Uncategorized – Truck Adventures

Disclaimer: there is not a lot of travel/camping in this post. It’s my blog and I write what I want. Sassy.

I love cliffs. I like the perspective they provide (see last post). However, I’ve always been a pretty cautious person. I don’t take a lot of chances for the fear of what might happen. Anxiety, ever heard of it? I’m in that club. We wear Letterman jackets.

My family has had a particularly difficult year with health and income and housing and mental health and deaths and to infinity and beyond. Work was also pretty bonkers and I couldn’t catch a break. It has been a bit much.

Enter stage left: Prozac.

I am not a doctor. I take pills because I’m OK with the idea of “better living through chemistry.” #myfavoritemeds #endhealthstigma #lizzoforpresident

This past year has been a big one for me. I’m doing things I’ve never been able to do before. Speaking up in meetings (you can’t shut me up now). Singing in front of people without beer. Wearing bathing suits. Discussing the way my brain works. Saying “no” to people. Refusing to let people walk all over me. Basically, I’m amazing. Hey, girl, hey. Tell your friends.

While this can’t all be attributed to Prozac, it has certainly helped.

All of this practice on a personal level lead me to quit my job.

Don’t get me wrong; I have a great job. I like the people I work with. I get paid OK-ish for a non-profit. I get promoted and fancy people ask my opinion. But I didn’t choose this career for myself. My anxiety chose it for me.

How is this possible?

Let me tell you! I’m a problem solver. Because of my brain, I can’t let problems remain unsolved. I’m always picking up other people’s slack and noticing what is needed because I can’t stand when things don’t go well. I’m not type-A, and I’m not a perfectionist, but for some reason I have to find efficiencies everywhere. I got promoted because I did a good job and have a good attitude. While I have dreams and goals for my department, it was a passive choice that brought to where I am today. I am making an active choice to leave.

I have always found time more valuable than money. I still need to make enough to pay my bills of course, I’m not delusional. (Or am I).

What do you want to be when you grow up?

How do people know? I don’t know if I ever will. But at least now I know what I don’t want to do.

-G

I just took a DNA test. Turns out, I’m 100% that beach… lover.

Lizzo fans out there?

At least I think I’m funny…

California’s pacific coast is the most important place on the planet. It is literally the edge of the earth. If we were a nation of Flat-Earthers, this would be where everyone sails off if they go too far. (That is probably a lie, I don’t know anything about what they think).

I live in San Francisco. Most of us who grew up in the bay area have watched our beautiful home transform into a place that is unattainable for the futures we always pictured. Tech has come in and taken over. The city is claustrophobic, noisy, and moves so fast you can’t tell what’s coming for you. The economic and sociopolitical casualties are piling up.

I live in a tiny apartment. Our truck (Elly May) has a rough time trying to find a place to bed down at night. I work too hard and I earn too little. Just like everyone else here who isn’t fortunate to work for some computery-conglomerate.

I have always resisted leaving the Bay Area for two reasons. First, my family is here. Second, I love the ocean.

Going to see the ocean “just because” was something I did with both my parents. Getting takeout and sitting in the front seat facing the waves was one of my favorite dinner outings as a child. Rain or shine, at least once a month we would pull right up to the edge of the cliff, where erosion had wiped out all the sand under the concrete. It was thrilling, sitting there, on the edge of the earth, listening to the coastal wind, and watching the waves crash over surfers and make birds bob up and down.

The ocean makes you feel small. It is where I go to get a little perspective.

Anyway, enough of this nostalgia.

Here are a few local places to visit that will make you feel content in your insignificance:

Harold’s Hill

*SPOILER ALERT* If you have ever seen Harold and Maude, this is the cliff the car goes over. It is also a fantastic little hike up from the Pacifica Pier and levee. The hike is has some stairs, but there is also a less inclined trudging trail for those who enjoy trudging. Oh, and it is actually called Mori Point.

Mount Tam

Highway 1-ish on the way home from Stinson Beach

Most people know about Mount Tamalpias, but it is still very nice. The roads give you amazing views and places to get above the clouds. Lots of hiking and driving options.

Russian Ridge

First of all, yes, this is inland. But you can see all the way to the coast, no hiking necessary. You look out over mostly uninhabited land, from Skyline Blvd. to the Pacific Ocean! That is so rare in coastal California. The parking lot is on Alpine Road about 5 minutes from Skyline.

Alamere Falls

The pièce de résistance so this post is Alamere Falls. It can only be reached by a long hike around the steep and undulating coastline from the Palomarin Trailhead. Much of the walk is overlooking a steep cliff to the ocean, before heading back down towards sea level, past a lake and a pond, through a tree tunnel, and scrambling down a sandy cliffside. When doing so, please be sure to respect the delicate nature of the coast. Don’t forget to watch the tide!

The bottom line:

Just get outside and climb a hill and look at everything that is bigger than you.

Please forgive any spelling and grammar errors. I do not stand on ceremony.

-G

Category: Uncategorized

Quit Your Day Job

Places for Perspective