Paradigm Shift

“Strider's post has inspired me! I am moving to Canada to seek out and better know people of differing cultures!

Seriously though. I would be curious to know if anyone here has undergone a major paradigm shift in their life. Like moving to a different state or country. I have lived in AZ my whole life and wonder how much longer before a job/spouse takes me to a completely new world. How did you deal with it? What were your major obstacles? Did you have to buy new gear?”

“when i lived in florida, all of my time was spent on the water.... hydrosliding, surfing, bodyboarding.....

i moved to atlanta, after graduating college. too far from the water. right up here in the mountains. i bought a jeep and a bunch of gear and hit the hills!

it's not too hard, when you are just making do!”

“I left the comfort of college life and friends of Missoula, MT to work on a drill rig in the middle of Nowhere, Wyoming in the late 70's. I didn't know anyone down there; just a bunch of guys in greasy coveralls. I made trips back to Montana every chance I could get. But after while I got used to the place and I have some pretty fond memories. It was exciting!

( I did get my butt back up to Missoula and finish school after that little adventure though. I had some more money to buy gear too!)”

“i always have to look up "paradigm," so i thought i'd share:

"1 : EXAMPLE, PATTERN; especially : an outstandingly clear or typical example or archetype
2 : an example of a conjugation or declension showing a word in all its inflectional forms
3 : a philosophical and theoretical framework of a scientific school or discipline within which theories, laws, and generalizations and the experiments performed in support of them are formulated"
--Merriam-Webster”

“subvert the dominant paradigm!”

“They tried to ram Total Quality Management down our throats at work a few years ago. They talked about paradign shifts, i.e., changing the way we do business. We shfted for awhile and then slid back into the old routines with time. I think the same thing would happen if you moved; you'd slip back into something familiar. I think that's comforting.”

“I'm considering a major paradigm shift. It's scary to move outside of your comfortable little world even if it ain't so comfortable.”

“I lived in Gemany for two years. The culture is diffrent from here in the U.S., but it was cool to be a part of something diffrent. Their country has been a country way longer than ours, and discovering the history was cool. There is nothing like walking in the ruins of castle built in the 914.”

“I lived for a short while in Holland. That is obviously a big shift from MT. It was one of the best experiences of my life thus far. I can't even begin to explain how much I learn about myself and my world. The Dutch are very tolerant people. There views are pretty darned wide open and I came to appreciate that quickl being from a small stuffy community. I can't say enough about how important it is for a person to travel and live (if they can) outside their own country. It gives you very new prespective.”

“Was into seedy bars and wasting time and money on "Tossers".In the early 90's a work mate took me for a bushwalk (Aussie for hike) up a hill and since then, I'm a total gear freak and start climbing the walls if I'm at home longer than a fortnite.

Newgirl, spot-on mate! Everyone MUST”

“Was into seedy bars and wasting time and money on "Tossers".In the early 90's a work mate took me for a bushwalk (Aussie for hike) up a hill and since then, I'm a total gear freak and start climbing the walls if I'm at home longer than a fortnite.

Newgirl, spot-on mate! Everyone MUST leave the security of their own space and spend some time experiencing life as others see it. (and how other natins percieve you!)”

“whut is a paradigm? i no a boy dog with a pair a nuts. BOL!
(o:3”

“Spouse ???? say it ain't so Biz (grin)

my biggest change was going from having family and spouse and money to having none of the above”

“oops that should be nations.”

“sarabelle would have said "goober". that ain't gojo!”

“Hey Biz- C'mon up... lotsa room for one more!

First off- you'll be wanting to get some skis oh... and a kayak, and a sailboard, and a boat and some waterskis. Make sure ya bring a mountainbike and ummm... some bikinis... ya lots and some warm clothes too!”

“Canada has a different culture ??? I just must miss it when I go up there. Damned sneaky people those Canucks are!”

“I moved from the mountains of Vermont to the desert of Las Vegas. Everything was different, social, economical, and the outdoor aspects of my life changed drastically. I was fresh out of college and I was looking for an adventure so I was loving it. The major gear changes were not needing a tent, or rain gear. I also tossed my PUR hiker after it kept getting clogged with sand. I miss the snow and cold the most. It's been agreed that we are leaving Las Vegas the summer of 2003 and heading north.”

“"The Child is Gone"
--Fiona Apple

Darling, give me your absence tonight
Take the shade from the canvas and leave me the white
Let me sink in the silence that echoes inside
And don't bother leaving the light on
'Cuz I suddenly feel like a different person
From the roots of my soul come a gentle coersion
And I ran my hand o'er a strange inversion
A vacancy that just did not belong
The child is gone

Honey help me out of this mess
I'm a stranger to myself
But don't reach for me, I'm too far away
I don't wanna talk 'cuz there's nothing left to say
So my
Darling, give me your absence tonight
Take all your sympathy and leave it outside
'Cuz there's no kind of loving that can make this all right
I'm trying to find a place I belong
And suddenly I feel like a different person
From the roots of my soul come a gentle coercion
And I ran my hand o'er a strange inversion
As the darkness turns into the dawn
The child is gone
The child is gone”

“i had a huuuuge "paradigm shift" that coincided exactly with the "new millennium", New Year 2000. (even though that isn't the "real" new millennium.) kewl, huh!!”

