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Alumni Hands On e-Newsletter Modern Nomads
Alumni Hands On e-Newsletter Modern Nomads
Modern Nomads |
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by Emily Sloan, ’05, ’06 Emily reflects on her life as a member of a distinct subgroup within the Twixter phenomenon: “Prodding us to keep moving is the terror of becoming mired in a situation that will eventually make us bitter, uninspired, hypocritical and dispassionate… The danger of losing freedom and idealism is a major fear of the Twixters I know, but it is not the only reason for the movement's recent surge. ” When people are born they are gentle and soft. At death they are hard and stiff. When plants are alive they are soft and delicate. When they die, they wither and dry up. Therefore the hard and stiff are followers of death. The gentle and soft are the followers of life. Thus, if you are aggressive and stiff, you won't win. When a tree is hard enough, it is cut. Therefore The hard and big are lesser, The gentle and soft are greater. --Tao Te Ching Last month, my work supervisor handed me an application to renew my position for another school year. "We'd love to have you back," he said, "You're already situated, the kids know and like you, and all the logistics have been taken care of." I didn't have the heart to tell the man that staying here for another year is the last thing on my mind. Don't misunderstand: I like my life as an elementary school English teacher in a small French town, but a large part of what makes the position appealing is its inherent transience. That is, I can overlook the limitations of this existence because of the unusual opportunities it provides--the chance to experience Europe as an insider, to improve my French first-hand with native speakers, to sample fine food and culture, to travel cheaply throughout the continent during abundant vacations. And yet I have no desire to spend the rest of my life in a relatively unchallenging job in a small town far removed from the family, friends and places I love while inhabiting a mediocre apartment in a quaint but unspectacular locale. I muttered to my supervisor that I'd probably be in grad school next year, but thank you, the offer was very flattering. Many members of my generation seek similar experiences, by nature enriching, deep, educational, and--this is crucial--temporary. While most of our parents had settled into marriages and careers by their early-to-mid twenties, many of my friends in their mid-to-late twenties are committed only to independence and both internal and external discovery, with marriage and children only vague possibilities on the distant horizon. In 2005, Time magazine published an article on this so-called "Twixter" phenomenon, describing people like me as being caught in "a distinct and separate life stage, a strange, transitional never-never land between adolescence and adulthood in which people stall for a few extra years, putting off the iron cage of adult responsibility that constantly threatens to crash down on them." I suspect that my friends and I represent perhaps a distinct subset within a larger group. And so while the Time article depicted Twixters as sometimes lazy, indecisive and irresponsible, the subset I know is better characterized by a core set of values: strong idealism, passion for social and environmental justice, skepticism of the status quo, promotion of simple, humble lifestyles and great openness to the world around them. Many SCA alumni share these values, and so it is fitting that I write about this subset and not the generation as a whole (which I can't really speak for anyway). Prodding us to keep moving is the terror of becoming mired in a situation that will eventually make us bitter, uninspired, hypocritical and dispassionate. We have seen enough of our parents choose security over passion only to end up unhappy, as epitomized by Kevin Spacey's character in the film American Beauty. We thus regard the quest for stability, security and money with suspicion, afraid of turning brittle, stiff and lifeless, financially well-off but starved for a deep connection to the world around us and the excitement of genuine adventure. Avoiding the dreaded nine-to-five, we seek unusual, intense experiences building backcountry trails for a summer, organic farming in small-town Ecuador, ski bumming, biking from farm to farm in New Zealand, insulating pipes for Antarctic research stations, teaching in Mongolia, Arctic Canada, eastern Europe, France. There is no shortage of opportunities; one girl I worked with had been volunteering for nine years straight with no intention of stopping. Occasionally, when money's tight or we're obliged to stay put for awhile, we may take a less-than-ideal job serving pizza, answering phones or making pastries, but the knowledge that our stay is only temporary--that is, we are still essentially FREE to do as we like--makes such jobs palatable and often quite fun. The danger of losing freedom and idealism is thus a major fear of the Twixters I know, but it is not the only reason for the