Nieta: 0:02

There was a switch that happened in my mind. So I stopped thinking of the bike as an out-of-control animal and more of a tool to be applied. And then there was another leap later where I really I really improved my riding performance was when I thought of it as a dance. I'm dancing with this machine and I'm working with weight, I'm working with momentum, I'm working with commitment as well. So as a motorcyclist, you have to commit to things in your mind. Versus when you're on a car, you know, like driving a car, you can stop at any moment on a bike. You can't. You're committed in certain situations. So when I started thinking of it as a dance, that's when things really took off.

Ron: 0:54

On this podcast, we talk a lot about peace of mind, don't we? That moment of quiet relaxation from the seat of our motorcycle, a feeling where all is right with the world. All true. But have you ever considered your motorcycling experience as a dance? When we ride, both hands and both feet are involved, right? We shift our body position for turns, for braking, shifting for the wind. Yeah, it's very much a dance. Huh. Today, I'm thrilled to introduce you to my new friend, Nieta DeYoung, who joins us all the way from Ghent, Belgium. Professionally, Nieta is a colleague of mine across the globe, and I was introduced to her through a corporate program that we have called Mindfulness at IBM. Thankfully, one of our mutual friends let me know that she's an avid motorcycle rider and has a wonderful story to tell, so I couldn't wait to get in touch with her. Among many things, Nieta explains beautifully how the motorcycle becomes a teacher and a source of pure simple joy. She describes riding as an experience of 100% presence, making it truly motorcycle therapy. So I'm excited today to share with you this uplifting conversation from my new friend in Belgium, Nieta DeYoung. Stay tuned. Recorded in beautiful, lovely Colorado, welcome to Peace Love Moto, the podcast for motorcyclists seeking that peaceful, easy feeling as we cruise through this life together. Are you ready? Let's go! I guess I'm just repeating myself, but it's true. It's such a joy to interview people who are likable and who I just so admire. I admire motorcycle riders certainly because we're kind of a breed of our own. We're a little bit quirky, we enjoy fun, but people who genuinely care about other people. And uh that that's just uh an attribute that I so admire in people. And I have such a person to introduce to the podcast today. We are also teammates, you might say, or we work for the same very, very large company. I won't mention the company's names, but its initials are IBM, and that's how we have met. Uh Nieta, I'm so glad to meet you, and thank you so much for being on the podcast.

Nieta: 3:50

Thank you, Ron. I'm so honored to be here. Nine time zones ahead of you, but yes, still working for the same initials company. And you're jumping the gun. You don't know if you like me yet.

Ron: 4:01

So uh well, now before we started recording, I mentioned that I listened to your interview on the Mindfulness at IBM podcast, and you were fantastic. And my wife thought you were fantastic too, because I listened to it twice. So I thought it was great.

Nieta: 4:16

Oh, thank you so much. I'm so flattered.

Ron: 4:20

So you are in Belgium, right? And we are nine hours apart, right?

Nieta: 4:24

Nine hours apart. The time changed yesterday here. So before this, we were eight hours apart, now we're nine. And uh yeah, I think my latitude is a bit higher than yours. So we tend to change time later in the year, right? Yeah, so uh yes, nine time zones away here in Ghent, Belgium, and very old medieval city.

Ron: 4:49

Is it? Um I've never been to Europe. I so want to go. Never have okay.

Nieta: 4:54

You need to come. Yeah, it's really really nice.

Ron: 4:56

Yeah, my wife and I are talking about that. But um, so um just quickly, how did you get connected with IBM?

Nieta: 5:04

That is a long story, but it did involve headhunting. So I got headhunted at the previous position and then sort of roped into the bid and proposal team for EU institutions here in Brussels. And that was four years ago. And I'm having, I have to say the time of my life because I'm slightly chaotic. So I'm very tolerant of chaos to a point. And and that point is different for everybody. So for some people it's not much and some people it's a lot, but it's just enough chaos to be really exciting when it needs to be, and then be very chill.

Speaker 1: 5:43

Yeah.

Nieta: 5:43

So I like the up and the the high points, the low points, the high points, the low points in terms of workload.

Speaker 2: 5:49

Yes.

Nieta: 5:50

So yeah, it's been four years actually, almost on the dot. So November 1st, I think it'll be four years.

Ron: 5:58

Yeah, good for you. You know, and I I share with a lot of people too that one of the great joys I've had working with a large company like ours. What are we like 250,000 people around the world?

Nieta: 6:09

Something like that. Yeah, like amazing city, yeah.

