Episode Transcript
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Joy Bork (00:10):
Welcome to Here We Are.
The podcast where we celebratethe beauty of being a nerd by
learning about nerdy things fromfellow nerds.
I'm your host, Joy Blue.
Today's guest came to us from amoment of openness.
My wife, Brie and I werechecking in at a hotel and had
an extraordinary experience withTim.
(00:31):
On the spot, I knew I had tointerview him.
In today's episode, you're goingto learn all about being
present, questing, curiosity,and so much more.
So without further ado, here'sTim Almodovar to share with us
about his journey questingthrough life.
Tim Almodovar (00:50):
My name is Tim.
I grew up in SouthernCalifornia.
And played sports growing upthroughout my life.
Got a wrestling scholarship topay for college.
Cause my family didn't have themeans send me.
So I went and I tore my knee up.
So that was the end of that.
But I still wanted to go tocollege, I decided.
So I joined the service, got thearmy college fund, GI bill that
(01:12):
allowed me to do that.
And was stationed in Europeduring that time.
So that was a bending moment inmy life to be exposed to
different thoughts, differentideas about living and how it's
supposed to look.
And once you're in one spot,it's easy to travel to other
spots.
So, that was a game changer.
After that, came back toSouthern California and went to
(01:32):
San Diego state.
Graduated with a degree inexercise nutritional sciences.
That's where I started.
And then I veered from therefrom that health field into
mental health and behaviorialhealth.
Mostly working with that riskyouth and their families.
And then transitioned intodifferent areas of that, in-home
service, wilderness therapy.
(01:53):
Worked with seniors for a bit.
And then later worked with youngadults.
Spent some years working withthe homeless.
So a background of social work.
However I need a break from timeto time for my wellbeing.
So I veer off and take a breakinto hospitality.
Still get to interact withpeople, but it's a lighter
endeavor.
Joy Blue (02:13):
And that's where I met you.
My wife and I were checking in
Tim Almodovar (02:17):
Yeah.
Joy Blue (02:17):
at a hotel in lake Tahoe and met you and knew right
away, I just, I needed to talkto you.
You were so interesting and youwere so open.
And willing to share about yourexperiences and I just got so
excited and I'm really excitedto be here talking to you today.
Tim Almodovar (02:32):
Yeah, it's a high volume of people that come
through.
So it's deeply satisfying whenyou make that connection.
When you're able to do that fromtime to time.
So, yeah, I was really glad thatyou ended up in front of me
instead of one of the others.
Joy Blue (02:46):
Yeah, lucky me.
So what do you want to nerd outabout today?
Tim Almodovar (02:50):
Well, there could be a lot of things.
And I like your phrasing ofthat, like nerd out or geek out.
Like you mentioned how we havethe ability to do that.
And for me, it makes me think ofJoseph Campbell, Follow your
bliss." Just that simplestatement, it can change your
life.
And Rumi said,"Be mindful ofwhat moves you and gravitate
(03:14):
towards that." And I thinkthat's essentially what geeking
out is, you know, and it's soinformative.
Like if that moves you, whateverthat is that you geek out about
or nerd out about, thengravitate towards that and
discover.
Joy Blue (03:28):
are you basically saying that that's a different
way of phrasing what do you geekout about?
Tim Almodovar (03:32):
I think so.
I think it's the same thing.
Joy Blue (03:34):
is what does like what does your soul get excited
about?
Tim Almodovar (03:37):
Right.
Exactly.
Exactly.
That's so informative.
And if you can move towardsthat, you begin to cultivate a
life that is satisfying.
Now that's not to say it's notgonna be a grind.
That's what life is.
But you do find that you're notfollowing societal norms, so to
speak, or what it's supposed tolook like, what it's supposed to
(03:57):
be.
Your life is your decision.
This is my decision.
This is what moves me.
I wanna hang out with this orthis, yeah, it's a game changer.
I think.
Joy Blue (04:07):
So, what has been moving your brain recently?
What have you been excited tolearn about?
Tim Almodovar (04:12):
Well, people always.
Um, it's fascinating to me.
Our world.
I like to travel You know thatthe world can be so many
different things to so manydifferent people all at the same
moment.
It's fascinating.
So that, within that, both Igeek out about nature, cause I
love nature.
And for me that's a place to goand recalibrate so to speak.
(04:34):
But I also love cities, andeverything they offer.
So it's a spectrum.
