I’m currently a few hundred feet away from the ocean surrounded by trees that inhabit a number of interesting creatures…howler monkeys, the occasional toucan, iguanas, squirrels, and insects. One of these insects is called a ‘Chicharra’, commonly known in English as a Cicada (which you’ll hear below).

This place is alive. It is full of life, and sound.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/131364474″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

You’ve just listened to tens of thousands, if not even more, insects and creatures creating a symphony of sound. To me, it’s a gold mine of sound. A place that can enable thought to flow freely, and without limit or negative intrusion.

The sounds around me remind me of the setting on an alarm clock that lulls you to sleep, or a soundtrack a spa might have before you get a massage.

This place has me wondering…what is it about constant sound that could make us feel comfortable, focused, and relaxed?

Often times when we think of constant sounds, it is intrusive. One could imagine a jack hammer, or the sounds of a freeway. There seems to be a certain breaking point where mechanical white noise is just aggravating.

So what happens when it’s ‘natural’ white noise? When there is a constant mixture of sounds that makes you feel good?

I think it lies in the complexity of the constant sound. The sounds are very persistent, but come in different forms and variations.

These slight variations create opportunity for our mind to feel at ease. It makes the sound less piercing and more soothing, much like a massage for your brain.

For me, these sounds provide an additional ‘pillow’ of omnipresent frequencies and melodies that enables me both rest my head, and think freely and clearly.

Where do you go for sounds that enable you to create, think, and learn?

What if all the color we see was just our imagination?

What colors would you focus on?

What colors would you create?

In a place like Costa Rica, it is easy to be stimulated just by looking around.

The vibrant colors captivate you and provide a buffet of all-you-can-see.

Removing the color of our experience provides a look into the depth of our color full imagination. 

I drove a total of 4,000 walking steps to pick up my pizza and come back home, which is equivalent of  about half of the way into the stratosphere near the poles on Earth.

The time it would take me to walk is equivalent to listening to your favorite entire 10 song album.

I rode on the equivalent of 7 large male silverback gorillas to travel to my destination.

for the price of a gumball and a half.

For the same price I paid for my pizza, I could buy 15 pounds of rice in bulk.

The stratosphere at the poles it starts at about 8 km (30,000 ft; 5 mi) altitude
Volvo wagon weight = 3082 lbs.

Large Male Silverback Gorillas = 450+ pounds
$3.50/gallon, 20 miles to the gallon
$0.17 cents/mile

Trip = 2 miles = $0.34 = gum ball & a half
1 miles = 2,000 steps or 20 minutes
$8.63 for medium pizza

twitter takeaway by greg albritton

Inspired by a talk with Austin Kleon and Chris Jarvis at Chris Jarvis Live, I decided to review the last 24hrs of tweets by austinkleon and send a message.

I’ve been thinking a lot about writing a book.

Buy products and use services that give more than materials.

I’m writing this post using Dragon Dictate voice to text software. My arms are irritated from too much use on the computer, guitar, piano…so I decided to invest in a speech to text program. It really is amazing to be able to speak and see the text appear before your eyes on your personal computer.

You’re probably wondering why I’m writing about a voice to text program when a picture of a Hall’s wrapper is placed at the beginning of this blog post.

Sometimes things don’t seem to work out as planned. We experience a few days where it can feel like something is out to get us. This doesn’t necessarily involve serious things, or things that we will overcome in a short amount of time, but we all experience a few days where things seem to stack on one another.

These cycles can last for an extended duration of time depending upon external factors like physical health, financial tension, among other things. Our perception of the movement of things, whether they be physical or theoretical, depends upon our mental framework. This framework, either positive or negative in nature, creates a self perpetuating feedback loop that can determine or alter our future.

When we allow a negative framework to overrun our perception of reality, a few things tend to happen.

• We forget about what we are seeking.
• We forget about what we have accomplished.
• We lose sight of what could be determined as our insight.

In speaking with my older brother Jeff (who works primarily with elderly patients in need of physical therapy), he says that the outlook of the individual will often determine the success of their treatment.

Like many people across the nation, I had a cough so I purchased some cough drops.  I happened to purchase Hall’s cough drops.

I grabbed a cough drop, opened it up, and recognized the messaging on the wrapper. It spoke to me.  It spoke to me not only because of the positive messages on the wrapper, but also because it made me realize that the best purchase we can make is a purchase that can inspire us to create and move forward.

Instilling positivity in oneself and those around you may be one of the most important things we can contribute. I hope this ‘drop of inspiration’ can inspire you through times of uncertainty.

– Greg

P.S. – I spoke (wrote) this a few weeks ago, I’m happy to say my arms feel better and I’m no longer experiencing a cold!

We look at things all day.

We gain a better understanding of another person’s perspective through photography.

We have an endless amount of social photography tools to share our perspective: instagram, facebook, among several others.

It is an exciting time to explore and share our perspectives. Below you’ll find a photo I took a few days ago of Downtown, San Diego. This shot was taken from Point Loma.