“If moving is a paradign shift then my whole life has been one.

My dad was Navy so I moved 9 times before I was 13. Coast to coast north to south and back again. North Chicago to North Florida in summer was the worst.

The next biggie was getting married and moving out of Mom and Dad's house and into a house with my wife. Never lived by myself. Talk about a change in the status quo.

I haven't moved in 17 years and I have the itch bad to move to North Carolina or maybe out west. Getting tired of being around the Ocean.

I enjoy change I don't get enough of it.”

“I moved from NJ to Florida. But that was so many moons ago that I'm not called a damn yankee anymore.”

“In that case...

Damn yankee carpetbagger!
Does that help?”

“I feel much better now thank you, hpm. Nothing like that southern hospitality.”

“Sometimes I just can't help myself.”

“A man who had been hiking in the desert enters a tavern, walks up to the bartender, slams his fist on the bar and says, "Water!" The bartender briefly turns away and bends down as if to retrieve something. When he again faces the man, he has a pistol behind his back that he quickly brings around and fires once straight up in the air. The man pauses for a second, smiles, says, "Thank you", to the bartender, and walks out of the tavern.

Since he didn't get water, why did the man say thank-you?”

“hiccups! :-)”

“Now that's a paradigm shift!”

“Then there was the time when a waiter brought W.C. Fields a glass of water. So Fields says, "I didn't say I was DIRTY; I said I was THIRSTY."”

“Would it help, humanpackmule, if I told you that I was directly related to Robert E. Lee? And with my last name that's pretty funny.

If that doesn't help, hpm, then let me tell you that I'm also part Lakota. You and your kind are all just foreigners to me.

I got your southern hospitality right here pal!”

“So arclite is a Floridian now?
That's about as yankee as it gets...

Hows about a career change?
I'm in my sixth year of teaching high school after 20 years in the construction industry. It's been a socio-economic shift, that's for sure.”

“Florida isn't in the South, anyhoo. It's just near there, *G*.”

“Tilt, that's why people in the panhandle maintain they are part of Lower Alabama.”

“I am the direct descendant of Daniel Weaver, aide-de-camp to Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox. Weaver was said to be almost seven feet tall.
I got your swamp thing hangin'!”

“oh, I went to New Orleans to a Zappa concert once and didn't come back for nine or ten months. I worked offshore for awhile and met some Really Fun people... nevermind the folks in the French Quarter.”

“gojo-

i'm not exactly in the construction industry, i'm a consulting (civil) engineer. possibly looking to move to teaching as well. weird.

i think changes are good. certainly makes you a stronger person, and helps determine exactly what it is in life you want.

biz, take whatever opportunities lie before you.”

“woah, Tilt, sounds like phun! that must've been a paradigm tilt, hehehe!”

“Going from a 15-year high stress career with never more than 2 weeks off at a time to a summer off on unemployment was shift number 1. Going back to school then for a master's was big shift number 2. The topper, though, was to follow those changes with a year in the middle of China. Your world can never be the same after throwing yourself into the midst of a culture very different from your own. Head-spinning moments every hour of every day.”

“terrible, terrible freedom!”

“Yes, Chili, I've heard rumors that there's a schism between the panhandle and the... uh... peninsula, kind've like northern and southern California.

And it's a whole 'nother country in Texas...”

“by the way, 'Tilt' is short for 'tilt, Tilt, ... BLAM!"”

“I am going bp'ing in the Big Bend of Texas for a week at the end of this month. They still claim to be the "Republic of Texas" down there.”

“Tilt, anywhere they know what real barbeque is, sell those special gifts from heaven called boiled peanuts, and serve grits is in the south. And I do love my cheese grits.”

“Grits is ok. Come to Kansas City for barbeque!”

“I have moved on the average of one time a year since I was 18. I moved all around Brooklyn & NYC.

My major move was 4 years ago to Washington State. I started backpacking right before I left for WA, so I bought all the gear I needed over here, and that was good.

For me it was a win, win situation. WA is a beautiful state with less crime, and friendlier people. It's more layed back here. There were no obstacles with this move.

I call my mom once a week, and fly out to NY once a year. I wish it could be more. I do miss being in NY now with the WTC tragedy. It's hard to explain why.

I am in the process of buying a home now. This will be my 2nd move since I've been in WA.”

“Moving is easier to spell than Paradigm.”

“Don't get me started on cheese grits! I like a little pepperoni and cayenne in mine.

I saw Ann Richards on C-SPAN once, asking the immortal question, 'Why do Texans barbecue beef instead of pork?' Then she says, "Because you can't ride a horse and steal a pig at the same time!"

Maybe that's why she lost the election to George W. ... ?”

“Dun, granted they have some good BBQ in KC, but I have never been able to find either grits or boiled peanuts there. Arclight is correct, any place with all three is surely in the South.”

“Thanks everyone for posting. Knowing others who have gone through it ..somehow makes me feel better.

Ü”

“Just messing around arclite.
I've been in an odd mood this week.

I'm also 1/4 Cherokee.”