I just feel fortunate to to bewhere I'm at now.
And it's not gonna be long termbecause I bounce from place to
place, but while I'm here, I'min the moment and I've
thoroughly enjoyed this stop.
And you know, there's parts thatare trying always because it's
(04:55):
life, but I'm thankful for theexperience.
Joy Blue (04:58):
So one thing I remember you talking about and
you just hit on it a little bitwas the nomadic nature of your
life.
To this point you've been goingfrom place to place.
What do you look for in a place?
How do you know when your timeis done?
Like, how do you get mycommunity in place after place?
What does that look like foryou?
Tim Almodovar (05:19):
So I've learned when I do venture out somewhere
not to have expectation of whatit's gonna be or what it's gonna
look like or what.
Just go in and take it moment bymoment.
And in the past, I would try toforce something like I I'm gonna
go there.
I'm gonna do that.
And if you force something it'sit seems like some places really
embrace you and some can shooyou away.
(05:40):
So I don't force anymore.
I just have ideas about thingsand I'll let those ideas unfold
and roam.
And then I'll reach out here andthere and when something hits, I
feel like, okay, let's do this,but again, there's no guarantee
how something's gonna turn out.
I don't wanna have anyexpectations cuz then that can
lead to disappointment.
(06:01):
So, I'm open ended on that part.
And as far as leaving, I thinkit's the same thing.
Just staying in the moment, andzooming in and not trying to be
anywhere else, but I'm here now,so I'm fortunate to be here,
let's make this what it can be.
And then I begin to sense okay,I'm ready.
And it's different for everyone,but I'm somewhat of a restless
(06:22):
soul.
I think I've been blessed orsome may even say burdened with
a curious nature where I want tocheck this out now.
I want to check this out now.
So that kind of leads to mebouncing from place to place.
Joy Blue (06:36):
So, one thing I love that you just said is talking
about being here, now, in thepresent.
What kind of things do youpractice?
How do you...cuz being here nowbeing present is a practice.
So what has your journey beenwith learning to be present?
And what does that look like foryou right now?
Tim Almodovar (06:57):
It looks different, but it comes down I
guess, to a, I wanna incorporatea mindfulness to my days, even,
the ordinary aspects of it, butit's still part of the day and
it's still part of theexperience.
One of the things I do, and Ithink I mentioned when I met you
that morning, I like to walk thebeach and zoom in.
And how I do that is beginningwith the walk, I'll just focus
(07:18):
on breathing and then I'll zoomin, on seeing, hearing, feeling.
And just get those thoughts inmy mind.
Seeing, hearing, feeling.
And that would be the sand.
I'm seeing the sand, I'm seeingthe shells, I'm seeing pine
cones.
I'm seeing the pine trees.
I'm seeing the expanse of thelake.
(07:38):
I'm seeing the Sierra Nevada.
I'm seeing someone parasailingover here.
Hearing the water lapping on theshore.
Bird song.
Feeling a cool breeze, thewarmth of the sun.
So now I'm zoomed into themoment.
This is where I am, and I get toexperience this.
(08:01):
And then with that comes agratitude.
You're having this opportunity.
Be mindful of it.
Don't take it for granted.
You're not gonna be hereforever.
It's more a short term stay.
So, I guess those kind ofthings.
Just to be awake, aware of whereI am and what's happening.
Joy Blue (08:19):
What was a turning point in your life that helped
you wake up?
Tim Almodovar (08:23):
I think it was a combination of things.
But I would say the biggestinstrument has been books,
reading.
They inspire.
One of the tattoos I have is DonQuixote.
This guy that he was inspired bybooks and he went out questing.
And so there's some great novelsabout this, but there's also
some obviously real lifecharacters.
So when I was reading aboutthese people, I thought I want
(08:45):
that, I want do that.
I didn't know to what extent.
I wanted to go out and ventureand quest and explore.
And in the novels, in real life,like I mentioned earlier,
there's trials.
That's definitely part of it.
It's a grind.
It's not all sunshine andsmiles.
But I feel like each leap I'vemade, I grow from.
(09:07):
And I want that to be a part ofmy life.
To continue to evolve and growand increase my understanding of
the human condition.
And with that, especially in mywork in social work, I've
learned that if you can increaseyour understanding, with that
comes an increase in empathy.
And there's a connection thatcan be made then.
Joy Blue (09:28):
Yeah, that's beautiful.
And I, I love the difficultsimplicity of what I'm hearing
you say.
