midlife drive

Facebook | Kevin Seney Author of “midlife drive”

This world spins too fast if you let it
There’s always one more thing to do
But lookin’ back I never have regretted
Takin’ off early or callin’ in sick
Or lovin’ away a Sunday afternoon

It was time well wasted
And there’s no way I’d trade a few more dollars
or things crossed off my list
For a day I’ll never forget
No I didn’t get a thing done
But I sure soaked up every minute
of the memory we were makin’
And I count it all as time well wasted

~ Brad Paisley

When I arrived in Washington DC, I had been on the road for several months, non stop. I was busy writing my blog, and working on my book. I was answering emails, and obsessing over my Facebook page. I was working on my “project” every day, and felt like I was making “progress.”

Meanwhile, I had picked up Viktor Frankl’s 1946 book, “Man’s Search for Meaning.” I was planning to visit the Holocaust Memorial in DC and I felt compelled to read Frankl’s book before going to the museum. His book chronicles his experiences as a concentration camp inmate, and his daily search for a reason to live.

The book is short, but carries a powerful message about the core meaning of life. As I read the book, I began to examine my own life, and thought seriously about what I was searching for and what was the purpose of my journey.

I finished the book, and went to the Holocaust Memorial Museum. It is a very moving and powerful experience. My visit left me numb. I made my way back to my RV and just sat. I went to bed early. I slept in. It was raining the next day, so I stayed in all day and did nothing. Suddenly, I felt very lost and very much alone.

I reached out to a friend and said that I needed to go somewhere peaceful and take some time off my “project” to regroup. I guess I was feeling pretty overwhelmed at that point. He said, “go to Kennebunkport, Maine. I have a friend there who will show you around. Relax and take a load off!”

Kennebunkport was perfect. I got settled, and “ducked under the radar” for a while. I stopped posting to my blog and Facebook. I had lost my sense of purpose. I needed a break.

I spent my days walking and exploring. I made some local friends, and ended up a guest at several social events. I was even invited to join a local “book group” as a guest. That was a great evening!

But, looming in the back of my mind, I was still trying to reconnect with the purpose of my project, and my journey. I struggled with it for weeks, and finally just had to let it go. “What the heck” I said. I just need to drive on and see what happens…

So, I finally left Kennebunkport, and drove on to a friends farm in Ohio, which is out in the middle of Amish Country. It was like stepping back in time. It was beautiful and peaceful there. I was inspired by the simple way that the Amish people chose to live. It was such a great, relaxing visit!

Next, I headed on to Nashville to the CMA Music Festival. I decided that a bit of Country Music and fun, might rock me out of my funk.

This is where I heard Brad Paisley’s song, “Time well wasted” and realized that was how I needed to look at this episode of my journey. Yep, it was “time well wasted.” I have no other explanation.

Once I let it go, I stopped worrying about my project and moved on. I picked up my daughters in Colorado, and spent the last 6 weeks on a pretty amazing journey with them.

Not much accomplished, but we sure discovered some beautiful country. We took some great back roads across Wyoming and Montana. Places I sure had never been. In fact, we went places that most people would not believe still existed! My parents also joined us for part of the trip. We cooked a great “camp breakfast” every morning. And, my darlings daughters sang and rocked the cab of my RV, all day long.

Once again, it was “time well wasted.”

Facebook | Kevin Seney Author of “midlife drive”

Facebook | Kevin Seney Author of “midlife drive”

“In his pursuit of the dream, he was being constantly subjected to tests of his persistence and courage. So he could not be hasty, nor impatient. If he pushed forward impulsively, he would fail to see the signs and omens left by God along his path.”

~ The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

When you follow your gut, often times you are not sure where you are going, and/or why, but you do know that you need to go. Crazy impulses like these, when followed, can change your life.

So if you ever get that feeling in your gut, that something needs to change, get moving. Go somewhere new! Do something with that impulse.

I wound up driving over 15,000 from San Diego to Florida to Maine to Washington and back to San Diego again, for no particular reason (or at least not one that is readily explainable) but, I can assure you that my life has changed for the better.

Time away. Time alone. Time to think. It works.

Try it sometime!

