The First Chapter, 2019
for Joshua Rubin

Just weeks before Josh’s Odyssey, he and his wife, two kids, mother and father moved across the country from California to New York to make a better life for the family. It was an idealistic leap of faith, one designed, hopefully, to allow his family to be freer and more expansive and to give him more time to write a long-dreamed of novel. In the process of packing, he rediscovered many items of significance. Meaningful rocks he’d collected over the years. A collection of pictures of meaningful objects. A pile of post-apocalyptic books.

On the evening before his Odyssey, Josh drove himself to an address outside Ithaca, NY where he would spend the night in a log cabin deep in the woods. There was a mysterious letter for him, photos all around, and fascinating books on the shelf. Slowly he began to realize something strange. Each of the books was missing its first chapters.

When he awoke, Josh found himself in his own subtly post-apocalyptic world. In this world, every object contained a story and stories had become the currency of the land. As he journeyed (and he would travel, in the end, hundreds of miles) Josh encountered individuals and communities, all of whom were in search of the right stories. A community of people traded stories in the waterfalls of Ithaca. Farm stands along the roadside in upstate New York accepted stories rather than money in exchange for goods, and the narrative of Josh’s own travels was a story of moving from fiction to reality and watching as they intermingled.

Halfway through the day, Josh found himself at an intentional community (reminiscent of one he had grown up in) built around the collective search for the First Chapter. Each day, members of the community woke up and began writing their First Chapter. They worked together and alone, searching by dancing, by conversing, by writing, even by cooking. He joined them in the search in various ways throughout the afternoon, having conversations about creative urgency, community, and seclusion. At the end of the day, the community came together to share their First Chapters. By this time, Josh had become part of this community, and he, too, had written his First Chapter. Then, like every other resident, he went to sleep and woke in the morning to begin the search again.

Locations

Remembrance Farm, Trumansburg, NY; Cascadilla Gorge Trail, Ithaca, NY; Ithaca Farmer’s Market; Rochester Folk Art Guild, Middlesex, NY

Credits