Joshua Arnold

I’m at the airport a little early and I had time to trim my fingernails this morning. I’ve got a new haircut, my shirt is still unwrinkled and I’ve got some great tasting chapstick in my pocket. If that’s not enough, Jack’s Mannequin is soothing my ears as I’m getting ready for one heck of a week.

It’s amazing how our perspectives, no matter how simple they may be, can complicate our lives. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to strap on a backpack and embark on an adventure with my guitar in my hand. Sure things can get stressful (it’s in their nature, right?) but do we really need to dwell on issues and make them our lives?

I think December dug its roots deep this year. It really is the turning point for all of us, you know? We come together and are inevitably forced to reflect on our lives.

What have we done?

Where have we been?

Who are we?

Where are going?

Who do we want to be?

The last question is the one that gets us the most. More often than not, I’m driven by my passions and I find myself being the person that I “should be” in order to pursue these passions. What I’m finding lately is that this isn’t necessarily the person that I am. I wish I could have these two personas meet. I wonder what they would think of one another.

If you could describe me in one word, what would it be? I think I would choose ambitious. Or maybe it would passionate. Ambitious seems to cover more ground because my ambition is driven by my passion. Arguably, I’m ambitious to a fault.

I think that if you compared my current self to who I was a year ago the most notable difference would be that I’ve finally discovered balance. I’m learning to spread my ambition to span more than just my career and finding other things to occupy my time. I love my work and that’s typically why I’ve chosen to make it my number one priority but there’s just more to life than that, you know?

I’m making time to do more than work this year. In fact, here is my 2009 to-do list (in no particular order):

1. Take pictures of Christmas lights

2. Photography Outings

3. Camping

4. Boating/Wakeboarding

5. Read

6. Write More

7. Get better at Guitar

8. Find a coffee shop and become a regular

9. Outdoor Activities (hiking)

10. Explore the shops on South Congress

11. Shooting

12. Go to a Longhorns game

13. Play more board games

14. Get more involved in church

15. Start a young-professional’s bible study and fellowship

16. Go ice skating

17. Go to concerts

18. Perform at an open mic night

19. Visit museums

20. Visit art galleries

21. Visit more poetry slams

22. Visit Boston

23. Tailgate a UT game

24. Paintball

It’s a work in progress (especially since I tend to add a new item every day). Some of them are very short-term (take pictures of Christmas lights, for example) but it’s really just a list of things that I want to explore outside of the 9-5.

What’s on your list?

Technorati Tags: 2009 adventures, airports, reflections, traveling

We stared in awe as she approached us. We rested on our knees and our eyes became intimately familiar with the concrete beneath us. As she continued past us, we sat in silence until I finally rose to my feet. We continued in silence for quite some time as we began to consider the depth of the experience.

It’s a box labeled “world travel” but I know that it’s more than that. It’s a collection of everything that has made me who I am.

There aren’t enough photos to communicate these experiences and it’s not something that I can explain to you over a cup of coffee. I’m afraid it would take a lifetime to scratch the surface of what happened to all of us four years ago.

It’s become a part of me and I often take advantage of it. On the other hand, the joy of reminiscing over it all when I do remember might just make up for that. More often than not, it’s looking over clouds at 40,000 feet and remembering what it was like to look over the ocean and wondering what was in store at our next stop.

It makes you question everything about yourself and it removes you from the selfishness that we all seem to have instilled in us since birth. If there’s one thing I wish I would always remember, it would be that sensation of selflessness that we all experienced.

I’m beginning to wonder what it will be like to see everyone this holiday season. I’m certainly not the same person that everyone is expecting to reconnect with. I wonder how many of my expectations will be just as misplaced. I suppose that’s part of the excitement though, isn’t it?

Technorati Tags: december, reflections, self-growth, traveling, winter

We’re in Montgomery, Alabama and getting ready to hit that final stretch to Austin. Last night was pretty rough, but mostly because we were running off of pretty much no sleep. We got some good rest today so we should be fine until tomorrow morning.

Austin here we come .
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Technorati Tags: 2008 adventures, traveling

It was never something that I could quite put into words. I desperately grasped for words that were suitable placeholders for the thoughts and emotions. I may never have come close to capturing it, but the search inspired a wide variety of ramblings. Perhaps I was too naive to see it; maybe it was my immaturity that prevented me from understanding it. Whatever the case may be, the curtains have been drawn this evening.

The better explanation may be that I knew what would happen if I truly understood that I was never really chasing anything. To be more specific, I was chasing a void that I had warped and twisted into my blinding definition of reality, of existence, and the universe itself.

If you imagined it as a string, it would be the one that thing linked me to so many of the people that I know. It would be my one link to forgotten memories and sensations that I quickly outgrew so many years ago. No, it was much more than this. It was more than a link to this “missed childhood” that I tend to speak so negatively of, but have never truly regretted for an instant. It was my escape from the pressures of adulthood that I, despite my maturity, was never truly ready for.

The conclusion from a glance into my recent reflection: I’m reforming my reason for writing. I once considered myself as observant; I had lost that until very recently.

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It really feels like everything is falling into place for one big moment. For those of you who don’t already know, I am moving to Austin this week. There are many reasons for this departure and every one of them feels right. It’s not impulsive and I’m not running away.I’ll be updating on a regular basis again and I’m sure they’ll be another cover coming soon. I have a burning desire to make one of Limousine…maybe that’ll surface soon.

Technorati Tags: 2008 adventures, announcement, career, coffee, realizations, traveling

It’s an interesting thing to come face to face with reality. The ridiculous part about it is that you thought you were staring at it the entire time. Sometimes it’s like waking from a night of perfect sleep. Other times it’s like getting hit with a semi-truck. The situation at hand, sadly, is the latter. It’s the foundation of a suite of daydreams and the final touches on the worst nightmare you’ll have in years. Regardless of the circumstances, I believe every one of you has experienced exactly what I’m talking about. It’s the realization that your world is upside down and even though you think you saw it coming, you never knew how drastic it would be. We learn, we grow, and we adapt but it doesn’t take away from the profoundness of the moment.

It’s like I was looking in the buildings for my reflection. I was waiting for that moment where you see yourself in a whole new light and everything changes from your side. I was privileged enough to feel it from both ends this time around. I saw my reflection in the beauty of the skyline. There’s something about unplanned travel that gets me. It’s one thing to plan your getaway to some foreign land, but it can be equally as invigorating to have a day to pack before hitting the streets of NYC and finding yourself wandering Times Square.

It was the quite an experience and, even though it could have been better, it was exactly what I needed. City lights get me every time. Soon I’ll be staring at the lights of Tokyo again. Until then, however, I’m content with where I am.

Enjoy some pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/rnCodePoet/MyNewYorkAdventure

Technorati Tags: 2008 adventures, new york, random, self-learning, traveling