Ron: 6:12

Around the world. And it's such a joy. It's so fun. What a privilege it is to work with people around the world, literally. Uh the great majority of the team that I work with is in India, and so I get up very early in the morning sometimes to catch early meetings, and they're they've already at the practically at the end of their day. But I've had a chance to work with people in Japan, yourself, and like in in Europe, uh all over the United States, of course, and South America and so forth. And oh, I just think it's so wonderful. To me, it it's a reminder that there are really, really, really good, wonderful people all around the world. And I think so many people, if you, at least around here in the United States, if you watch the news enough and you don't get to know people, you start to think, oh, this is just such a lousy evil world. But it's not.

Nieta: 7:00

It's not. No, it's not. No, we we get stuck in our bubbles. And working for a big company like this is it offers a breath of fresh air. It opens a lot of doors and a lot of, I don't know, a lot of opinions uh we get to touch and a lot of locations we get to learn about. It's it's really um enriching.

Ron: 7:20

Yeah, it is. It is, it's been a great joy. I'm looking at the retirement exit sign at some point, not sure when exactly, maybe sooner than later. I don't know. But uh it has, I'm I hope to end my working career right here. I have really, really enjoyed it. It's again, it's it's been the people. Technology, yeah, it's interesting, but it's the people. It's the people, yeah.

Nieta: 7:43

Yeah, all about the people, always.

Ron: 7:45

Yeah. Well, hey, the reason, another reason we're talking, um, um, in addition to the whole mindfulness gig and all that. You're a motorcycle rider. So, how did that all get started? Tell us about that.

Nieta: 7:58

Oh, okay. So I come from a a family of motorcyclists, I guess I can say truthfully. So my dad was a motorcyclist, his family members are all motorcyclists. My brother-in-law uh is a track racer, and my sister has um they have matching kawasakis and um it's in the family, but I always moved around a lot. So in my adulthood, I moved from North Carolina to Montreal. Really? Belgium. And you know, certain things came up that stopped me when the idea of getting my motorcycle license arrived in my mind. It's like, ah, I don't have a garage, or I'm going to move anyway, so I might as well get my license over there where I've got to move or something like this. And then finally in Belgium, I found myself at the idea again at age 42. We're doing it this time.

Speaker 2: 8:56

Good for you.

Nieta: 8:58

But then I came up against the brick wall of how hard it is to get your motorcycle license in Belgium.

Ron: 9:04

Well, you mentioned that when in our pre-discussion, you mentioned that that's really hard here in the United States. At least what what now I got my last license when I was four on my 14th birthday in Texas, and it was like nothing. You just had a police car follow you around for a couple of blocks, and that was it. But it's it was hard there, right? And how how is that? Why is it so difficult?

Nieta: 9:28

I think it's so difficult because um Europe is so old that there's no urban planning in a lot of places. So um roads that are big boulevards today used to be in like horse carts back in the day.

Speaker 1: 9:45

Right.

Nieta: 9:46

And you get a lot of really chaotic traffic situations almost everywhere. You get intersections that are completely, I mean, you find yourself in the doldrums in the middle of an intersection that's so poorly designed that you can't get out of it fast enough. Oh but but this is because these are such old cities with such old historic buildings and historic streets that they sort of build roads around and it's it wasn't meant for cars and motorcycles. So it's not easy, and it's yeah, you have to make a lot of split-second decisions when you're driving both in town and out of town. So I think it's a good thing that it's difficult to get your license here.

Ron: 10:28

Yeah. Is it a combination of both written exam and then writing exam too?

Nieta: 10:34

There is the written writing exam, then there's the maneuvers exam, and then there's a road test. Um, and it usually takes, I don't know, maybe a few months to get it. So yeah, so you're required to study for a certain number of hours with an instructor on the bike in the class of your choice.

Speaker 1: 10:56

Uh-huh.

Nieta: 10:56

So I started on with the heaviest bike. So the very first bike I sat on in my life was a 700cc.

Speaker 2: 11:03

Uh-huh. Yeah.

Nieta: 11:04

So that was uh quite a leap of faith, I guess.

Speaker 2: 11:08

Yeah.

Nieta: 11:08

Um, but you can start at the beginning and and and sort of work your way up from the less powerful bikes to the the heavier ones. Uh, but I thought, well, yeah, let's just go for it. And it was really, really hard.

Ron: 11:24

Really? What was the most difficult part you think?

Nieta: 11:28

Well, I call it my bike dropping era, and everybody knows that was during her bike dropping era. I think I must have dropped bikes 20 or 30 times. Like, yes.

Ron: 11:38

I'm sorry to laugh, but yeah, I understand. I understand.

Nieta: 11:42

I'm telling you because it's very funny. But um there was a switch that happened in my mind, so I stopped thinking of the bike as an out-of-control animal and more of a tool to be applied.