movement's recent surge. As mentioned, appealing, often expense-paid, opportunities have cropped up in the past ten to fifteen years; numerous thick books have been written detailing the hundreds of organizations offering work and volunteer positions all over the globe. The dominance of the American economy helps our cause in several ways. First, unlike our parents, most of us have never had close contact with war or poverty. Our essential prosperity allows us to pursue activities a less fortunate person might regard as impractical and unnecessary. We don't need to find a job with full benefits and a retirement plan straight out of college. There's no urgency, we tell ourselves, and thus we have the luxury to explore. American wealth also means that a command of English is a highly sought-after skill, and tens, perhaps hundreds, of thousands of English speakers are paid to live abroad and teach their mother tongue each year. Finally, the internet has hugely increased the availability of information about these positions, the extent of which can be overwhelming. In many ways, nomadism feels ideal. Unburdened by responsibilities of children, mortgage payments, or even many possessions (it's hard to accumulate much when you pick up and move every six months), the Twixters I know find it relatively easy to live up to their ideals, environmental and social. It's a simple matter to consume fewer resources when you're living communally with a woods-based trail crew, to eat mostly local, organic food if you're working on a small farm or to bike or carpool to get groceries when you're surviving off a small stipend. People take great pride in their intentional simplicity; during my final two years of college, I managed to eat good, healthy and often local food for about ten dollars a week, and Chris McCandless, an extreme Twixter made famous in John Krakauer's Into the Wild, survived for several months largely off of rice that he carried around with him in a backpack. Yet transcience has its downsides. Some are material. I haven't owned a real bed since high school, for example, and finding health insurance is often difficult. On a deeper level, though, lies the problem of identity. The long-term wanderer may have connections all over the world, but most likely she does not have deep roots in any one community. And most idealists would argue that strong, developed, committed communities are key to approaching social and environmental problems. Although I have personal and quite intimate experience living in fourteen towns, eight states and four countries since the year 2000, it's worth considering what good all that experience has ultimately served. Short-term altruism is admirable, but it's also relatively easy. No matter how grim the circumstances of a given volunteer post, they are never really your own, and so you serve cheerily, bask in your own goodwill, and then leave, hoping that somehow the local issues will miraculously sort themselves out in the future. The U.S. Peace Corps drills into its volunteers the saying "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime." The volunteer thus aims to impart problem-solving skills so as to make a long-term impact despite his short-term stay. But the real challenge, never mentioned in Peace Corps training, comes from the fact that most volunteers, young and idealistic as they are, have never had to learn how to fish or had to rely on one lake or river for their livelihood, and furthermore, they have probably never been truly hungry. How can we hope to teach what we have never really learned for ourselves? This is not to say that exploration is useless. In fact, exploration and the mindset that goes along with it--open mindedness, curiosity, the ability to think beyond narrow, long-established boundaries--are hugely important, especially in our increasingly globalized world. We can no longer attempt to solve local problems without considering the broader context that contains them. Programs like SCA allow people to develop confidence and self-awareness, plus a sense that tangible positive change is possible, despite the often bleak picture painted of our planet's future. But that change cannot happen through goodwill alone. The greatest challenge, I am starting to realize, is to take that goodwill and all of the tools and knowledge gathered during our exploratory years, and to plant them, to lovingly and deliberately set down roots without sacrificing flexibility and resilience. We who fear becoming "followers of death," as Lao Tzu put it, should not therefore shirk forests. Wa are all trees of some kind or another that will all eventually wither and die. But we do not have to grown into hard, unmoving beings. The kind of forest we create is up to us. Comments
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Thanks Emily
written by Megan , March 19, 2007
As a late poster (sometimes checking my SCA emails does not happen as quickly as I'd like:)), I mostly wanted to say thanks, Emily, for writing an article that was thought provoking an interesting enough that I read your whole article and the comments.