Because it is so difficult tostay extremely present when
you're doing something asbeautiful, and as simple, and
yet as complex as walking alonga beach.
And choosing where your focus isgoing to be and choosing to be
(09:52):
present, like it is such achoice.
I can tell this has been apractice for you over your years
of being a quester, as I heardyou say.
And you do strike me as such agrounded presence.
And I think that's one of thethings I saw when I met you the
first time was like, oh, thisdude knows what's up.
Like you're present.
(10:12):
You're here.
You were both with us at thedesk and with the task that you
needed to do.
And I felt seen and understoodby you.
Even in that smallness of theinteraction and that speaks to
how much work you've done.
Which is frankly beautiful.
(10:32):
So thank you for sharing thatwith us.
What have been some of yournotable quests?
Tim Almodovar (10:37):
So, I guess a big one was I needed a break.
I just wanted to go somewhereand veg out.
So I just bought a ticket toCosta Rica and I was gonna be
there three months.
And I was just gonna surf and dosome hiking, but just chill.
So a week in, I meet somebodywho had been there a few times
(11:01):
before, a fellow surfer and hesaid, let's go to the Caribbean
side.
And I was like, yeah.
Okay.
So we did that.
He said there's this great spot,Boca Del Toro in Panama right
here, let's go over there.
And I was like, OK, yeah, I cango to Panama.
And then there, I met a group ofsurfers who had a lot more means
(11:23):
than I did.
So they were gonna go acrosscentral America and along the
way, you know, stop here and getscuba certified.
Stop here.
And they were like, yeah, comewith us.
And I, I could not afford theywere doing.
But the interaction clicked offsomething.
And I thought that soundsamazing, you know, Do consider
(11:44):
that instead of just chillingout here for a few months, how
about just taking off andquesting?
So I decided to do it solo and Ididn't have a guidebook.
I didn't really speak thelanguage.
I had a very basic knowledgegrasp of Spanish.
And so I did through centralAmericans, three months later, I
(12:05):
came out on the border of SanDiego.
I have a brother there, so Ijust called and said, I just got
back in the country.
I'm headed your way.
And when I got on the trolley,head that direction.
That was, I think the mostdeeply satisfying.
Like there was like dancing inmy chest.
Like what you just did is gonnachange everything moving
(12:28):
forward, because I wasn'tprepared.
Leap and the net will appear Itwas the grind again, but I had
help from generous souls alongthe way.
And it informed me in part whatI was capable of.
That changed everything.
Joy Blue (12:43):
I think what I'm hearing you say is that on that
journey of taking a leap toadventure into ways that you
hadn't before, you learned totrust yourself in a new way, did
I hear that right?
Tim Almodovar (12:56):
Yeah.
And then trust that I wascapable, and it can work out.
And yes, it's dangerous whenyou're doing something like
that.
There was that risk.
But again, not speaking thelanguage, not having a guide
book, not just winging it and,it took meeting people and
acquiring information.
so
Joy Blue (13:13):
Yeah.
Didn't Joseph Campbell write TheHero's Journey as well?
Tim Almodovar (13:16):
Yes,
Joy Blue (13:16):
So that comes back to the hero's journey.
It sounds like in the quest youfound in yourself what you
needed to be able to take thenext step.
Tim Almodovar (13:24):
Yes, absolutely.
And he, he writes to, I forgotwhere, which book, but he writes
that we get the adventure we'reready for, so there's a part
where you have to take thosesteps towards it, into that
unknown.
Joy Blue (13:41):
So along the path of that quest of the unknown, what
were some of the gems?
What did you discover?
Tim Almodovar (13:47):
The generosity of people.
Yeah.
There was one stretch where Iwas taking local transportation
throughout the way.
And I hadn't seen a westernerfor a couple of days and I ended
up, jumping on the wrong bus andI didn't know where I was.
To where, I got dropped off andI was wandering the streets and
a woman and her two sons, twosmall sons, she saw me and I
(14:10):
guess she could see like thisguy doesn't know where he is at
or what's happened.
And she can sense that.
And with the language barrier,she came up and like put her
hand on my shoulder and I knew,to ask for a bus station.
I knew that.
She was like, yeah, she took meand I don't know if I would've
ever found it.
it was crazy.
Went through this, like thisbizarre, this market.
(14:31):
And then it opens up into thisdirt lot, which is the bus.
And then she takes me in thereand explains where I needed to
go.