Speaker 2: 11:59

Yeah.

Nieta: 12:00

Uh, if that makes any sense. And then there was another leap later where I really, I really um improved my riding performance, was when I thought of it as a dance. So I'm also a dancer. Oh I'm dancing with this machine and I'm working with weight, I'm working with momentum, I'm working with commitment as well. So uh as a motorcyclist, you have to commit to things in your mind versus when you're on a car, you know, you're like driving a car, you can stop at any moment on a bike. You can't, you're committed in certain situations.

Speaker 1: 12:32

Yeah.

Nieta: 12:32

So when I started thinking of it as a dance, that's when things really took off. But at the beginning, it was quite a learning curve. Um, I was all I was bruised up for a couple months. I had uh banged up beneath the shoulders, so uh I got used to dropping it and then it's it stops being worrisome. Although I'm not gonna say that my goal is out there to I'm not out there to drop bikes. But uh but I've done it, been there done that, and um hopefully my bike dropping era on B D E is over.

Speaker 1: 13:07

Yeah, yeah.

Nieta: 13:07

That's what we are today. We we got over it, we passed the exams, the maneuvers and the road tests. The road test isn't that hard. Uh the maneuvers was hard. So there's a test where you have to you have to cover 10 meters and less than 12 seconds. I have to look it up, but it's a ridiculously slow test.

Speaker 2: 13:31

Oh, right, right.

Nieta: 13:33

So this is the one that I failed over and over and over again because it's it's all in the clutch under the rear brake. So um and they have you, they they they have a laser, so they're measuring or they're clocking you through the entire maneuvers, they clock you too.

Ron: 13:51

Uh-huh.

Nieta: 13:52

Um that was the most frustrating is going slow.

Ron: 13:56

It's interesting you should mention that. I think I had a podcast. Well, I know I did. I'm trying to remember the title of it. I think I called it the art of riding slow or something like that. And I just basically made the comment anyone can ride fast, just bike, take off, ride fast. The art is riding slow, right? When you've got just like you say, the whole feathering of the clutch, as they call it, the accelerator, the rear brake, all of that. Yeah, it is it is artful.

Nieta: 14:22

But when you get it, when you get it, it's beautiful. It is it's all consuming. You're in flow, you are perfectly balanced. There's something beautiful about it, indeed.

Ron: 14:33

It's in that I think is a good segue. I want to come back to one other thought, but that's a good segue to the way you have described your how would I put it? The entry into the world of Zen, I guess. And how that has impacted you as a person, what maybe what you were like before you were introduced to the Zen mindfulness piece of it. And how, if at all, does that work its way into this art of motorcycling?

Nieta: 15:11

Uh well, the the path I've taken with Zen is is a relatively long one and a sort of stop and go path. So I was first introduced to Zen as an aesthetic back in 2025 in Japan because uh Japanese culture sort of evolved alongside Zen Buddhism. So at the same time, things were being built and art was being created. So there's a lot of the aesthetic present just in everyday life, and um, I found it very beautiful. And then fast forward 10 more years uh and into a difficult moment in my life where I found myself in yet another new country on my own and looking for peace or or understanding that the the rat race and the the sort of shallow games we play with ourselves, it's not nourishing anymore. But looking for better self-understanding, basically. Uh I was introduced once again to Zen here in Belgium. That was 10 years ago, and I found it so confronting at that time, I was 33 and 43 now, uh that I sort of ran away screaming. It was hi, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. This requires a little bit more introspection, a little bit more confrontation, self-confrontation than I was ready for. So I had to mature a little bit, and then I sort of found my my way back to Zen a few years ago and was very, very immediately ready to dedicate my life to Zen.

Speaker 2: 16:51

Yeah.

Nieta: 16:52

So it sort of took um, it took a lot of like if you imagine your life is you're looking for, I don't know the meaning of life, we'll we'll say, we'll simplify it. And you open doors and you go through them and you're like, nope, okay, and you open joining it is like nope, and then pretty soon I've got the last one and it's Zen. And so I opened it and went through, and and that's that. So here I am. Um and I took my my lay vows this August.