I am making a necessary “pit stop” in San Diego, and then I continue on my drive to Yosemite National Park, Jackson Hole, Wyoming and beyond. Still no plans. I am just going where the wind blows. Please Join me!

Facebook | Kevin Seney Author of “midlife drive”

Facebook | Kevin Seney Author of “midlife drive”

Photographs and memories
Christmas cards you sent to me
All that I have are these
To remember you

~ Jim Croce

The Seney Family Christmas Card – 1968
East Ten Sleep Lake, Wyoming

I remember our family taking this Christmas card photo (41 years ago) like it was only yesterday. We all piled into our old 1950′s Willy’s Jeep and drove up the mountain to Ten Sleep Lake. It was windy and freezing. My dad set up the tripod, set the self timer (which was pretty high tech back then) “buzzzz, click” and another perfect photo! One more minute and frostbite would have done us all in!

My dad was a pretty amazing photographer. He had a very nice German made “Exacta” 35 mm camera. He had always taken lots of photos. My parents have thousands of amazing slides, and what is really cool, is that they are still just as perfect as the day they were taken.

My dad always explained everything in great detail, and I listed to every word. He explained photography to me on a very technical level, and I grew up with a great understanding of things like exposure, depth of field, and other technical, lighting and focus issues. I fell in love with photography and I loved his camera!

Back in the day, we had only one Black & White TV. One Chevy. One old Jeep. And, ONE 35mm camera. So to even be able to touch that camera, was quite a privilege. I grew up with a passion for cameras!

My daughter Alicia, working in the Drug Store, just like I did!

Our family owned the local drug store in our town, and we sold cameras and film. During the 1070′s 35 mm camera technology exploded, with the advent of electronic exposure and the costs plummeted. I dreamed of owning a Nikon or Canon.

The drug store also had the very well stocked magazine rack, and over time, I read every Photography magazine published. But, the idea of a $400.00 camera for a teenager in the 1970′s was just not going to happen. You could buy a nice car for $400.00 back then!

So, I continued to save my money, and finally talked my dad into “leasing” me space in the drug store, and allowing me to start a “real” camera department.

I remember very clearly, that I had $2,000 to start the business. Back in 1974 that was enough to buy a new car! I purchased a Nikon F-1, Canon AE-1, Olympus OM-2 and OM-1, and a lower cost Minolta and a Pentax. I was suddenly the only camera dealer in town.

My first customer was the Golf Pro from our local golf club. He wanted a camera, and he walked in with $500 cash and walked out with a new Nikon! It was one of the most amazing days in my life. I was now a “business owner” at only 15!

I still almost remember every sale. It was a dream come true, because over time, I also wound up with a pretty amazing 35 mm camera set up for myself! I ran the business until I finished high school and headed off to college. Then my dad just liquidated the inventory, and I used the funds to pay for school. I still remember him sending me checks at college, as the last few camera’s sold.

I also managed to take two semesters of photography at a college level. This was “back in the day” where we learned everything from winding our own film rolls from bulk, to developing our own prints in a dark room. Very cool…

I just spent the last two weeks in Jackson Wyoming with my parents. My dad was out taking pictures of everything, using a nice new digital camera, that I gave him as a gift a few years ago. Things have sure changed in photography, but watching my dad use that camera, reminded me what an amazing gift my dad had given to me.

Thanks Dad!

Love, Kevin

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Facebook | Kevin Seney Author of “midlife drive”

It was late in December, the sky turned to snow
All ’round the day was going down slow
Night like a river, beginning to flow
I felt the beat of my mind go
drifting into time passages
Years go falling in the fading light
time passages
Buy me a ticket on the last train home tonight.

Al Stewart

We are camped right on the lake in San Point, Idaho. It is beautiful. No better place… Well, except for the fact that the train tracks are only about 20 feet from the back of my RV. I guess there is always a trade off with everything. I love the sound of trains, except when they come all night long, and by the hour!

Needless to say, I was up in the middle of the night thinking. I was thinking about my journey, and how far I have traveled. When I realized that I have only been on the road for just 5 short months, I could not help but dwell on how long it seems like I have been gone! It seems like a year or more, but so little time has passed.

