I vaguely promised that I would provide an explanation for the title of this blog, The Lonely Tribalist. And here is that explanation in a nutshell.
It wasn’t easy for me. I was born a poor black child. 4 years ago, a guy bothered me at a Barnes and Noble discount table, breaking my focus from all the books I wasn’t going to buy. He persisted, despite my taciturn awkwardness, and was able to give me a fluttery impression in my chest by the end of a 45 minute “insta-date.” He slipped me his e-mail, even after ascertaining that it would be useless to get my number.
This man was Moose.
I’ll spare the sappy details for now. But what Moose introduced to me was a radical perspective of viewing people as super social animals. Just as wolves thrive in packs, buffalo in herds, and ravens in murders (you do you, ravens, you do you), the human animal thrives in tribes. And yet, while I’m surrounded by 8 billion people on Earth with the technology to talk to almost every single one of them with the touch of a button, I am still alone.
“The Lonely Tribalist” was a moniker I came up with for my partner Moose, a self-taught student of sustainable anthropology, of Daniel Quinn and Noam Chomsky and countless other authors offering paradigm shifts at the cost of a person’s sanity. There is great knowledge and even some wisdom in those works. But how to apply any of it?
Moose traveled the world, discovering activism in his late teens/early twenties in South America, experiencing homelessness and the subsequent charity in Scandinavia, and living as a lone traveler for years across the United States. He’s had friends and lost friends. He’s loved, been loved, gotten laid, and had his heart tremendously broken.
I’d like to share one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite writing thinkers:
“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to be so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” – Albert Camus
This blog is not his story nor is it solely mine. I seek to take the daily inspiration I get from him and turn it into our story. Me and him. Him and you. You and us. We’re no longer going to settle for preaching tribalism while still leading solitary, anonymous lives. Escaping to the woods only to live by our lonesome or hiding out in a commune with little hope for personal fulfillment is not for us. The way to win, to die truly happy is to free ourselves from as many of the chains and mercurial confines that our society has facetiously blanketed us with.
The title of this blog is something I hope to make obsolete. No more lonely tribalists – just tribalists. Welcome to the journey of the cutest MoFos you will never meet (see figures 1, 2, and 3 below).
But if we ever do meet, make sure you pick up a complimentary hug before leaving.
Cheers,
Michelle (& Moose, somewhere around here)
This is awesome. I didn’t read your intro first, I kinda just skipped to the other stuff. But this is quite an introduction! I have just one question. Is Moose his real name? Nickname? If Moose is his real name, that’s awesome.
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Glad you liked it 😀 And Moose definitely isn’t his real name. It’s a nickname he got while we were hitchhiking a few years ago. I’ve been thinking of dedicating a whole post to it, but I can tell you: yes, the story does involve an actual moose 🙂
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I loved reading this. It’s beautiful how two people who seem so different can work together and create a work of art.
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Blushes all around 😀 Thank you!
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What an awesome intro… I’m excited to be following you two 🙂
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Thanks for all the love!
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Love this! I’ve enjoyed what I’ve read on here and I’m looking forward to more!
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Thank you muchly!
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The Albert Camus quote is one of my favorites! I love him. My favorite by him is the one about the invincible summer; I’d hate to butcher it trying to type it out properly.
Thanks for sharing, and following!
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I love a good Camus quote, so I just had to Google it… ““In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger – something better, pushing right back.”
That IS a great quote!
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I actually just made a binder of quotations on a myriad of topics for my son for his 8th birthday (he’s precocious), and the original Camus quote in your post was one of the ones I included. 🙂
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That’s a really cool gift idea. Precocious, indeed! I want someone to make a gift like that for me 😀 Good on you!
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Well, to start you off, feel free to check out this post I made last week of quotes. https://ananonymousoutsider.wordpress.com/2015/09/08/on-quotations-part-i/
My “Favorite Quotes” folder at home has over 600, so I’m going to release them in batches at a time. That’s the plan, anyway. 🙂
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You’re amazing! This site is amazing! I can’t wait to read every. single. post. Seriously though! I love learning from new perspectives and hearing stories, that’s one of the reasons I started blogging.
P.S Major thanks for the shout out on your page! I truly appreciate it! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy knowing that I’m not the only on who reads my posts!
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I’m glad I could fill you with both warmth and fuzz. I love that feeling, as well. It reassures me that there are like minds out there. Thank you for your kind words and I’m looking forward to reading more of your blog, as well!
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Like the steve martin reference, and really like the moniker. That describes quite a lot of us at times, and is ironic in today’s heavily populated world.
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Thanks 🙂 And exactly. The name just feels so right (sadly). But we’ll try to make the best of it rather than fall into a pit of despair.
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