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I read the Twixter article in Time and will send on this article to two of my friends who I think will greatly enjoy this. I am someone who is in her mid 20s and for 6 months now has been enjoying a more settled existence. I did 3 SCAs within my first year after college and am so glad I did (I don't think I'd be working for an environmental nonprofit if I hadn't). I then went to grad school, which for some might seem a settled sort of existence, but its only two years, and when one semester you're in Italy and the summer you're back doing an SCA at Bryce Canyon, trust me, it's not settled! Plus, if everyone comes from everywhere, then they'll likely go back to "everywhere," so you know it's a bit of a temporary arrangement. In looking for a job after grad school, I wanted to find a place (and a job) that would hopefully be somewhere I'd live for awhile. Realistically, with doing various things in the summers of college, for the past 7 years I'd never lived somewhere longer than 9 months--and I was tired of it. And now, living in a rented basement apartment (can always get out if I need to--the joy of NOT owning a home!) and working a 9-5 job where I get to affect our organization's policies (rather than being an implementor of policies decided by others), sharing my passion with others and seeing their's come forth, and making a decent wage, I am quite happy. I know, though, that if, in 3 years (or whenever), I decide I want to quit my job, travel for 3 months in Asia (either alone or with that special someone--I'm flexible :), and then come back and find another job, I can always do that. But the only way I see of being able to affect change on a global or local (or both) front, is to get a reputation for doing so, and to keep doing it and doing it on a bigger and bigger scale. And building that reputation is much easier when you are settled--but probably not necessarily so, just easier. So, for those who are still reading this article and get to my comments, if you want to travel and live the "free" life--go forth! We need more people that have an environmental/global/history-minded/whatever frame of reference. You will know if/when you want to join the settled community--and I agree with the earlier poster, only you can decide when that is. And for the fellow settled Twixters, yea for regular inputs of $$ (hopefully in most cases), the ability to have friends (and other relationships) that actually live in the same place as you, and enjoying real life! And remember--who says we have to stay settled forever? Go forth if you need to--"life" will be here when you need it. :) report abuse
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Followers of Death
written by Peter Fiala , March 02, 2007
What an appropriate title for the population that has been misled. To me, away from nature, means a disconnect from life. Does that make any sense? By working in the typical office setting (as I am right now) something is lacking severely. Sitting between white walls, sometimes with no windows, typing in one position in some Excel spreadsheet like many of us 20somethings in the first decade of this millenium, somehow doesn't feel right. Farming on an organic farm in Ecuador, talkin with nice folks who also share the same concerns for retracting a bit from this ever increasingly fast-paced world, seems a bit more like it. Thanks for this essay Emily. Keep on being free!
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community
written by robby , March 02, 2007
Emily, that was a beautiful essay. Very well written, I am usually a critic of writing. It resounded well with me. I have lived in over 15 towns since 2000. I have explored all 48 states and it has been soooo incredibly wonderful. I haven't had a place of my own in many years! Even the last year of college I lived in my fort in the woods above campus. Otherwise I've been out of my van or a tent or a tarp or a friends place. I have felt comfortable at the places I've been. But I started to feel a strong pull to put down some roots for a few years, so I could go travel and have somewhere to come home to. I wanted community badly after so many years.
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After a long battle, I decided on Portland. Here are some of the things I craved while traveling that I am have done or am doing now that I have a place: taking music and dance classes, regular yoga from the same teacher at the same studio, buying tons of staples and filling glass jars with grains (millet, quinoa, barley, rice etc), having a full pantry to cook with anytime, going on a walk after work, potlucks, community, meeting a friend for lunch, brunch on Saturday morning, having an address to get magazine subscriptions (Harper's, the nation, utne are on their way!), waking up and having breakfast in a nice spot, sitting on a porch, Saturday hikes, weekend warrioring!, sleeping in a bed without walls (like a van or tent), decorating my room nicely (I painted it red and gold! and built a bamboo closet!), getting lots of plants in my room, playing in a band again, biking around town, etc etc. Lets just say I've been looking forward to being "normal" for once, having a day job and hanging out after work, not the sporadic life I've been leading (which I have enjoyed a great deal, I just needed a change). I can't even tell you how big I smile, how blissed out I am walking in my neighborhood! I have a favorite route along a busy section of Hawthorne, feeling the city vibe, then I stop at my friends house, then I go to my favorite coffee shop and sit outside, then go to the community garden which I have a plot in for the summer, then to the dog park, then home through the quiet residential roads. I really am loving being settled and slowly building community. Here's to travel and how it makes you appreciate being still and having simple things. report abuse
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Thanks
written by Mike , February 26, 2007
Hey guys, thanks for the stories and comments. Emily i really liked your article, first of the SCA ones ive read and I feel a resonance within all of you. I am still in college, and i have another year and a half left. I spent two years in school, then did a SCA job and felt myself soar with the freedom, then spent five months in New Zealand and now being back in "real school" it is hard for me to stay in one town and get those roots down and get involved in a community, i suppose the reason why i am doing it now is to get this college thing done and then roll on, and being a "twixter" sounds like it might be something that's right up my alley, we shall see...
