It is 5:48 AM on the 10th anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center in New York City. I am standing on the recollecting end of a security x-ray machine at LAX before a flight New York. Twenty feet behind me, a security member yells “PROBLEM!”. Instantly, all of the other TSA members freeze and repeat the cry. The entire corridor stops moving and everyone goes silent.
Living Life
A fan blows in the distance.
LAX is in a bizarre, dream-like state as the corridor sits completely silent. People look around nervously but avoid eye contact.
I stand patently participating in the silence. It has been a hell of a past month and the break feels nice.
I am now living in Los Angeles after being in South America for the last six months. My life list challenge is going at full speed. In the past four weeks, I visited the Panama Canal, climbed Mt. Rainer, attended Burning Man and moved to southern California. I am now on my way to see the Statue of Liberty, Niagara Falls and am signed up for motorcycle classes. This is the fastest paced lifestyle I have ever had and I am loving it. Whereas work-travel used to extinguish me, adventure travel is reigniting me. Everyday is an adventure and my momentum is stronger than ever.
One of my priorities while living in LA is to keep my expenses low. After leaving this city, I will be living in Barcelona for six months and I need to prepare for the impact the Euro is sure to have on my wallet. One of my cost saving techniques is to live month to month in various apartments while the owners go on vacation. This situation caused me to me meet Edwin, my current roommate.
Edwin is the brother of my landlord. He lives in the living room of my apartment. I am yet to see him with a shirt on and I can’t figure out which language he speaks. (I am leaning toward Portuguese.) We have literally not been able to communicate more than a smile. He spends long periods of time in the bathroom (awkward…) and I can hear him rustling in the bushes in the backyard almost every night around 5:00 am. Oh Edwin.
I mentioned my weird situation to my boss and he looked at me funny. He told me his first apartment in LA was shared with six roommates, half of which were addicted to heroin. The fact that my roommate lacks needle scars apparently makes him a dream come true. This is life in Los Angeles.
At first glance, my life may seem unstable.
Last week while participating in Burning Man, I lived in a tent in the middle of the desert. Next week I will be staying in $400 a night hotel rooms in New York City. Yesterday morning I woke up on a couch at a coworkers apartment. With groggy eyes, I stared at the bookcase in front of me. Between a book on GMAT prep and another one on web design, my eyes came to focus on the book I wrote. It was the first time I had seen my book in the wild. I don’t think my life is unstable, I think it is running on all cylinders.
I am back on the Paleo diet, starting Crossfit next week and making a committed effort to drink two liters of water during the work day. My numbers at work are (way) up, my expenses are (way) down and I am walking several miles each day. Things are good with my family and my friends are continuing to accelerate their crazy lives. I am working on locking down two more revenue streams and my business is continuing to make a profit. Things are moving fast but they are going in a positive direction. My life list journey continues at full speed.
Back at LAX, a security person in plain clothes yells “All Clear!” The other security team members repeat the directive. The fast pace of LAX instantly resumes and the white noise regains control. The unnatural momentary silence fades into the past and progress continues its hectic drum beat. After all, people have planes to catch.
If love and experiences are the currency of the heavens, I am trying my damnedest to be rich where it counts. Life is short. No artificial speed limits are going to keep me from living it to the fullest. I have a life to live.
