I sometimes ask myself how I will reach all my bold dreams. In many ways I do not really know, but I can imagine and make plans whenever they are possible. Yet, at the same time I must realize I am constantly evolving and that my ideals and hopes will change. Here is my plans as they stand for saving for a farm while at the same time making great change happen through the political sphere and living the simple and free life.

Save in Schenectady

My first goal to reach my other goals is to save money and use my limited resources as wisely as possible. I want to get an apartment in Schenectady after college and live as frugally as possible. Schenectady is the cheapest city to live in the Capital Region. It is also served by regular bus service to downtown Albany, so I can avoid commuting to work whenever possible. Commuting is such a waste of fuel and of a good pickup truck. I'd rather put the miles on my truck exploring Rural America then going to work.

Schenectady is a beautiful city near the Adirondacks and the Schoharie Valley that I so love. I want to be able to take long trips on the weekend with my truck to those two places and spend a lot of time camping out as possible. It also is far enough from when I currently live to give me plenty of new countryside to explore. I need greener pastures then what I'm finding in the Albany-area.

I also want to get away from Albany County and the Albany machine. Mayor Brian Stratton is an exciting Progressive Democrat who has done much to change the city of Schenectady since taking over. There are many exciting opportunities in Schenectady versus Albany for the progressive who wants to make a difference in people's lives. The seat of state government is only a half hour away on a bus or 15 minutes in the pickup.

Live Minimally and Change Who I Am

I want to fundamentally change who I am and become my own self. I've never had my own identity in my life, and I've never been able to develop into the person that I really want to be. I've always lived my parents house, and while I try to get father away from them I still am largely defined by their wishes. I don't really have my own identity, and I suffer.

I live too much in a world of consumption at home and in college. There is always too much good food that's unhealthy for me to eat, both in my waist and psyche, but also in the hidden effects to the environment around me. I want to eat more vegetables and healthy things, in a place that's not full of temptations to just eat a little bit more. I want to have food that's locally made and not in styrofoam or laced with toxic chemicals that will most likely kill me or make me sick before I turn 30 years of age.

I want to live in world without excess clutter and technology. I don't want a television constantly bringing corporate propaganda into my house. A radio with WAMC and WRPI would give me all the information I really need. I also will probably get a small laptop and have inexpensive dial-up Internet and phone service. Being able to check the news or drop a few words to my blog from my home is nicely.

I also want to improve my collection of outdoors gear. I don't think this has too be that expensive, particularly if I plan my purchases out over time and choose to spend less throughout the rest of my life. I need to get a winch for my truck so I can pull it out the mud when I get the couple of times of year that it gets stuck. I also want some of my own camping gear—my parents probably want their stuff back eventually.

Politick as Hard as I Can

My goal is not to have an apartment that's super-comfortable or makes me want to spend a lot of time in it. It should instead simply be a place to stay between going places. I want to be as active as possible in local politics and make a difference. I want to work with progressives on the environment and rural issues. I might not always agree totally with the people that I work with, but I hope to have the courage to accept and guide them towards ways that will ultimately work towards all of us as individuals and as a group.

Politics is something that will change me, while I change the world around me. I want to truly live a political life not unlike the legislative schedules that legislators have. I need to be that busy to do all the great things I dream to do in my life. At the same time, I realize I must balance politics with the need to explore who I am and find my own self-image. I must spend a lot of time in the woods walking around, taking photos, and constantly revising who I am and who I am becoming as an individual.

Continue to Learn

I don't think when I finally get done with my undergraduate degree after all these years, that I'll be done with college. I am seriously thinking about after college, taking some more computer science classes or even working on a masters degree in Computer Science. That might be a bold change from what I am currently doing, yet I think I have many of the talents that would leave me down to success. I can program pretty good in a lot of computer languages. Yet, by no means am I professional. My style is often free-flowing and it's not simply that good.

Yet, computers are a concern in my life. I see technology as becoming more and more disposable and toxic to our lives. The computer literally can take away the soul by focusing too much our lives away from it, and focusing ourselves on it. The chemicals in it when ultimately dumped or burnt is destroying our environment, to say nothing of it's original manufacture. Computing is troublesome, yet it seems like a piratical way to earn money towards being able to focusing on bigger goals.

Less practical, yet far more important is my continuing learning about the environment around me. A lot of that can come informal study, but also by reading and networking with people who have the same passions as I do. I want to learn more about farm life and rural life, and how people are able to balance it with the realities of economies today. I want to learn how to do the things the farmer and the hunter do, but remain my same self as an individual.

Ultimately It Goes Moo

I guess it's the whole cowboy thing, but I want a farm. A real one and not a play one. I love being outdoors and want to spend as much of my life as possible outside doing things. I realize such thinking is probably delusional dream that probably has no grounding in reality, yet I can dream. I am well aware of the fiscal implications of such an idea of owning a large chunk of land and grazing some cows on it, yet it seems so attractive. A lot of work, not unlike politics, but often rewarding in pratical ways that are different then what is in politics.

I've always been pretty embarrassed about this dream, particularly around my parents, yet somehow it would be so nice to live in a more physical world where dreams get done through hard work. I love being outdoors and living in a place where I can work hard with my hands. Yet, somehow I am so often depraved of such opportunities today, despite living in the country with my parents who have some small livestock like chickens and the a like. Somehow it's different though as they aren't mine, they belong to somebody else.

I realize I can downsize this part of my dream. Beef cattle are relatively simply to maintain over dairy cows, yet they still are a lot of work and require a lot of expensive land and personal devotion. There are smaller animals that can be raised, or I can only own a few acres and buy hay like many of the other homesteaders and so-called fake farmers do.

Big: Yes. Possible: Maybe.

Things are changing fast in my world today. Yet, that doesn't mean that I am giving up on my dreams, instead only letting them evolve to fit in the world I live in during a particular day. It is good to dream, to strategize and make sure one is going the way one truly wants to be going.