So it was almost like a, anangel.
So I don't know if that person,like, in that situation, if
somebody else was walking by, Idon't know.
But that put me back on course.
Cause I was off course.
And there was some anxiety withthat because I was on my own,
(14:53):
and because no one knew where Iwas, you know, back home.
Joy Blue (14:58):
Yeah.
Tim Almodovar (14:59):
So it could have went very wrong there.
and
Joy Blue (15:03):
You found another human that was present.
And in her ability to present,she saw you in the state that
you were in
Tim Almodovar (15:10):
.Yeah.
So even when we are adventuringsolo, we're not alone
necessarily.
yeah.
There's some generous souls outthere that are awake and are
mindful.
She was one of'em.
She was able to pick up on whatwas happening and offered to
help.
Joy Blue (15:25):
That is beautiful.
Tim Almodovar (15:26):
for her.
Joy Blue (15:27):
For listeners who are interested in practicing
mindfulness, what would you saywould be a good start?
What would be a good practiceto, to begin with?
Tim Almodovar (15:38):
Just taking a look at the day, for instance,
like when you woke up, what didyou do?
What was the first thing?
And then what did you dothroughout the day?
This happened, how did you feel?
What was the situation?
Just zooming in on thoseordinary moments, they don't
have to be extraordinary andjust the ordinary and that's
(15:59):
informative.
Not just of what took place thatday, but who picture of who you
are.
Because if you're looking at howyou're feeling about certain
things and what took place, andwhat was that about then you're
understanding more about you,who you are currently.
When I worked with the youth,often, we would be working on
(16:20):
them because of propertydestruction, violence because
based on what they were feelingat a certain time, so we would
try to communicate clearlywhatever you're feeling, there's
nothing wrong with that.
That's absolutely fine.
There's nothing wrong with that.
We have to work on how youexpress that, how it's
manifested, but the feelingitself, there's nothing wrong
(16:42):
with just informing you of whoyou are.
Joy Blue (16:45):
Mm-hmm Hmm.
So what I'm hearing you say iswhat you found helpful in your
practice is to have anexperience of being zoomed in.
For you, nature is reallyimportant.
So that's the experience of yourmorning zoom in walk, and also
at the end of the day to do areview
Tim Almodovar (17:05):
and sometimes in the moment.
If I'm moved in a moment, and ifI have an opportunity, a pause
there, I can take a look atthat.
And you know, why'd you feelthat, what was that about?
And sometimes I can identify andother times like, okay, well you
need to work that a little bit.
I just reread a book, The SnowLeopard by Peter Matthiessen,
(17:27):
and it's a thoughtful book.
There's a lot going on.
But there's a theme.
He's tracking in Himalayas.
But there's a theme with hiscounterparts, the Sherpas and
the porters.
And he gives emphasis sprinkledthroughout the book of these
situations that were like, Ugh.
But they would just laughbecause they had this level of
acceptance of whatever's gonnacome their way.
(17:50):
And he wrote at one point itshamed me.
Because you know how he would'vereacted or us Westerners in
general.
So I'm hanging, I've beenhanging out with that, like
reaching a place of acceptanceof whatever's gonna come my way
rather than the opposite of whatwe're accustomed to doing.
Joy Blue (18:06):
That is beautiful.
Thank you so much for sharingyour time and sharing your
experience.
I'm really grateful for you.
Tim Almodovar (18:14):
Likewise, Joy, thank you so much.
I'm glad our paths crossed.
Joy Blue (18:18):
So here we are.
Wow.
There is so much to process fromthat interview.
Being mindful (18:25):
seeing, hearing, and feeling.
Being present and accepting ofwhat is in the here and now.
Being open to the quest in frontof us.
And knowing that we've alreadygot what we need to take the
next step.
What a gift this interview is.
Thank you so much, Tim, for yourgraciousness and sharing with
(18:46):
us.
If you've got a flavor of nerdthat you want me to celebrate, I
would love to hear all about it.
So go ahead and email me atherewearethepodcast@gmail.com
and tell me everything.
And I mean it.
I love taking time to sit andmake space for nerd to be
celebrated.
If you really liked this podcastand want to financially support
(19:07):
what I'm doing, head on over topatreon.com, search for Here We
Are the Podcast and sign up forone of the beautifully and
sassily written support tiersthat I'm very proud of.
So until next time, don't forgetthat curiosity wins and the
world needs more nerds.
