Once in New Mexico I decided to go for an adventure to Albuquerque, and I asked if anyone had recommendations for what to do there. “You want to go to Albuquerque? Albuquerque is an armpit! Just move on through,” replied one car-dependent resident. Undiscouraged, I put my bike on the train in Santa Fe and …
Author: carmen
My life as a pedal pusher
A year ago I went to work at The Bike Doctor as a humble pedlar of pedals. I had never worked in the retail end of bikes, and The Bike Doctor is a big store. I was shaky and a little intimidated. There are hundreds of models of bikes and thousands of products I was …
Delusions are inexhaustible
Bodhisattva Vow #2: Delusions are inexhaustible, I vow to transform them. This is about cutting through the bullshit. My own bullshit. The bullshit that started the moment I was born, when I was a tiny perfect baby and someone said, “don’t cry!” And somewhere in my little baby brain the thought formed, that I should …
Saving all beings
Bodhisattva Vow #1: Beings are numberless, I vow to save them. Save all beings? Whoa. That’s just a bit over the top. The word ‘saving’ makes me squirm, visualizing Jehova’s Witnesses at the door. Superheroes flying down from the sky to scoop up the sick and the downtrodden. There’s a lot ego wrapped up in …
The Bodhisattva Vow
I wake up in the morning with a head full of mosquitos, the sodapop fizz of doubt in my veins. The words of the ancient monk come to my mind: don’t be fooled! I force myself to sit upright, wash my face, light a candle and sit down on the cushion with my nattering gremlins. …