WEEK 14 MASTER KEY EXPERIENCE + October Sky

I won\’t forget watching the movie October Sky with my family on Christmas Day this year.  The lights were off in our living room; it was 1957 with Sputnik traveling through the sky and you could see the spark of a new idea plant itself in young Homer Hickam. Fueled by his teacher who believed in him, Homer made it out of Coalwood, West Virginia, to NASA as he dreamed.

Homer teamed up with a smart kid at school, and a welder at the company shop to make his rocket plans happen. He never wavered from his goal.

Homer had a definite major purpose + a personal plan of action + a positive metal state + a mastermind alliance.

I asked this morning and our oldest Agnes remembers that Homer had to coal mine when his dad got hurt.

We have coal miners in our family too. Black lung, very hard life, and I felt so grateful for what our ancestors did for my husband and my freedoms today.

Reflecting on MKMME and 2018 on the way: for Homer and for us, there are so many small twists and turns of life which shape us so strongly but that we might not realize at the time. What if Homer missed looking up for Sputnik that day, who knows what his life would have been?

My husband and I have had many turns along the way too, spurred by faith of our family and friends, always adjusting the plan as needed.

Below is our combined highlights timeline, starting with my husband and my first date, 24 years ago on Dec 27th. Each one of these lines could be a blog for coming year!

1993: First date
1994: Graduated high school
1995: Graduated high school
1996: Built houses & waste transfer station
1997: Lived in Portland, ME for Salt Center for Documentary Field Studies semester program
1998: Graduated Wells; Bungee jumping in Switzerland with Erica
1999: Season at Keith\’s Farm, Orange County NY; Used Scour Off for non-toxic oven cleaning trying to save money in Clarks Summit to travel across country
2000: Drove across country, landing in Portland, OR after 3 months
2001: Started graduate and undergraduate school; found Marty kitty
2002: Our wedding
2003: Graduated masters urban & regional planning
2004: Started multifamily recycling pilot for City
2005: Bought Portland house; Graduated bachelor of fine arts, sculpture
2006: Laura Russo Gallery; Bruce Carey Projects
2007: Foghat LIVE installation at TBA; First gallery show, Small A projects
2008: Rolled out curbside recycling & composting carts in Portland; drove East; started Wayne/Pike Workforce Alliance
2009: Started Haunch of Venison; Bought Pequest house
2010: Agnes born in Scranton
2011: Moved to NYC-Astoria; Brooklyn residential renovation supervisor start
2012: Moved to Sunnyside; Clare born in Manhattan; Marian Goodman Gallery start
2013: Adios to Healthy Buildings; Grandma Kathy turns 60; William born in Manhattan
2014: Grandma Phyllis turns 70
2015: Rediscovered Shaklee through kids vitamins; bought Sunnyside co-op; started Red Hook
2016: Jen turns 40; Adios to Rivertown Composting; Started GBB remote consulting
2017: Found Narrowsburg/Lava house; Great Nana turns 100; Scott turns 40; Grandpa Fayo turns 85
2018: Papa Porter will turn 70; Plan to move into Narrowsburg/Lava (Jan); travel (all year!)

Namaste, thank you for reading!