WARNING: Sarah’s scheming again.A while ago, a friend asked what I’d do tomorrow if I won the lottery. The fact that I wholly avoid the lottery notwithstanding, I think I came up with a pretty good answer:
“If I won the lottery, and had already received the money, and it was a particularly large amount of money, and I had already hired a good lawyer, accountant, and financial advisor to oversee it…I’d spend tomorrow embarking on a trip around the world with a handful of creative and entrepreneurial friends that would last several months, the purpose of which would be to observe the state of the world, enjoy ourselves, and brainstorm the best use of the money… so that when we returned home, we could invest the money in a combination for-profit and non-profit enterprise that addressed our collective dreams.Are you in or out?”
And sometime today, in a brief break between my full-time job and my full-time schoolwork, it occured to me, Screw the lottery! Let’s just do it!I hereby propose, and leave open for further brainstorming, a Collaboration Adventure.The ConceptA road trip around the United States (and perhaps parts of Mexico and Canada) with a group of driven, creative people who want to discover more options for their lives. Our GoalTo shake ourselves free of the daily-life rat-race bubble and by detaching, develop a clearer perspective of where we want to fall into the system. To see how everyone else is living these days. To talk to people. Lots of people. To write down those peoples’ stories. To have brainstorming sessions on mountain tops, in corn fields, and on city streets. To document the adventure and share it with others (there will be much blogging!). To collect more like-minded folk. To volunteer. To give ourselves to the communities around us. To scheme and dream and inspire each other and write it all down. To eventually re-emerge into society as a more focused, aware, and empowered group of people who know what they want out of life. My GoalTo find and create a plan for a new business or nonprofit that ethically addresses the world around me and satisfies my creative needs. And to include as many people in that plan as are interested in joining. The PhilosophyWe do not need to win the lottery to make this happen. We don’t even need to empty our piggy banks. We’d pitch the idea as a community project and apply for grants and financial sponsorship to get started (this may involve adding a focused documentary or writing project to the trip, which would be quite cool). We’d appeal to people’s hospitality. We’d attract media and ask for donations. We’d work for people, talk to people, inspire people, and make what they need our priorities. After all, this is about getting outside of ourselves, so we can see our lives. When you are fully free to give, you naturally receive. The TimelineA year to plan and solicit support (and let Sarah graduate, while we’re at it). We’ll make it Summer 2007. Are you in or out?Make it yours. Tell me what your ideal adventure would be.
March 8th, 2006 at 11:46 pm
I’ve been really thinking seriously about this thing lately. Very seriously.
March 9th, 2006 at 9:08 pm
I bet we would be really good travel companions, Sarah! Let’s try a day trip sometime and write and talk up a storm.
March 2nd, 2006 at 10:45 pm
My friend Rich of http://www.sadsalvation.com/weblog has spoken of doing NaNoWriMo.org as a roadtrip, which I thought was a great idea.
Moi, I am going to drive to Austin next week, for the sheer heck of it, and yes, like you said, to shake free of the rat-race.
March 2nd, 2006 at 11:36 pm
I will follow your journeys via your blog; just a tiny bit jealous!
March 11th, 2006 at 11:00 pm
My possible addition to the project will be audio recordings of the interviews and conversations, and subsequent podcasts.
Your whole plan is very similar to my own.
March 5th, 2006 at 8:43 am
Very exciting how the universe conspires with us… This is one of the big goals of BrainJams, to organize a road trip where we circle the entire country doing BrainJams events, planting the seed of the idea while teaching people how to blog, podcast, tag and participate.
Ideally, joining us are going to be a whole bunch of bloggers and creatives to chronicle the journey and serve as the primary teachers of the people we meet. Of course, as you mention, so many other great things can come from it…
February 27th, 2006 at 11:35 pm
Just so you know I’m not entirely crazy…
iamontheroad.com
NYCtalktome.com
…and I know there are more.
February 28th, 2006 at 4:54 am
My dream would be to talk to all kinds of people: in the cities, in the country, in the forgotten places. I want to hear the stories of farmers and anarchists, or high powered business executives, and I want to write it all down.
February 28th, 2006 at 5:28 am
Sarah,
Summer 2007, eh? Let me know if I can help. :)
February 28th, 2006 at 10:18 am
Hmm…Summer 2007, ay? This sounds really interesting…I’m IN.