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Thanks
written by Carol , February 26, 2007
Thanks for your essay, Emily, it was very well written, and like the previous posters, it resounded deep within me. I'm a former "twixter" - after college I did several seasonal jobs and internships for several years before finally settling into a permanent job. You see, I loved the jobs that I was doing and the broad-ranging and unique experiences I was gaining, but I longed to have a pet or two, get my piano out of storage and begin playing again, and lastly to fall in love and have a relationship that lasted more than a month or two. So I settled down, got a cat, got my piano, and found my soulmate, and we're getting married in May! No regrets - I look back on my twixter days fondly but am glad to have found stability and happiness. I just couldn't see myself being single and "homeless" the rest of my life...
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I Dunno...
written by Chuck , February 25, 2007
I read the essay with many feelings, one of which was deep skepticism. I don't know why. Like many of you, I've been living the twixter lifestyle since college four years ago with varying degrees of happiness. I'm at a low point right now, seriously contemplating for the first time getting a "real" job, but afraid, not of getting "mired in a situation that will eventually make [me] bitter, uninspired, hypocritical and dispassionate," but of missing out on something bigger, better, greater. I wrote a poem to describe this fear:
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I walked along my path today. Rocks were there to guide my way. Not a fork to be seen, Until the place of reckoning. And at that lonely intersection, Paths diverged, upon reflection. Hundreds, thousands, millions, billions, As many paths as there are questions. First I pondered this, then that. My head was spinning, so I sat. I sat upon the ground today, No more rocks to guide the way. I sat upon the ground today, Never again to walk along my way. report abuse
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I second.
written by Kara , February 25, 2007
Well said. It's nice to know that others are struggling with the same itch, as I try to find balance and search for meaning during my "pause" in my own little midwestern corner of the big picture.
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We are all healthier and deeper people for all the more experience and generosity we can squeeze out of our short existence. A piece of weathered driftwood is much more beautiful than than a straight-and-long, sliced for the board foot. You might get caught in an eddy every now and then, get banged up a bit, but you'll be on your way, sure to get scratched up and sunbleached on the journey. Whenever you get caught or whenever you break free, make it interesting and do a little or a lot of good along the way. See you on the trail, or the community center, or school, or the farm, or the beach, or. . . Kara report abuse
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Thanks for writing such a thoughtful, balanced article
written by Yael , February 24, 2007
Emily, thanks for a lovely essay.
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I agree so much with the ideas you've brought up, as well as with the comments posted before mine - this is a topic I have struggled over without even realizing quite what I was worrying about. I feel like a few more ideas have shifted into their right place in my head =) report abuse
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Temporary security
written by Erin , February 24, 2007
Emily,
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My experience through SCA changed the way I perceive our social and environmental world. I recently put my "Twixter" lifestyle on hold, just as it was beginning. I can not tell you how much peace your article has given me. I have felt like a failure and a fool for returning to my "phone job" in the last month. Having the feeling that I have taken a huge step backwards, instead of forward is something that has been torturing my insides. I am okay with stepping backwards for now because I know the security I am feeling is temporary. Security is comfortable, just as the roots of this town are comfort to me. But nothing, NOTHING, will ever comfort me more than the community life I experienced and will again, while living and working for nature. Thank you for clearing the fog out of my brain. Your nomadic neighbor, Hailstones (california '06) report abuse
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Good to see...
written by Steven Yaskell , February 24, 2007
...younger people like yourself grapple around for the truth. There was a lot of truth in this article and not a little soul searching.
