Jedidiah Jenkins: The Pursuit of Wonder, The Power of Story & Finding Truth in Adventure
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“The choice to pursue a dream, at the destruction of my comfort, with the loss of safety and certainty, all for the purpose of doing something that inspires others to a fuller life of wonder and creativity and quality, to me that is a burden of responsibility worth carrying. To me, that is growing up.”
Jedidiah Jenkins
Author, global adventurer, social entrepreneur, human rights activist & lawyer, filmmaker and overall beautiful human.
All of these labels certainly befit today’s guest, yet all somehow manage to fall short.
I can’t quite recall how Jedidiah Jenkins first came across my radar. What I do remember is happening upon his rather stunning Instagram feed as he neared the end of a spectacular bicycle powered journey in Patagonia.
Each photograph more arresting than the one prior, every image conveyed it’s own story that perfectly informed an engaging larger narrative. But it’s Jedidiah’s accompanying entries — beautifully composed, contemplative and quite poetic — that set his feed apart. Writings themed less by place than interior geography, it’s Instagram as dynamic journal — an experiment in blogging that camps out hundreds of miles beyond any travelogue, blog or vlog you’ve ever before seen.
I was hypnotized. Who is this guy?
A graduate of the USC School of Cinematic Arts and Pepperdine University School of Law, Jedidiah began his professional career as one of the founding leaders of Invisible Children, the small non-profit that overnight became world renown courtesy of a little social justice campaign you might have heard of called #Kony2012– a campaign that redefined internet virality.
The progeny of adventurer journalist parents who quite famously graced the cover of National Geographic walking across America in the 1970’s, I think it’s fair to say that despite his deskbound legal career, Jedidiah and the outdoors had a little destiny to sort out. And so, to celebrate his 30th birthday, Jedidiah quit the job he loved to unconsciously follow in his parents’ footsteps, scare himself, embrace the unknown and, like a character out of a Mark Twain novel, light out on the territory.
In August, 2013, on two wheels powered only by two legs, Oregon to Patagonia began in Florence, Oregon and culminated in Patagonia is January 2015. A sixteen-month, 10,000 mile journey elegantly and thoughtfully captured and shared on his incredibly popular Instagram feed and soon to be the subject of his first book
In so many ways, Jedidiah is exactly who I expected him to be. And yet his wit and warmth somehow managed to surprise me — a guy deeply connected to his personal truth and just so refreshingly present.
This is a phenomenal conversation about:
* the pursuit of wonder & adventure
* the transformative power of story
* the risk & reward of following your passion
* global wealth disparity
* dependence upon the kindness of strangers
* combatting our culture of skepticism
* behind the scenes of Kony 2012; and
* the beauty and peril of pursuing the creative life
Jedidiah is a very special guy. I am very excited to share this one with you. In all sincerity, I hope you enjoy the exchange.
Peace + Plants,
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