The movement of vehicles at night is fascinating. The paths of light remind me of the veins in our bodies.

In the photo above, the objective is to demonstrate the transfer of energy within a city. Light is a great way to capture energy.

This photo represents the ‘electric veins’ constructed by the movement of people at night. I like to think of cities as living beings. Downtown sits in the distance, the ‘heart’ of this social being…driven by energy and economy.

What do you see at night?

– Greg

As you can see above, I cut my hair and beard.

The past year and a half provided a social experience that proved to be unbelievably insightful, surprising, and humbling. This social experience I speak of is not just about the places I traveled, but also the impact of having a big beard and long hair.

The questions and comments cover a full spectrum:

• “So how long have you been growing that beard?”
• “Why are you growing that beard?”
• “Woah. Dude. Sweet beard!”
• “That is gross, why are you letting yourself go?”
• “Jesus!”
• “Chewbacca!”
• “When are you going to cut it?”

Not only were there plenty of comments every day, but plenty of looks as well. Some places were more intense than others (ie. India vs Ocean Beach), but nonetheless it was a constant flow of commentary, staring, and curiosity.

My plan was no plan. There was no set date as a goal. There was no mission to accomplish. I immersed myself in the flow of things. My beard became a physical representation of my thought process. A superficial story to those I passed by.

I began to focus on the importance of ‘doing something by doing nothing’. This became a theme in many discussions instigated by my beard. This was not to promote laziness. It is really about promoting the need for many people in this society to accept that taking time to sit and relax can be the ultimate (and necessary) catalyst for creating something great.

The effect of doing ‘nothing’ by not shaving really surprised me. Conversations came to me. People gave me insight as I met them. Some opened up, others closed off. Regardless, every interaction provided a learning experience about people. It was like my beard was working for me.

I know that millions of people around the world have beards. Having a beard is not something new…but for some reason when you have an ‘intense beard’ it sometimes feels like people have never seen one before. It can make you feel like an outcast. It can cause anxiety. It can empower you as an individual. It can provide a unique perspective on people. It can allow you to uncover elements of society you may not see without looking differently.

For me, it further pushed me to always do what I want to do. To leverage from the fact that I can create my own reality, pursue my own interests, and create my own unique perspective about what is important in life.

So here is to all of you out there doing what you want to do regardless of criticism, social norms, and other attempts to diminish one’s true interests. It is a path worth pursuing and one that will give you more than you could ever imagine.

I decided to trim my beard and hair as I’ve just launched a company here in San Diego along with my Co-founder Derrick. Take a look at txtRacer.com and sign up to compete for deals you deserve here in San Diego.

Thank you for all of your support!

– Greg

We all do it.

We get caught up in time.

Where we need to be. When we need to be there.

We live our lives around this framework that organizes our lives. TIME.

It is about efficiency.

Society is much like a well-oiled motor. All cylinders need to fire at a specific moment in order to generate a powerful force. In society, individuals need to abide by a framework to work together in a complex, yet cohesive society.

This is all well and good until we reach a point of personal combustion. Just like a well-oiled motor can combust or break from overuse, we can as well.

Time is powerful. Time is life…and as many say, ‘time is money’.

But what is life without time? Well, you could say, ‘that doesn’t exist, time occurs whether you are conscious of it or not’.

Pursue moments where time doesn’t matter.

Photo: Scott Randall. Ocean Beach, CA. http://scottseyephotos.wordpress.com

Life with time is time. Life without time is life.

The mergence of technology and nature. A thought of what could become, and what should always remain sacred. Photo taken in Ocean Beach, CA.

A few days ago while walking and talking with my friend Nick I suddenly heard a loud swooooshhhh as something passed by. I looked up, and to my surprise, a hawk appeared in the sky.

We walked over to take a look as it was perched on the fence of the baseball field.

I looked at the hawk and was amazed at it’s ability to turn it’s head more than 180 degrees. It was a big bird and was constantly checking it’s surroundings.

As I watched the hawk look intensely at everything around it, I wondered…what does a hawk see? I thought of the common phrase…’hawk-eyed vision’.

What if we could have embedded technology in hawks to see what they see? What if we could video stream their vision to get a hawk’s view of the world? What if we used the actual hawk as a means of surveillance?

As these thoughts came to my mind, Nick and I continued to admire the hawk for several minutes. I discussed with him the possibility of embedding technology in the hawk to see what it sees. I was excited about the idea. I thought to myself…maybe this is where the future will go?

A few minutes passed, and we continued to look at the big bird perched above us. I decided that I wanted to capture a picture of the hawk with the technology I had in my hand…my iPhone.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket, turned on the camera function, and was just about to snap a photo until suddenly the hawk disappeared.

The hawk had impeccable timing in regards to the conversation.

Maybe the hawk told me that birds should be birds, and that technology-hawk-birds is taking technology a little too far.

I can never be sure, but it was convincing.