Issue 4: Plans Change
From The Editor
September 20, 2019
From the pages of Issue 4: Plans Change
This was a particularly difficult issue for Lauren and me to put out. It may have been that it competed with summer travel plans, or perhaps we’re a tad bit tired now that we’ve reached our one-year mark. There’s the obvious sheer number of stories that we included, a departure from our initial vision of a tight and lean fourth issue. The deviation ensued when I found myself in Nepal with Roz Groenewoud and Julianne Gauron. I met so many fascinating people and my curiosity got the best of me; nothing could be left out. I suppose that’s the nice thing about being the Editor in Chief—you can make those executive decisions. I paid the consequences with a long list of interviews to transcribe, facts to check, and stories to write.
The formation of Issue 4 paralleled our experience cycling through Nepal. Nothing went according to plan (you will read all about this in the photo essay Vayo Pugyo Dhukhyo). While this could have been a devastating realization, we chose to embrace the uncertainty. This decision required that we revel in our naiveté as well, which is something that I’ve found has suited me for quite some time. The truth of the matter is that if we knew everything, we would never be able to execute because we would be so overwhelmed and crippled by the details.
I share this nuanced space of risk and vulnerability with the individuals whom you’ll read about in this issue. From Laxmi, our guide who has chosen a life unheard of for women in Nepal, to Caleb, who relocated his entire family to revolutionize transportation for the working poor, to Jennifer, who is opening up the world to Nepali coffee, there is a common thread that runs throughout stories in Issue 4: No plan survives contact with reality.
While it’s easy to get trapped in the pain and suffering of change, you must also savor the sweet moments in between. That’s in part what keeps you going, whether it’s climbing 8,000 feet as you cycle through the hills of Nepal, launching a new business in an unexplored market, or changing long-standing practices and policies that marginalize and diminish us. The other key ingredient is a community of support, and we found that in our partnership with Liv Cycling. They helped to bring Issue 4 to life, and they championed us despite all of our challenges and changes.
I hope that Issue 4: Plans Change inspires you to embrace uncertainty and challenge the accepted way of existing in this world. If we are able to meld and shift and grow and push, we will be stronger and better prepared for the incredible transformation that’s happening around us.