Bye
Welcome to Here We Are.
The podcast where we celebratethe beauty of being a nerd by
learning about nerdy things fromfellow nerds.
I'm your host, Joy Blue.
Today's guest came to us from amoment of openness.
My wife, Brie and I werechecking in at a hotel and had
an extraordinary experience withTim.
(00:31):
On the spot, I knew I had tointerview him.
In today's episode, you're goingto learn all about being
present, questing, curiosity,and so much more.
So without further ado, here'sTim Almodovar to share with us
about his journey questingthrough life.
Tim Almodovar (00:50):
My name is Tim.
I grew up in SouthernCalifornia.
And played sports growing upthroughout my life.
Got a wrestling scholarship topay for college.
Cause my family didn't have themeans send me.
So I went and I tore my knee up.
So that was the end of that.
But I still wanted to go tocollege, I decided.
So I joined the service, got thearmy college fund, GI bill that
(01:12):
allowed me to do that.
And was stationed in Europeduring that time.
So that was a bending moment inmy life to be exposed to
different thoughts, differentideas about living and how it's
supposed to look.
And once you're in one spot,it's easy to travel to other
spots.
So, that was a game changer.
After that, came back toSouthern California and went to
(01:32):
San Diego state.
Graduated with a degree inexercise nutritional sciences.
That's where I started.
And then I veered from therefrom that health field into
mental health and behaviorialhealth.
Mostly working with that riskyouth and their families.
And then transitioned intodifferent areas of that, in-home
service, wilderness therapy.
(01:53):
Worked with seniors for a bit.
And then later worked with youngadults.
Spent some years working withthe homeless.
So a background of social work.
However I need a break from timeto time for my wellbeing.
So I veer off and take a breakinto hospitality.
Still get to interact withpeople, but it's a lighter
endeavor.
Joy Blue (02:13):
And that's where I met you.
My wife and I were checking in
Tim Almodovar (02:17):
Yeah.
Joy Blue (02:17):
at a hotel in lake Tahoe and met you and knew right
away, I just, I needed to talkto you.
You were so interesting and youwere so open.
And willing to share about yourexperiences and I just got so
excited and I'm really excitedto be here talking to you today.
Tim Almodovar (02:32):
Yeah, it's a high volume of people that come
through.
So it's deeply satisfying whenyou make that connection.
When you're able to do that fromtime to time.
So, yeah, I was really glad thatyou ended up in front of me
instead of one of the others.
Joy Blue (02:46):
Yeah, lucky me.
So what do you want to nerd outabout today?
Tim Almodovar (02:50):
Well, there could be a lot of things.
And I like your phrasing ofthat, like nerd out or geek out.
Like you mentioned how we havethe ability to do that.
And for me, it makes me think ofJoseph Campbell, Follow your
bliss." Just that simplestatement, it can change your
life.
And Rumi said,"Be mindful ofwhat moves you and gravitate
(03:14):
towards that." And I thinkthat's essentially what geeking
out is, you know, and it's soinformative.
Like if that moves you, whateverthat is that you geek out about
or nerd out about, thengravitate towards that and
discover.
Joy Blue (03:28):
are you basically saying that that's a different
way of phrasing what do you geekout about?
Tim Almodovar (03:32):
I think so.
I think it's the same thing.
Joy Blue (03:34):
is what does like what does your soul get excited
about?
Tim Almodovar (03:37):
Right.
Exactly.
Exactly.
That's so informative.
And if you can move towardsthat, you begin to cultivate a
life that is satisfying.
Now that's not to say it's notgonna be a grind.
That's what life is.
But you do find that you're notfollowing societal norms, so to
speak, or what it's supposed tolook like, what it's supposed to
(03:57):
be.
Your life is your decision.
This is my decision.
This is what moves me.
I wanna hang out with this orthis, yeah, it's a game changer.
I think.
Joy Blue (04:07):
So, what has been moving your brain recently?
What have you been excited tolearn about?
Tim Almodovar (04:12):
Well, people always.
Um, it's fascinating to me.
Our world.
I like to travel You know thatthe world can be so many
different things to so manydifferent people all at the same
moment.
It's fascinating.
So that, within that, both Igeek out about nature, cause I
love nature.
And for me that's a place to goand recalibrate so to speak.
(04:34):
But I also love cities, andeverything they offer.
So it's a spectrum.
I just feel fortunate to to bewhere I'm at now.
