Shaken, not Stirred - My Freewrite
First, I thought that I was stirred by what I was hearing. I had that body reaction - you know, the kind you get when you know that something is not quite right. I stopped what I was doing and just took a deep breath.
I kept listening and it became clear - very clear, that I was shaken, not stirred.
I know that I am living in a bubble of privilege. Maybe I am not rich (I am not), but I have the privilege to be white, to be a woman, to have grown up in a European country, to have a good education, and to have never experienced hunger because I didn't have money to buy food.
I was close once - when I was bicycling from San Diego to Eugene Oregon and back. I had 50c left and no job - just my bicycle and me on the road.
But I had a friend in Laguna Beach I knew I could stay with and I was only a bit North of Los Angeles.
I could have made it there even without food.
But, I was lucky because some very nice people offered me a ride to LA and I stayed with them.
Of course, you could say that I was stupid that I went with total strangers and such - but it was a different time and there were times when my gut told me to get out of a situation and I did. Or head straight for the perceived danger and make them my friends - but that is another story.
Anyway, what shook me to the bone was a podcast I listened to. A storytelling podcast I will link here. It was the second story - and especially the part about the 5 dollar bill ripped into halves that got me.
I truly hope that we can all be agents of change.
Here is the podcast, the latest episode from The Stoop Storytelling podcast
https://www.stoopstorytelling.com/event/making-good-from-bad/
If you are searching for it on your podcatcher - there are several The Stoop podcasts. This one is the Baltimore storytelling one. But there is one with two women, one from Africa and one African American that is very worthwhile to listen to as well.
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I listened to the podcast after reading your story. So moving!
Yes, be a positive entity in the world. Practice kindness and understanding. Give give give even to those who take. Respond to violence with love.
Thank you for all these stories today.
Thank you for listening to the podcast. I love storytelling podcasts that are true-life stories and some are a bit disturbing and scary. But that one got me good...
It's the better-looking half of the midweek prompt delivery team here. I'm on my rounds and you're on my list so lest you feel like always the prompter and never the prompted I thought I'd drop by and say thanks for highlighting that podcast. It's certainly worth a listen.
Thank you so much!! And thank you for everything you do!
You have such an interesting, adventurous spirit and I love the boldness of your tale. I can see you peddling across country with a fearless abandon. Thanks for sharing a piece of history.
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You are welcome. Thank you for coming by and reading that history LOL
I love learning about this leader of the pack!
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Hey, @mariannewest.
Kudos to you for not going straight to James Bond like I was going to do (until I read two others talking about James Bond).
That must have been quite the bicycle trip from San Diego to Eugene by yourself. I can hardly make it by car, after sleeping a night in a hotel by myself. :)
There's some pretty decent mountains in between, too, so wow. Now I'm bowing saying, "I'm not worthy, I'm not worthy!"
I agree with it being different times, though, those people are still out there. Younger folk might try it still. Not me. I long since got a face to face with my own mortality, and tempting it isn't one of those things I want to do anymore. :)
I would still love to do a bike trip - but certainly not going home with strangers anymore LOL
It was a fantastic trip and yes, there are some pretty good hills. Right now, I would have a hard time doing them.
So, if you don't mind my asking, why Eugene? I'm always surprised (don't know why), that people end up coming to places I've pretty much considered common or mundane, mainly because I live here. I didn't grow up in Eugene, but I went through most of my public schooling and graduated from Junction City, which isn't that far away from Eugene.
Haaay, I actually live in Eugene, let's here it for the crypto hippies LOL!
I love Eugene and want to go and visit somewhen soon. We need to have a Steem Meetup :)
Anytime, you are welcome!!! There is the @canna-fest in Portland in June?
Hey, @kimmysomelove42.
re: Eugene
Nice! So are you surprised when people come to visit Eugene from out of state if they're not coming for something related to the U of O? Or am I the only one that happens to? :)
I guess, since Eugene is larger, it wouldn't be as strange like people coming to the Albany area, where I'm at. Not much going on in my neck of the woods. :)
re: crypto hippies
Hurrah!
I'm actually doing that for you. Can't really claim to be a hippie myself, unless that's by virtue of living in Oregon and actually liking Eugene, then, hey, I'm in!
I'm actually more used to saying, Go Ducks!
quack quack green and gold on ya!! Yeah, well, seems like town has doubled in size last few years, kinda don't recognize peeps, you know you've been here too long when that starts happening....
When I set out on the bike trip, I had met a woman in San Diego and was kind of renting a space in her house. She was moving back to Florida to be closer to her (ex)husband and we kind of talked about biking to Florida (I had really gotten into riding my bike and someone suggested a bike trip as a great way to see the country and it being cheap). She had a sister in Eugene and wanted to see her before moving back East.
We set out together but she quit in San Francisco and took the bus 😂
I kept on biking and when I got to Eugene, it was starting to get cold and she had decided to take the bus to Florida. I stayed with the sister and her husband in exchange for helping them with their business. They were putting on a Christmas Craft Fair every year. I also worked in a juicing cooperative. When they asked me to become a full member - I declined and set out to ride back to San Diego, get a job, and then, go on to another country.
Only, then I met my ex-husband and had kids and here we are. I am still here LOL
Wow. I don't know if all of that would have been fun in the moments they occurred, but that is quite the story! Funny how things have a way of working out the way they do, especially when there's at least some level of forethought and planning involved that you would think they would go a little more as planned. I guess as far as you were concerned, getting to Oregon, you did. Triple hat doffing for sticking it out. :)
Getting to San Francisco is no small feat, but abandoning you there? Not cool.
San Diego is one of those places I wouldn't mind living. I'd have to figure out the expenses and just ignore the state politics and the taxes (something I pretty much have to do here), but it's tough to beat the climate. It's funny, but the ends of California, both North and South, and by that I mean from Redding up and Orange County on down, I wouldn't mind finding a place to retire. It's just what goes on in between I have problems with! :)
cool, voting for engine witty now! ;)
Yes!! He is a good guy and really cares about Steem and all the people on it.
This might be bad or could be good. We will soon know. !sneeze
Pretty sure it is good since rgaemuffin is supporting it :)
You have been infected by the King of Disease!
Will you quarantine yourself?
Or will you spread the plague?