I don’t know about you, but most people I have heard talk about the “passage of time,” have always said the same thing: “the older you get, the faster time goes.” Well, I sat with that thought for a minute, and suddenly a new idea about that perception, became perfectly clear to me.

Time does not pass faster or slower, ever. It is our perception that changes.

And, here is what I realized…

One year ago, I spent January 2009 to July 2009 in my home in Coronado. I did the same thing every day. I walked around the island, 8 miles, the same route, the same direction, at the same time of the day. I had the same routine throughout the day. I had the same neighbors. Familiar surroundings and a familiar routine 24/7. What was the result? 6 months FLEW BY like it was 6 weeks! I felt like 6 months of my life disappeared in a flash!

This year, February 2010 to July 2010, I have been on a non-stop journey. Only 5 short months, but it has seemed like YEARS! Why? EVERY DAY has been different! Nothing the same. Nothing familiar. No routine. My senses were constantly alive, and noticing everything. The result? Time has crawled along, like summer vacations used to as a First Grader! And, suddenly this morning, while lying in bed listening to trains go by at 3 AM, I figured it all out…

Here is my best explanation. When you allow your life to become routine, with the same ole’ crap every day, here is what happens. Imagine a motion picture. The way movement (time passing) is created, is done by flashing 30 changing still pictures past your eye every second, which “simulates” motion. Each frame is different, and the result is a blend of moving images.

Imagine if instead you just kept flashing the SAME still frame picture over and over, for thousands of frames. What would you get? Lot’s of time would pass, but what you would experience would be a single “still” picture. Nothing happening. No movement. No action. Time still passes, but with no reference, no movement. This is what many people experience at the end of the week, one day it was Monday, and suddenly it is Friday. This repeats over and over, and one day you are 30, and the next day, you are 40. Why? No change, no time references, no concept of time. Time flies by without you realizing it. So stop it!

This is what I have experienced over the past 5 months. Every day a new place. Every minute, the world is passing by. All new. All exciting. Never a boring moment. The result? Like a motion picture, thousands of images and experiences flashing by my mind. Always new. Never boring. Constant stimulation. No routine. Nothing familiar. Constant references of time. Living every minute, makes time SLOW DOWN to an absolute crawl. The past 5 months, have seemed like years! It feels amazing!!

The point? Don’t let your life pass you by… Nothing changing. Nothing new. Or, one day you will be looking in the mirror at some strange “old person,” who never lived. One minute you were young. Then you got comfortable doing the same boring routine every day, and the next thing you know, you are old.

Try something new every day! Change your routine. Do anything and everything you can, to seek random, new experiences. Learn to embrace change. There is something exciting about messing things up a bit, and seeing what happens. Kids do it all the time.

Have fun!

Facebook | Kevin Seney Author of “midlife drive”

Facebook | Kevin Seney Author of “midlife drive”

I have referred to a “road map” analogy before. But, there is more to this reference, than just a simple analogy.

You can describe the “journey of your life,” like it was played out on a map, and the intersections you have encountered, and the detours you have taken along the way. It makes perfect sense.

But, when I look at both the map of my life, and a road map, they overlap in many ways.

Think of the times you have moved. Family moves. Off to college. Marriage, jobs, divorce, new love. If you think about the major changes in your life, at least for me, they involved a major move. Why?

New people. New opportunities. New choices. New environment. They all have such a major impact on your life.

I have a theory. And, I have experienced this over and over on my journey. When you land in a new location, the “doors of opportunity” are all open. Everything is new. Over time, one by one, those doors close. You close a few. Others close the rest. It just seems like a natural progression of things.

Living out on the road, as I have done for months now, has opened my eyes to so many opportunities. It has been amazing. I view the world through new eyes now. I am beginning to see the relationship between movement, locations, and opportunity.

If things are not going as you would like them to in your life, make a change. Move somewhere. Do something different. When life gives you a “detour,” do not fret. Look at it as a random opportunity. Relax. Take a look. It might be the best-worst thing that ever happened to you. Trust in fate.

Enjoy the journey. There is NO destination.

Read “The Alchemist” by Paul Coehlo!

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