And it's not gonna be long termbecause I bounce from place to
place, but while I'm here, I'min the moment and I've
thoroughly enjoyed this stop.
And you know, there's parts thatare trying always because it's
(04:55):
life, but I'm thankful for theexperience.
Joy Blue (04:58):
So one thing I remember you talking about and
you just hit on it a little bitwas the nomadic nature of your
life.
To this point you've been goingfrom place to place.
What do you look for in a place?
How do you know when your timeis done?
Like, how do you get mycommunity in place after place?
What does that look like foryou?
Tim Almodovar (05:19):
So I've learned when I do venture out somewhere
not to have expectation of whatit's gonna be or what it's gonna
look like or what.
Just go in and take it moment bymoment.
And in the past, I would try toforce something like I I'm gonna
go there.
I'm gonna do that.
And if you force something it'sit seems like some places really
embrace you and some can shooyou away.
(05:40):
So I don't force anymore.
I just have ideas about thingsand I'll let those ideas unfold
and roam.
And then I'll reach out here andthere and when something hits, I
feel like, okay, let's do this,but again, there's no guarantee
how something's gonna turn out.
I don't wanna have anyexpectations cuz then that can
lead to disappointment.
(06:01):
So, I'm open ended on that part.
And as far as leaving, I thinkit's the same thing.
Just staying in the moment, andzooming in and not trying to be
anywhere else, but I'm here now,so I'm fortunate to be here,
let's make this what it can be.
And then I begin to sense okay,I'm ready.
And it's different for everyone,but I'm somewhat of a restless
(06:22):
soul.
I think I've been blessed orsome may even say burdened with
a curious nature where I want tocheck this out now.
I want to check this out now.
So that kind of leads to mebouncing from place to place.
Joy Blue (06:36):
So, one thing I love that you just said is talking
about being here, now, in thepresent.
What kind of things do youpractice?
How do you...cuz being here nowbeing present is a practice.
So what has your journey beenwith learning to be present?
And what does that look like foryou right now?
Tim Almodovar (06:57):
It looks different, but it comes down I
guess, to a, I wanna incorporatea mindfulness to my days, even,
the ordinary aspects of it, butit's still part of the day and
it's still part of theexperience.
One of the things I do, and Ithink I mentioned when I met you
that morning, I like to walk thebeach and zoom in.
And how I do that is beginningwith the walk, I'll just focus
(07:18):
on breathing and then I'll zoomin, on seeing, hearing, feeling.
And just get those thoughts inmy mind.
Seeing, hearing, feeling.
And that would be the sand.
I'm seeing the sand, I'm seeingthe shells, I'm seeing pine
cones.
I'm seeing the pine trees.
I'm seeing the expanse of thelake.
(07:38):
I'm seeing the Sierra Nevada.
I'm seeing someone parasailingover here.
Hearing the water lapping on theshore.
Bird song.
Feeling a cool breeze, thewarmth of the sun.
So now I'm zoomed into themoment.
This is where I am, and I get toexperience this.
(08:01):
And then with that comes agratitude.
You're having this opportunity.
Be mindful of it.
Don't take it for granted.
You're not gonna be hereforever.
It's more a short term stay.
So, I guess those kind ofthings.
Just to be awake, aware of whereI am and what's happening.
Joy Blue (08:19):
What was a turning point in your life that helped
you wake up?
Tim Almodovar (08:23):
I think it was a combination of things.
But I would say the biggestinstrument has been books,
reading.
They inspire.
One of the tattoos I have is DonQuixote.
This guy that he was inspired bybooks and he went out questing.
And so there's some great novelsabout this, but there's also
some obviously real lifecharacters.
So when I was reading aboutthese people, I thought I want
(08:45):
that, I want do that.
I didn't know to what extent.
I wanted to go out and ventureand quest and explore.
And in the novels, in real life,like I mentioned earlier,
there's trials.
That's definitely part of it.
It's a grind.
It's not all sunshine andsmiles.
But I feel like each leap I'vemade, I grow from.
(09:07):
And I want that to be a part ofmy life.
To continue to evolve and growand increase my understanding of
the human condition.
And with that, especially in mywork in social work, I've
learned that if you can increaseyour understanding, with that
comes an increase in empathy.
And there's a connection thatcan be made then.
Joy Blue (09:28):
Yeah, that's beautiful.
And I, I love the difficultsimplicity of what I'm hearing
you say.
