I haven’t taken the time to write a post for some time due to my class load this fall term; the work has been more challenging than I had anticipated. It has caused me to question myself and my place in the world for the second time this last decade. I see now there is still much I do not know and can’t possibly grasp about life and the various ways people live and die on earth. I have a lot of work to do still. One of those areas is with what I do in the world, and how I go about creating something I value which can be useful to others as well.
I am not a typical college student in that I am older than most. Much of the material we cover are things I have heard about before, although I have not immersed myself in them as much as I could have. I am not learning about environmental issues or economic inequality for the first time, but I have to consider them in different and more thoughtful ways. Before college, I was in the military. I also spent time in law enforcement. I went through a three-year philosophic and spiritual mentorship program. I thought I had learned much about life and that school would be a review of what I thought I knew so well.
But school has not allowed me to rest with what I thought I knew. It has shown me I know almost nothing. Harvard (and please do not think I am dropping this name for recognition or bragging rights. Although, as someone who did not graduate from high school, I am proud and lucky to be able to attend), has structured its courses in philosophy, material resources, government, and others, more intelligently than I would have thought before I was accepted as a degree-seeking student. I believed I was immune to these large upheavals in life. I believed I could handle anything that education could bring because I had been through worse before and came out on top.
This has not been the case. These last few months I have found myself standing over what I can only describe as the tatters of yet another uniform, or at least an identity I was trying desperately to turn into a uniform. What I thought about life was no longer valid. I was naked in the world yet again with no uniform or concrete identity to shield me. I felt as if I was back at square one. I was not nearly as smart or as perfect as I hoped I was.
But some things serve as constants in life, and they have resurfaced as I try to grow. Hiking and exploring are two of them; watches are the third. No matter what happens in life or what I learn or realize I do not know, my love for the mountains and trails and animals which live in them does not wane. Neither does my love for the little ticking machine I wear on my left wrist. I can’t imagine exploring without a watch, nor can I imagine a watch without explorations to wear it on. This enjoyment is one of the few things which does not diminish as I learn how life will be very different from what I had hoped. The watches may not be the same, but the idea of what a watch can be is. It is a companion through good and bad times, through confusion and triumph.
EscapementSV was something I started to do in my spare time because I love watches. I thought it would help me to justify the obsession I had with watches to those in my life who thought I was strange for loving them so much. I believed that if I wrote about them, these people would not give me such a difficult time about my oddities. I thought I may even be able to make some money, as I had very little (I still have every little). I found people who were willing to help by loaning me watches or by fronting me money to buy them with the contingency that I sell them when I was done to repay the loan. This has worked out so far, but it means the number of watches I have been able to cover has been low. It has allowed me to learn what owning a particular watch is like, although I feel I am not on the level of other watch writers because I did not have access to the latest watches.
My thinking on this has changed, though. I have learned more about the damage unanalyzed consumerism does to the world and people. The newest, greatest watch is not necessarily everything it is cracked up to be. With no disrespect meant to those in the industry, I want to do something different than the typical review format. I want to use the watches I am fortunate enough to obtain as I live life, not just write one article about them before moving on. I want to live with them and explore and learn while wearing them. I want to become familiar with them and grow while creating memories and surviving life’s ups and downs.
So, moving forward I will continue to only write pieces that are not quick introductions based on limited time with a watch. I will buy the watches I want and wear them as I explore the world and try and piece together a life of meaning and purpose. I will do my best to respect them for what they are and respect those who design, engineer, assemble, distribute, and sell them to people like you and me. I will work on reminding myself that there is more to a watch than the finished piece, and it is with reverence I will regard all those who make and sell them. Because without these people, this constant source of enjoyment in life would not exist, and I would be worse off for it.
COVID has made traveling abroad more difficult, but this will not stop me from exploring Idaho or the west. And when the time comes, I will take these watches to Africa to work with elephants, Europe to follow in the footsteps of Nietzsche and Einstein, and the Middle East to see where civilization first emerged. I want to show the environmental impact watchmaking has on the world and how brands are working hard to address the impact of their products on the planet. I have already created works for school about my IWC Top Gun and the origins of its materials, and I will publish that here in its entirety in due time. I will expand these pursuits, so we can all be better informed about where our watches come from and how they impact the planet, and the people involved in the various steps of watchmaking.
I am lucky to have watches in my life, and that other people enjoy them as well. I do not believe they are unnecessary luxury items from the past that modern technology has outdated. They are essential, and as I work on moving farther away from the distraction of digital technology, watches become further entwined with my life. I am grateful to have a watch on my wrist and experience these objects as I live. What a great thing it is to have a passion and do work in the world which is a direct result of this passion.
Thank you very much for reading and looking at my site. It means more to me than I can say.
EscapementSV 