Ron: 17:21

So now I can I saw pictures, yeah, yeah, that you'd posted in the internal uh IBM. Yeah, love that, love that, love that. You know, I think that there is a direct correlation between what you just described and what I have been striving to relay on this podcast. It has a weird name, as you can see with the little billboard behind me here. It has a hippie weird name for something related to motorcycles, peace, love moto. And people have asked me any number of times, where did you come up with that name? Well, I haven't backed away from it. And the reason why is because the peace part is absolutely true. I have found any number of times what I refer to personally as peace of mind from the seat of a motorcycle, typically by myself and typically in the mountains, riding alone, and especially when I stop and turn the motor off. Take that deep breath and think, at this moment, all is right in the world for me right now. So the the peace thing, I think it seems like it parallels what you've what you've experienced, maybe, and and what you describe. And then just quickly, the the love piece too is related. It's two pieces, I think. Love being you've got to love yourself before you can love other people effectively, and take care of yourself, such as uh mindfulness practices, whatever. And then the other piece too, and I and I think you can probably speak to this as well, got to show love for other people. It just seems to be so critically important, more important by the day, that you've got to show love for other people. And then I tell people too, the whole moto thing, kind of bringing it all together, the peace, love, moto. The moto is just a thread. It could be sailing, probably. Peace, love, sailing. You know, that's what it could be. But I don't know. I I think the piece with the part with motorcycling, the beauty of that is we go from place to place, we stop at a coffee shop, we stop at a gas station, and a conversation starts. So I I know I'm rambling now, but did does that resonate with you? Any any piece of that?

Nieta: 19:43

Yes. In fact, um when I saw the title of the podcast, I did not come to this judgment at all. I didn't say, oh, that's a hippie name. I thought, yes, yes, and yes. Oh it's really it it it resonates with me completely. So uh no, I think you're being hard on yourself about the name, and I'm glad you're still by it. Uh you know, is there do you do you find when you're on the bike that there is a peace of mind that you also find the bike is a teacher, um it brings peace of mind and and it inspires a state of joy, but it also forces you to come up against your own um impatience or frustration or or your own characteristics of yourself that you don't really like. It's sort of a microcosm for life. Um, it's really easy when you're on a bike to treat people like shit. Uh well, in traffic, you know what I mean? Where you know you can cut people off. It's really easy. You're fast, you're narrow, you're maneuverable, you can behave like uh a total jerk, and it's it's really easy to do so. And this is sort of our tendency sometimes in the right mood. And we're all human and we we get frustrated or we're tired, we're impatient, we're being rained on, or something like that. Um, and then we make a choice. And so yes, the the bike being on the bike removes some part of myself that's getting in my way. So when I get on the bike and sit down, it is an instant smile, and a part of my brain that puts obstacles in my path just for fun, is just delighted. It's like, wow. And then it's it's the real Nieta, but the real Nieta also has you know not so noble moments where she wants to shoot through traffic and not follow all the rules, and she gets to confront herself as well. So the bike is a teacher, as well as I I I don't know how to like a vehicle to joy. Very simple joy, very pure joy.

Ron: 22:13

I love that. It's a community, isn't it?

Nieta: 22:16

Yes, it's weird. It's it's like I was reborn into a community, and everybody says hi. That's another thing that I really like about being on a bike, is people that you might not necessarily get along with or even get to meet in in real life or face to face, when you're on a bike and you're both wearing helmets, it's the the the biker in me sees the biker in you. And it's it's just so nice to just I didn't do anything but get on a motorcycle and people are saying hi.

Ron: 22:46

Yeah, yeah. Relating to that, you had mentioned when we were just uh chatting before that there're not many females that that ride in Belgium. Is is that right? And if so, why?

Nieta: 23:01

It's very rare, although I think it's getting less rare in the last 10 years, but um I don't see another woman on a bike except maybe once a month. So uh and there aren't many of us, and we tend to know each other. So the ones that live in my area, we have sort of nicknames. Well, I have nicknames in my head, like that's Kawasaki Girl One, that's Kawasaki Girl Two, um, and and you know, things like this. And you you you hear of other women bikers, or um you took your test with another woman, but you don't really run into them that much. And I I don't know what the reason is, to tell you the truth. Um I think no, I don't know. I honestly don't know. Yeah, but I know that my my girlfriends here who have their motorcycle licenses, they tend to let them sort of put them by the side when they become parents. And uh I have I'm I'm solo and I have no kids. So of course it'd be the beginning of the weight. Um, so I think that's kind of logical.

Ron: 24:07

Yeah, yeah. It's I would say that it's very much the same here in the US, at least in my experience. Um, I've had the chance to interview uh a few a few females uh who are just wonderful, wonderful, wonderful people. So just like yourself, you know, outgoing. I get it that yes, this is a big scary, dangerous thing to do for for all of us. Uh but but I choose to go out and do it because it makes me feel good and I love the other people who are doing it.

Nieta: 24:34

Yes. Yeah, indeed.

Ron: 24:37

Yeah.