Because it is so difficult tostay extremely present when
you're doing something asbeautiful, and as simple, and
yet as complex as walking alonga beach.
And choosing where your focus isgoing to be and choosing to be
(09:52):
present, like it is such achoice.
I can tell this has been apractice for you over your years
of being a quester, as I heardyou say.
And you do strike me as such agrounded presence.
And I think that's one of thethings I saw when I met you the
first time was like, oh, thisdude knows what's up.
Like you're present.
(10:12):
You're here.
You were both with us at thedesk and with the task that you
needed to do.
And I felt seen and understoodby you.
Even in that smallness of theinteraction and that speaks to
how much work you've done.
Which is frankly beautiful.
(10:32):
So thank you for sharing thatwith us.
What have been some of yournotable quests?
Tim Almodovar (10:37):
So, I guess a big one was I needed a break.
I just wanted to go somewhereand veg out.
So I just bought a ticket toCosta Rica and I was gonna be
there three months.
And I was just gonna surf and dosome hiking, but just chill.
So a week in, I meet somebodywho had been there a few times
(11:01):
before, a fellow surfer and hesaid, let's go to the Caribbean
side.
And I was like, yeah.
Okay.
So we did that.
He said there's this great spot,Boca Del Toro in Panama right
here, let's go over there.
And I was like, OK, yeah, I cango to Panama.
And then there, I met a group ofsurfers who had a lot more means
(11:23):
than I did.
So they were gonna go acrosscentral America and along the
way, you know, stop here and getscuba certified.
Stop here.
And they were like, yeah, comewith us.
And I, I could not afford theywere doing.
But the interaction clicked offsomething.
And I thought that soundsamazing, you know, Do consider
(11:44):
that instead of just chillingout here for a few months, how
about just taking off andquesting?
So I decided to do it solo and Ididn't have a guidebook.
I didn't really speak thelanguage.
I had a very basic knowledgegrasp of Spanish.
And so I did through centralAmericans, three months later, I
(12:05):
came out on the border of SanDiego.
I have a brother there, so Ijust called and said, I just got
back in the country.
I'm headed your way.
And when I got on the trolley,head that direction.
That was, I think the mostdeeply satisfying.
Like there was like dancing inmy chest.
Like what you just did is gonnachange everything moving
(12:28):
forward, because I wasn'tprepared.
Leap and the net will appear Itwas the grind again, but I had
help from generous souls alongthe way.
And it informed me in part whatI was capable of.
That changed everything.
Joy Blue (12:43):
I think what I'm hearing you say is that on that
journey of taking a leap toadventure into ways that you
hadn't before, you learned totrust yourself in a new way, did
I hear that right?
Tim Almodovar (12:56):
Yeah.
And then trust that I wascapable, and it can work out.
And yes, it's dangerous whenyou're doing something like
that.
There was that risk.
But again, not speaking thelanguage, not having a guide
book, not just winging it and,it took meeting people and
acquiring information.
so
Joy Blue (13:13):
Yeah.
Didn't Joseph Campbell write TheHero's Journey as well?
Tim Almodovar (13:16):
Yes,
Joy Blue (13:16):
So that comes back to the hero's journey.
It sounds like in the quest youfound in yourself what you
needed to be able to take thenext step.
Tim Almodovar (13:24):
Yes, absolutely.
And he, he writes to, I forgotwhere, which book, but he writes
that we get the adventure we'reready for, so there's a part
where you have to take thosesteps towards it, into that
unknown.
Joy Blue (13:41):
So along the path of that quest of the unknown, what
were some of the gems?
What did you discover?
Tim Almodovar (13:47):
The generosity of people.
Yeah.
There was one stretch where Iwas taking local transportation
throughout the way.
And I hadn't seen a westernerfor a couple of days and I ended
up, jumping on the wrong bus andI didn't know where I was.
To where, I got dropped off andI was wandering the streets and
a woman and her two sons, twosmall sons, she saw me and I
(14:10):
guess she could see like thisguy doesn't know where he is at
or what's happened.
And she can sense that.
And with the language barrier,she came up and like put her
hand on my shoulder and I knew,to ask for a bus station.
I knew that.
She was like, yeah, she took meand I don't know if I would've
ever found it.
it was crazy.
Went through this, like thisbizarre, this market.
(14:31):
And then it opens up into thisdirt lot, which is the bus.
And then she takes me in thereand explains where I needed to
go.
