I don't think I've heard a positive thing about this city from anyone that I've met. Everyone says there's not much to do, people are different, and ask themselves why there are here. Monty echoed the same thoughts except in a direct way.

I came here to get a video interview done and it had escaped me until today. I finally got the video interview finished with Diana and we covered talking about discussion meetings and youth. She has such great insight and views on the matter. What makes the difference is that she's firm with her beliefs and she WILL share them with you. And if you don't open up as an individual to her, she WILL open you up. I can see why the youth here have such a special energy here. She trained them.

Well I was going to leave in the evening, but Diana insisted on making me breakfast in the morn so I decided to stay the night. She pulled out some videos of Daniel Perez at a World Peace Prayer, doing a skit made by the Youth Division. Diana played Rifiki, a Monkey-sattva that was on a quest to help all the animals in the jungle and Daniel was the narrator. After that I showed her the movie that the Baltimore Youth Division made years ago that I had brought on my computer. That's how history is born, through the value that manifests in the present and future.

Miles driven today: 26.9mi

Daniel
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San Jose, California, United States

Day 43

Today's focus is youth. There's a zone youth meeting in San Francisco this time at 9am. I'm glad my car starts. It should be an hour drive.

I drive up there expecting to see a lot of new faces but at the same time see some that I've seen before. The youth were upstairs chanting when I got to San Fran. The Culture Center is beautiful there, it's three stories, big and welcoming. Since this is a zone level activity, there were many youth from all over in attendance. A youth band played a number for us to start the meeting off and then several people shared their recent experience going to the Florida Nature and Culture Center for different conferences. The zone youth leaders shared the latest with the local campaign for activities and visiting members as well as sharing the practice with people at the end of the meeting. I visited the bookstore and ate some food in the cafeteria. I took the chance to write President Ikeda and fax it to Japan from the Culture Center.

Later that day after getting back to San Jose, Tanya was meeting a friend at Phu Lam, a Chinese restaurant close to home. The woman we met, Terri was a good family friend and also recently became an SGI-USA member. Peter, Tanya's son, is coming into town Tuesday night and Terri and Peter are pretty close. We ended up talking about my relationship with Peter. We were "cribmates" according to Tanya.

When Tanya and I got home, we catch part 2 of our movie rentals. We watched Peaceful Warrior and it was every bit as good as Carrie shared. A very Buddhist movie and I would recommend it to anyone. The movie conveyed the message that the only thing of importance is this moment. And there's never nothing going on. I'm definitely learning that where ever I go on this trip.

Miles driven today: 115.0mi

Daniel
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Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Statistics of 2008 Summer Roadtrip: Buddhas on the Road

Number of days on the trip: 61

Number of nights slept in the car: 3

Starting mileage: 88,105
Ending mileage: 101,047

Total road trip miles: 12,942

Oil changes at:
95,683
100,465

Money spent on gas: about $1,950.00

Money spent on a place to stay: about $0.00

Number of states traveled in: 28

Number of states official highway map was collected: 18

Life experience accrued on the road: Priceless
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Plano, Texas, United States

Day 18

Okay, gotta get back on task. I have a project to do and I'm only here until tomorrow morning. Two nights ago after meeting Patrick, I thought he would be a great candidate to do a video interview with. So I went with it.

I gave him a call and he was able to swing a last minute video interview. Casey was actually having a young men's study meeting that night at the house and Patrick said he'd be coming. Leave it to me to do everything last minute. So I spent most of the day securing plans for the next couple of days.

I got in touch with AJ who is a random in Wichita, KS. And when I say random, I tried out the site couchsurfing.com to connect with someone along the way to Denver. I thought it might be best to break up the drive and Wichita would be smack dab in the middle. And so I looked up people that have a couch available for people passing by. AJ was the guy I came across in the end. We'll see how it goes. There's a first time for everything. It should be quite an experience. And actually, I'm thinking about getting some audio interviews this way.

I ended up catching up on my sleep for most of the day but before the meeting I swung by Wal-mart to get myself a tripod. I used Taylor's jacked up tripod in LA and that was enough. I gave it back to him and I thought I would have to spend a good amount on it but I called this guy on Craigslist-Dallas about one and he told me that I could get one at Wal-mart for about 30 dollars. Perfect, so I made that happen before the meeting so I could do the video interview with Patrick without much of a hitch.

