Lifestyle: “Believe that it is yours now in spirit”

This is the fourth of six essays I decided to write as a result of the six lifestyle decisions I made (and attempted to adhere to) out in British Columbia. Writing is with me now in spirit. Some days it is my break, that little American opportunity to move up and take something from the precipice of unknown reaction, qualification and ability and move forward to create something – yet other mornings I feel like there is much work to be done to drive site traffic, to meet people in person to direct them here, to improve layout, web hosting, and many things that aren’t up to snuff with my vision for this experiment.

… an experiment … as the “Accidental Creative” manifesto goes, originality is derived from each of us as individuals; our backgrounds interact with the circumstances of our environment and form meaning with our mindset.

Sounds like the Midwest perspective to me. Traveling, so much longitude, East and West to be an ambassador for the lakes and streams. Lifestyle, with latitude, a manifestation of the lake effect, up North. Muse, because our location is bigger than our occupation – but that’s a personal philosophy. Fiction, or not so much, to toy with past reality and write for multiple audiences. All giving direction to move forward.

But now that I have it, we need to have it … to engage authentically in a healthy way that the world actually changes. As we discover our unique voices, we form a reality; Todd Henry calls it artistry to be part of deriving meaning out of our existence in this method. The world is going to change around us because it of.

And that message is uplifting. “You must find your unique voice if you want to thrive.”

So the past three months or so – travel, trains and a series of posts on life in motion and a lot of movement in British Columbia has been my source of unique environment. In the background, the core of one Midwest perspective – mine, though with some assistance -- were notes to share the things I noticed to understand and explain what was “now.”

But – though it is a catchy domain name (at least I think so) -- to consider it an entirety, or a monolith of perspective would be foolish. It is not the difference of perspective that binds people together but the communality of the way people view their lifestyle that intrigues me. There must be more “authentic” engagement to get at what I really want.