So it was almost like a, anangel.
So I don't know if that person,like, in that situation, if
somebody else was walking by, Idon't know.
But that put me back on course.
Cause I was off course.
And there was some anxiety withthat because I was on my own,
(14:53):
and because no one knew where Iwas, you know, back home.
Joy Blue (14:58):
Yeah.
Tim Almodovar (14:59):
So it could have went very wrong there.
and
Joy Blue (15:03):
You found another human that was present.
And in her ability to present,she saw you in the state that
you were in
Tim Almodovar (15:10):
.Yeah.
So even when we are adventuringsolo, we're not alone
necessarily.
yeah.
There's some generous souls outthere that are awake and are
mindful.
She was one of'em.
She was able to pick up on whatwas happening and offered to
help.
Joy Blue (15:25):
That is beautiful.
Tim Almodovar (15:26):
for her.
Joy Blue (15:27):
For listeners who are interested in practicing
mindfulness, what would you saywould be a good start?
What would be a good practiceto, to begin with?
Tim Almodovar (15:38):
Just taking a look at the day, for instance,
like when you woke up, what didyou do?
What was the first thing?
And then what did you dothroughout the day?
This happened, how did you feel?
What was the situation?
Just zooming in on thoseordinary moments, they don't
have to be extraordinary andjust the ordinary and that's
(15:59):
informative.
Not just of what took place thatday, but who picture of who you
are.
Because if you're looking at howyou're feeling about certain
things and what took place, andwhat was that about then you're
understanding more about you,who you are currently.
When I worked with the youth,often, we would be working on
(16:20):
them because of propertydestruction, violence because
based on what they were feelingat a certain time, so we would
try to communicate clearlywhatever you're feeling, there's
nothing wrong with that.
That's absolutely fine.
There's nothing wrong with that.
We have to work on how youexpress that, how it's
manifested, but the feelingitself, there's nothing wrong
(16:42):
with just informing you of whoyou are.
Joy Blue (16:45):
Mm-hmm Hmm.
So what I'm hearing you say iswhat you found helpful in your
practice is to have anexperience of being zoomed in.
For you, nature is reallyimportant.
So that's the experience of yourmorning zoom in walk, and also
at the end of the day to do areview
Tim Almodovar (17:05):
and sometimes in the moment.
If I'm moved in a moment, and ifI have an opportunity, a pause
there, I can take a look atthat.
And you know, why'd you feelthat, what was that about?
And sometimes I can identify andother times like, okay, well you
need to work that a little bit.
I just reread a book, The SnowLeopard by Peter Matthiessen,
(17:27):
and it's a thoughtful book.
There's a lot going on.
But there's a theme.
He's tracking in Himalayas.
But there's a theme with hiscounterparts, the Sherpas and
the porters.
And he gives emphasis sprinkledthroughout the book of these
situations that were like, Ugh.
But they would just laughbecause they had this level of
acceptance of whatever's gonnacome their way.
(17:50):
And he wrote at one point itshamed me.
Because you know how he would'vereacted or us Westerners in
general.
So I'm hanging, I've beenhanging out with that, like
reaching a place of acceptanceof whatever's gonna come my way
rather than the opposite of whatwe're accustomed to doing.
Joy Blue (18:06):
That is beautiful.
Thank you so much for sharingyour time and sharing your
experience.
I'm really grateful for you.
Tim Almodovar (18:14):
Likewise, Joy, thank you so much.
I'm glad our paths crossed.
Joy Blue (18:18):
So here we are.
Wow.
There is so much to process fromthat interview.
Being mindful (18:25):
seeing, hearing, and feeling.
Being present and accepting ofwhat is in the here and now.
Being open to the quest in frontof us.
And knowing that we've alreadygot what we need to take the
next step.
What a gift this interview is.
Thank you so much, Tim, for yourgraciousness and sharing with
(18:46):
us.
If you've got a flavor of nerdthat you want me to celebrate, I
would love to hear all about it.
So go ahead and email me atherewearethepodcast@gmail.com
and tell me everything.
And I mean it.
I love taking time to sit andmake space for nerd to be
celebrated.
If you really liked this podcastand want to financially support
(19:07):
what I'm doing, head on over topatreon.com, search for Here We
Are the Podcast and sign up forone of the beautifully and
sassily written support tiersthat I'm very proud of.
So until next time, don't forgetthat curiosity wins and the
world needs more nerds.
Bye
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