"The Western Dream"

Mark Twain ended his magnum opus with the embodiment of American innocence rejecting societies constraints and "Light out for the territory." Of course Huckleberry Finn was referring to going west, and idea with less order, a sense of adventure, and some essence of purity connected tot he land and less to people. In a similar fashion, the "western dream" which it mentioned here is connected to that idea in more than a location, and more of a place of mind, perhaps even the search for an idea.

Robert M. Pirsig talked about it in "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," in the form of a Chautauqua where the conversation built upon it self in a way to create meaning and ever build on itself. The Western Dream is an extension, or perhaps even a continuation of that construction and quest for finding oneself, and what it means to be human in a word so complex and full of amazing and horrible ideas, people, and places.

The idea of going somewhere, is part, but in reality a very little part, of the western dream. The bus is a way to take us somewhere, but not in the location sense, it's a way to draw individuals from drastically different backgrounds together. So far rugby players and civil engineers are on board, climbing crazies, and multimedia specialists, brewers, and kung fu masters have all worked on the bus- and it hasn't even gone more than thirty miles! That, and not all of them plan on even traveling on the bus!

Not that I didn't expect it in some form or another, but was quickly slapped in the face with how apparent the reality was, the bus and the work/travel which will go into it are the most miniscue part of the trip in itself. The people, how they interacte, who they are, and what they seek in this trip are already becomeing more importatnt, more time consumgin, more mentaly stimulating, and more interesting than the bus ever could become, EVER. What Farmer and woods plans are, how Kyle and Dan interact as workers, the ruggers who pop in and out, the neighbors who stop by to say "we'll lend a hand." They are what this trip is becoming about.

Which leads me to a quote I read in Jim Collins "Good to Great: this morning:

When it comes to getting started, good-to-great leaders understand three simple truths. First, if you begin with “who,” you can more easily adapt to a fast-changing world. If people get on your bus because of where they think it’s going, you'll be in trouble when you get 10 miles down the road and discover that you need to change direction because the world has changed. But if people board the bus principally because of all the other great people on the bus, you’ll be much faster and smarter in responding to changing conditions. Second, if you have the right people on your bus, you don’t need to worry about motivating them. The right people are self-motivated: Nothing beats being part of a team that is expected to produce great results. And third, if you have the wrong people on the bus, nothing else matters. You may be headed in the right direction, but you still won’t achieve greatness.

This connection to the bus was just great itself, but Jim wasn't really talking about a bus, he was talking about organizations, and so am I. Because the bus is just a box, we could all get to the "west" on our feat, it's a metaphor, and we're building it, and it's gonna be one hell of a ride.