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It gives me hope (from the older generation) that young women like yourself see the different angles to one's sense of idealism. And true, there is so much more freedom for you in your twenties nowadays to give yourself that crucial time to "see" and "be" than in my own. What interests me, on the other hand, is the distinct fear of ever losing a sense of a volunteerism as displayed by ones idealism! For it seems to me, if you already are idealistic, how can you ever truly lose being what you (partially or wholly)already are (say, by age 21)? In the old days, "volunteerism" had another word: "amateurism." This was the spirit of detached contribution to things that did not require you be a part of any one meritocratic chain. One derived the same sense of satisfaction, took no pay, and often contributed greatly to some cause. Let's hear it for volunteerism! Steve Yaskell (Vermont, ´74) report abuse
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'97, '06
written by Scott Franzblau , February 24, 2007
Hey Emily—GET OUT OF MY HEAD!! No, seriously, thanks so much for sharing such a personal and eloquent account of what so many of us are working through. And if I may add a relevant quote from Emerson’s Self Reliance: ”So use all that is called Fortune. Most men gamble with her, and gain all, and lose all, as her wheel rolls. But do thou leave as unlawful these winnings, and deal with Cause and Effect, the chancellors of God. In the Will work and acquire, and thou hast chained the wheel of Chance, and shalt always drag her after thee. A political victory, a rise of rents, the recovery of your sick or the return of your absent friend, or some other quite external event raises your spirits, and you think good days are preparing for you. Do not believe it. It can never be so. Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.”
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an old twixter
written by Fred Allebach , February 24, 2007
This is great, an actual thought provoking article.
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I agree with John above, that special something is within, and this center, this tone, is tempered and seasoned over the course of a lifetime. As we say on the construction job "by the time you're done, you know what you're doing." There is a certain muddling through, and eveything in its proper time, a time for idealism and a time for the mundane. A true seeker never arrives, it's just on to the next thing. I have also been aware of what's called "feel good service". But if there is some ultimate service that hews only to the strictest, highest view, then this is just status and power and control all over again; who is this to say that other's motives are less? report abuse
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written by Siana , February 23, 2007
Hi Emily, it's always nice to know there are people out there who share that kind of active idealism and passion. I think there are many ways to make a difference and at the same time satisfy your own needs and desires. I feel lost somehwere on my path though and have been wrestling with my own 'twixter' issues. Your article very nicely sums all that up, so thanks!
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written by Joel , February 23, 2007
That was great work, Emily. I knew there were a lot of us out there, but I didn't know we had a name. I'm 25 and have been at my first "real" job out of college for almost a year now, and not a day goes by that I don't feel like I'm trying to put a square peg in a round hole. I gave up the "modern nomad" lifestyle, I guess, to please family... and a girl... everyone but myself. I think those of us who have the desire to move around, to accumulate more enriching experiences, will know when the right time (and place) comes to settle down, and trying to force that step is a big mistake. Thanks, Emily, for reminding me it's not too late.
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-Joel (Alaska '05) report abuse
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The more things change the more they remain the same
written by John , February 23, 2007
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
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As a former SCA member who went on many journies before and after the SCA time, your feelings are the feelings of universal youth. From Jack Kerouac to Edward Abbey and Jon Krakauer's story of Chris McCandless' searchings, generations of young men and woman have looked to find something. That something is within you. Good luck in your own, J report abuse
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Twixters
written by lauren , February 23, 2007
Emily,
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I found this to be a thoughtful and eloquently written version of many of the introspective tug-of-wars I (and many of my peers) have been having in these first few years out of college. Thank you for the first SCA article that has really engaged me. report abuse
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written by Brad Hoppe , February 23, 2007
I was glad for the positive spin at the end of the article! It was thoughtfully written.
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I just accepted my first "real" job after stalling for a few years doing community building and traveling. Even though my new position is still in public service it's scary feeling trapped and tied down to an organization where some of my co-workers have been for thirty years! I can hardly plan for next month, let alone the next decade. However, losing some idealism to gain more realism is something that is inherent to growing older in my experience. I'd prefer to be at peace with that information than at odds. Thanks for helping keep things in perspective. report abuse
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good article
written by Holly Robertson , February 23, 2007
Emily, thank you for writing that article, it was very good, and I was moved to comment because I identified very strongly with the quest to experience as much as possible in as many different places as possible. I am now grappling with that very reality, of setting down roots, having a dreaded nine to five, even though it is with a department of natural resources, and most of all, having patience that I can still continue to explore and experience new things even if I stay put for a while.
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I guess it just comes down to listening to yourself--and for those of you who haven't seen my postings in the SCA blog, I'll re-post a Rainer Maria Rilke quote I find really relevant and reassuring at the moment:
Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.