Suicide of False Selves: 365 days of challenge and adventure…

Ok, I came up with this idea as I thought about how to further develop my consulting business as GTD: Liberation Consultant, and head of Escape Plans Unlimited. More on that later.

For the next 365 days, I will challenge myself to do something uncomfortable. Sometimes, it could be a day full of focusing solidly on one thing until I accomplish it. Other times it might be going on some kind of adventure I feel wary about. Even other times it could consist of getting rid of lots of my useless stuff. Sometimes, it could be going into the ocean on a cold and rainy day. And yet at other times, I may perhaps sit down to write a large portion of a book in a single sitting.

I may do social experiments in public places, such as shopping out of other people’s grocery carts at the grocery store, talking to 5 random strangers on the same topic, staying in a busy elevator for 30 minutes and talking to all who enter, or something equally disturbing to my programmed self.

The premise here, folks, is to kill off various little weaknesses in my psyche. By facing challenges and discomforts everyday, I will change my life into more of an adventure. It will train my discipline, and knock me off autopilot, at least for a little while each day.

If I run out of ideas (Fat chance of that!), I will select exercises from such books as Just Because Club , Christopher S. Hyatt’s Books , Shaving the Inside of Your Skull , psychological texts, gurdjieff websites, Victor Sanchez’s Toltec and Castaneda Inspired books , psychological studies in human behavior, A.R. Orage’s Psychological Exercises , Keep Your Brain Alive , Astonish Yourself: 101 Experiments in the Philosophy of Everyday Life , the books of Robert Anton Wilson , Antero Alli , Chaos Magic Texts, , Hello Cruel World: 101 Creative Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks, etc. , Corpus of Aleister Crowley , and quite a few other places.

If you, my readers, have any suggestions of uncomfortable, experimental, adventurous, or exciting things you would like to see me try and then blog about, leave me a comment. I look forward to hearing from you.

Today, my first day out in the field, I came upon an accidental adventure. I went to the beach for a walk, a run and a swim. I live just north of San Diego, so the water and air are still nice and warm, compared to the freezing ocean water in Oregon, where I recently moved from, and Minnesota, where I grew up.

I still don’t understand exactly how the tides ebb and flow, so today, around 5pm, I began my walk. I enjoy walking on the sands below a row of multi-million dollar homes, so I can admire them and build up an idea of exactly how and where I want to live. Today, however, I noticed that the waves were already crashing up against the sandy and rocky wall above the beach. As the waters receeded, I ran on the sand to the next rock, sat down, and watched the waves roll in all around me.

I nearly decided to go back, with some idea of safety in mind. I thought, “Oh, I’m an idiot if I go further down the beach. The waves will crush me into the rock walls.” Then I wondered where that voice came from. I am always up for an adventure, so I kept running until I could go no further without getting deep into the rough waters. Maybe nothing for a seasoned surfer, but to me, it felt dangerous and uncomfortable.

I had to climb the slimy rock wall, which reminded me of summer’s past, going rock climbing all over Oregon, Idaho, California, and many other states….So I climbed up to a ledge above the beach. I had to walk along this short ledge, trying to get to a part of the sandy beach that I knew must be up ahead.

I found an area just about as wide as my foot, and I almost decided to turn around. It was a ledge of sand, with a shitty drop into some trees and rocks about 20 feet below. I went for it, and the sand held up.

I walked by some kind of tweaker dude and his girlfriend who were doing something in a crevas as I wandered past. Then, I saw a family having a picnic, and knew I must be getting close to the staircase up to the coast highway. Yes! There it was, sitting in the middle of about 100 yards of sandy beach not yet covered up by the rising tides.

I ran up and down the staircase twice, and decided to go back along the ledge, since it broke up my day and gave me an accidental adventure. Besides, I like to run barefoot on the beach, so I had left my sandals in the car. I had no intention of running along the road, or of trying to fight the waves and rocks along the vanished shore.

My simple walk turned into a small adventure, one where I had to challenge myself, confront my fears, and meet with a little bit of success in doing so. My torrential flow of thoughts was slowed for a bit while I climbed the wall and navigated the newly discovered territory.

So, that is the basic premise of what I will blog about each day over the next year. It could get really crazy and extreme, like back in my hitchhiking cross-country days, or it could be simply trying out new ways of thinking, or new exercises, or anything I decide to do. It will all be collected at the end of a year into a book, so if you want your name mentioned in my book, give me a suggestion and you will end up on the thank you page of the book if I use it in this blog.

See you tomorrow!

Go on an accidental adventure of your own. Discover something new about the places you go everyday. It’s fun, and it trains your brain to look for new and exciting opportunities.

-Garrett Daun: Liberation Consultant escapeplans@gmail.com

Escape from False Ideas About Yourself: Choose Your Own Adventure!

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