The study meeting went really well. A good amount of college-age students came over. We studied 3 essays written by SGI President Daisaku Ikeda on some historical events in the Soka Gakkai in Japan, regarding Kansai, Chubu, and Kamata. Shigeki, a student at the University of North Texas came with a friend who was an SGI member. He came to learn a little bit about what kind of activities the SGI holds. It was a lively dialogue as we talked about how we should challenge our lives in all aspects when faced with difficulty. That's the spirit of the Soka Gakkai. That's the spirit I intend to maintain on this trip and in my life. It's meetings like this that can re-encourage me to do so.

I was able to do the video interview with Patrick after some cookies and water brought to us by momma Laurel after the meeting. Before Casey and I called it a night, we caught the Se7en on TV. Tomorrow is a big day. Driving to Wichita and giving up for Texanhood. For now. But I'm taking my hat. At least I know how Chuck Norris feels.

Miles driven today: 3.4mi

Daniel
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Ellicott City, Maryland, United States

Day 61

This would end up being the last day of my trip as I planned on leaving today to get back home for good. I got up this morning at Anna's place and we had morning coffee and conversation. This morning's topic was education. Anna had started a small non-profit with her good friend Rachel (also Joanie's good friend) called LinkEducation. This organization was formed so that schools, educators, educational agencies, and the like could be united under a forum of communication and networking. Anna started this project not too long ago with Rachel and this have taken off. I was so impressed with their amazing ambition to create a network like this so that those who previously didn't have access to information or contact with educational organizations now have it. The noble vision of building those bridges for people, especially youth, to take advantage of opportunities in society was extremely encouraging to me. We talked a lot about the issues our American society has with education and planning for it. I threw into the mix the study of languages and we got to some core issues that plague our system for young students. It's nice to think that women like Anna are starting to build a vision and take action to transform society. She is transforming society.

Over coffee, she told me that she was scheduled to be making an acceptance speech for this grant that they were awarded. She had to make a presentation about "Rediscovering Your Heart". While we laughed at her circumstance, I thought it was great that she was getting somewhere with the kind of work she really cares about. I let her know that any kind of help I could be to her non-profit, I'm willing to put the effort in to help. Anna was meeting a friend for brunch so it was time for me to go. To go home. I said my goodbyes to Anna by the Brooklyn subway station. But I had to get my car in Queens at Uzuri's place. With my stuff on me. It's quite a ride to where Uzuri's house was in Queens but at least I only had to take one train. Once I got off the train, it was quite a walk from there... one last challenging situation for me to get through to mark my trip. I schleped this gear for almost 20 minutes to Uzuri's house to claim my car. It was tough but I'm glad I had to do it. It almost seemed fitting that that was one of my final challenging tasks to get back home. I drive.

This drive is a familiar one, once I got passed Brookyln. I took Staten Island to New Jersey and back on the Jersey Turnpike back home, but not before getting stuck in some traffic in Brooklyn. Once passed, the familiar scenery and drive put me at ease throughout. Once I entered Maryland, I stopped and got myself the last state highway map that I'd claim on this trip. The welcome center was also handing out these mini Orioles schedules. I took one for good measure to get the taste of the Chicago Cubs out of my system. I arrived back at my house after the 4 hour drive, and after 2 months of being away from it. My brother, Eric, stood outside. Everything was back to normal. He gave me a head nod as he continued to talk on the cell phone outside. I was greeted by those inside with a simple, "Oh good, you're home." I thought, neat. Because I didn't expect a huge homecoming from my family, I knew that the meaning of this life-changing trip I just took would be in how I'd live my life from this point forward. In that sense, the real adventure is just beginning...

"'What kind of future do I envision for myself? What kind of self am I trying to develop? What do I want to accomplish in my life?' The thing is to paint this vision of your life in your heart as specifically as possible. That 'painting' itself becomes the design of your future. The power of the heart enables us to actually create with our lives a wonderful masterpiece in accordance with that design."
- Daisaku Ikeda

I had such a fortunate opportunity to come across, become friends with, and share dialogue with many new faces across the country. I won't ever forget the people I met on this trip, the places I went, nor the things I learned for they'll stick with me and truly are a part of life history now. I once heard that an adventure means to challenge creating a path into new worlds. When we discover these new worlds in our lives and make them a part of ourselves, we can't help but notice that the realm of our lives are expanding as we experience.

"One thing is certain: That is that the power of belief, the power of thought, will move reality in the direction of what we believe and conceive of it. If you really believe you can do something, you can. That is a fact."
- Daisaku Ikeda

Miles driven today: 220.0mi

Daniel
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