Who I Am

This is already my tenth post, and I realize that while I initially introduced what I was doing, I skipped over the details of who is doing it.  I originally assumed that anyone taking the time to read this would probably already know who I am.  I honestly have no idea who would ever read it, but as noted before, I am okay with that, but it is publicly posted on the internet, so there is a balance to be found in regards to how much information it is wise to blindly share with the public.  I intend to share stories and discuss specific issues I am dealing with, but have not determined what degree of detail to include.  This is one of the reasons that my posts until now have addressed very general philosophical points and issues.  I will have to feel out one step at a time how far into specifics and details to go.  This will be the first step in that direction.

"Who am I?" can be a very deep and complicated question, that I don't really have a concise answer to, but I will start with some basic factual details.  If someone made a wanted poster for me, it would probably say: 27 year old white male, average height and build.  Wanted: for ignoring social conventions and fashion rules. (And maybe if I am lucky, unarmed and extremely dangerous;)

I grew up in the same house most of my life, just outside of town.  Both sides of my family are Catholic, although I in no way consider myself to be.  I will stick with the label of non-denominational Christian for now.  My parents are recently divorced, but on good terms.  I have one younger brother, who is technically a rocket scientist, and a car fanatic.  I am equal parts Irish, Italian, Austrian, and the last quarter is a little murky.  I am known for being patient, deliberate, precise, and persistent.  I come from a long line of engineers on both sides of my family.  I graduated with a degree in Multimedia and Computer Science.

At this point, I split my time between two reasonably separate existences.  In one, I am the technical whiz-kid who helped build a cutting edge video production company in Hollywood.  In the other, I lead high adventure activities at a Christian camp, primarily focused on climbing and team building on ropes courses elements, which is beginning to grow into constructing and maintaining other courses as well.

They are two very different worlds, but they each add an important degree of balance to my life.  God has provided me with a natural understanding of technology, a gift I would feel I was wasting if I didn't have a productive outlet for those abilities.  But I feel more at peace in less crowded places, and out in God's creation. (God created the whole earth, but man created nearly everything you see in LA)  That is one of the key factors that led to me working at summer camp for many years.  I also naturally find myself comfortable working at great heights, which has led me to enjoy working on ropes courses.  I value both using the courses to help other people grow, and climbing up there myself, for maintenance and rescues.  At this point I am exploring the idea of pursuing work in that field outside the context of summer camp, but I am still figuring out the details of how I want to go about doing that.

This is all just a starting point in describing who I am.  Fleshing out the more specific details is part of what writing all of this is intended to help me better understand.  It remains to be seen whether that will actually work, but it has got me thinking about things in new ways, so that is a pretty good start.