Alright… so it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything here. The past few months have taken me to the very edge of what my capacity as a fallible human being allows me to cope with. The stress and anxiety I’ve had to persevere through has left me with the sobering after taste of a perspective widening experience.

The past two months have had me working through almost every night, fighting back fatigue, anxiety due to the unknown, fear of failure, the oppression of self-doubt. Fighting to understand and comprehend the complexities of optimisation, robotics, advanced fluid mechanics, vehicle dynamics and control systems.  I’ve just completed my undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering and this is my single greatest achievement in my life so far. I recall times in my 3rd year of studies, having just experienced the tragedy of a family death, when attempting to avoid failure as I worked on my exam pads, pencil in hand and tears literally staining the lines of physics and mathematics.

I recall times of triumph too, having survived my time of grief, when I seemed invincible and I successfully competed in Kickboxing tournaments; shredded my electric guitar on Thursdays and Sundays; read and wrote with prolific constancy; maintained a distinction average in my studies and enjoyed the company of my close friends with diligence and self-control.

I’ve dreamed many dreams and postulated endless possibilities for my future, for the path that I shall take in the years to come. Now it’s finally time to put some of these ideas into practice, to move forward into the world and discover what it all means, discover how I fit into it all.  The world, my faith, my beliefs, my doubts, my causes and my passions. I’m taking on the world as a pathfinder, with only ideas and the perspectives I’ve already gained to guide me.

I’ll be heading off on a bit of a year of discovery, a working, travelling, (vagabonding at times) gap year one might say. I’m going to be attempting to do as many things as I can so as to widen my perspectives on life, the world, myself and God so as to make decisions on what path the rest of my life should take come 2013. I plan to write and note all of my adventures and experiences right here at vagabonddoctrine, I hope to discover the true essence of what has been mostly intuition based up until now.

As far as specifics: The next item on my agenda is an outreach to the LIV-village orphanage in Kwa-zulu Natal in South Africa. I am priviliged enough to have ended up heading up the musical worship aspect of this outreach. In other words, I get to spend the next 17 days of my life with the sole purpose of attempting to live as Jesus taught whilst jamming my guitars with a talented team of musicians.

There are plans for after this, they will unfold as time progresses however. Check back here again to read my updates, thoughts, experiences, ideas.

Peace.

Jack Figure (aka Jeremy)