a stream of consciousness. video the screen recording below.

The only way to know a stop sign exists is to look at it – to know that the line in which you need to stop at is attached to a social and legal system.

This of course, is for the safety of others and yourself – it’s a very important thing to abide by stop signs when driving.

What about theoretical ‘stop’ signs? The type of stop sign that doesn’t involve driving.

The type of stop sign that stops you from thinking differently or pursuing your dreams?

These stop signs can only occur if you decide to look at them – if you decide that the red octagon and the white line on the asphalt will define your existence (theoretically)…or another way to put it – something aside from yourself will dictate what you do in life.

Each time you stop at a literal stop sign, take a quick moment to think about the things stopping you from what you want to do.

Let each stop sign be an indicator to go do what you want – to go without too much deliberation and go for what you believe to be most important in your life.

There is no stopping you.

– Greg

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.

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.

No fish will ever outweigh an epiphany. The fish will die, but the epiphany will live with you forever. Of course, the fish could be the very thing that caused the epiphany, and there needs to be a great deal of respect for that physical stimuli (and in this case, fish).

Over the past month I’ve battled symptoms similar of carpal tunnel syndrome, highly limiting my ability to work on my computer, play guitar/piano, and surf. These are all things that I love to do.

These symptoms will surely pass overtime, and I am confident that I will be back to a fully functional self soon. In the meantime, I’ve been able to deeply appreciate conversations, walks, and thought.

As an able bodied person, we pass through physical experiences on a millisecond time scale without consciously appreciating what we have. Whether it be our ability to turn our steering wheel in our car, paddle an extra stroke to catch a wave, or simply share our thoughts on a blog, it is easy to forget the physical subtle actions throughout our day that make our day, our day.

This experience has forced me to focus on those subtleties.

The physical stimulus is my inability to perform seemingly trivial activities, and the result is a great deal of respect for those who have physical limitations that live with them for a lifetime.

As a physical barrier is created, there is a momentum of thought that can be derived from that very physical barrier. In my pursuit of understanding the relationship between physical action and the legacy that follows by way of epiphanies, I wonder how we can create epiphanies without any physical action at all.

Many people refer to this as meditation.

Let your thoughts,
be your greatest catch.

Meet Clark, feel good.

He feels good. He smiles. He lives well.

Clark represents positivity. He sees smiles as a universal hand shake.

A simple hello an opportunity to give thanks for sharing the same sidewalk.

He meets the person, not the country. He’s your friend.