Nieta: 24:37

And it's it's um I have to say that there's a part of me also that enjoys the the attention. Oh, it's a girl on a bike. Um that's not the number one reason why I'm riding the bike, of course. Yeah, but it's nice to be a rare breed sometimes. Um, but it's just it's the fun of it, it's the sheer joy of it.

Ron: 25:00

Yeah. We were talking a little bit about community just yesterday, for example. I went for a motorcycle ride up in the mountains, and I went to a little town called Netherland. And there at Netherland is what's called the carousel of happiness, which I talk about on the podcast every once in a while. It's a real full big carousel indoor with them with carved animals and uh a warlitzer band organ. It is wonderful, just wonderful. Yes. Oh, it's so much fun. Anyway, on the way up there, I chose one of the back roads. Uh, it's called the Peak to Peak Highway. And this time of year, not many people are up there, but it is a wonderful twisty mountain road. Well, I cruise along. I'm a local, been on the road a hundred times. And every once in a while there are, well, more often than not, there are tourists looking at the leaves and looking at the mountains and various things. So I do manage to pass them quickly because I'm on a fast motorcycle. I figure I I spent a lot of money for this motorcycle, and it's really fast. I think I should utilize that speed every once in a while.

Speaker 2: 26:05

Absolutely.

Ron: 26:05

Now I have to be careful because both my wife and my mother listen to this podcast, but I do ride very carefully, of course. I may be maybe going very fast. But that being said, so coming back to community. So riding yesterday, and I heard this crotch rocket coming up behind me. I heard the bike coming up pretty fast. Looked in my looked in my rearview mirror. It was a gentleman on a Ducati, I believe it was. And uh, so you know, I'm this old guy on a BMW GS and he's on a fast Ducati. So I just kind of pulled to the right a little bit and gave him a wave to come on by, and he gave me the wave, gave me a peace sign, and he screamed on by. Well, anyway, within the next 10 minutes, we both ended up at the same place outside of the carousel of happiness out there. He he pulled up his bike and pulled off his helmet, and we had the nicest conversation. It was one of those things, and I told him about the podcast, maybe he's listening, I don't know. But I told him about the podcast, and it was one of those things, just like you that you mentioned. We we had our little relationship because I waved him by with my left hand. He gave me a peace sign with his left hand as he zoomed on by. Then we got to this parking lot 10 minutes later, pulled off our helmets, and then talked for 15 minutes about he's at he's from Boulder. I told him I'm from Loveland. And uh we were talking about various things, but it was just a brotherhood. All of a sudden, it took five seconds, and it was just great.

Nieta: 27:37

But it does make sense. It's it's like you said, there's something about writers that is uh that just it brings you together. Um, even even new writers like me, so relatively new writers like me, I feel it too. And um yeah, it's hard to describe. It's it's uh a bit of the risk-taking mindset that we all sort of have. Um, the love for speed, um, and the love for doing things that require skill and dedication, I think.

Ron: 28:12

Yeah. I think that that's a good segue too. And that one other thing that you told me that I thought was so cool and unique. You said you ride in the rain and in bad weather.

Nieta: 28:24

I have ridden on ice on ice, it's not a good combo.

Ron: 28:29

So I think it's safe to say if you if you can categorize motorcycle riders, there are those who ride on the perfect sunny day when it's just all perfectly nice outside. Then there's the rest of us, apparently like you and me, who will ride any day. Now, you've got to tell me how it is that your mindset allows you to do that.

Nieta: 28:52

I have to be on the bike every day, or I start to go a little bit crazy.

Ron: 28:56

I thought I was the only one.

Nieta: 28:58

No, no, no, really. It's it's uh I call it motorcycle therapy. So I must every single day be on the bike for at least 15 minutes. Um even in the dead of winter. But I mean, I live in Belgium, so it's you know, it it freezes a few nights of the the year, and in all other cases, it's often rainy. So summer, I mean year-round, it's a rainy country. So if you want to get on the bike, you're gonna have to get it, get on it in the rain. So but it's just there you have no other option. It's like, uh, it's raining today. Well, that's normal, so you can get on the bike in the rain. Icing that was an accident, but um yeah, I'm I'm a daily rider. As soon as I got the motorcycle, I'm on it every single day.

Ron: 29:39

Good for you. And what bike do you ride?

Nieta: 29:43

I ride a very comfortable Suzuki SV650.

Ron: 29:47

Nice. There's a lot to be said for comfort. I do the same.

Nieta: 29:52

So uh, and it's it's um I mean, I don't know if I mentioned it before. I'm almost exclusively riding in cities. Brussels and Ghent and Answer. And it's it's got enough oomph and and low end power to get the job done in town. And if you need to buy it on the highway, of course you can. But I don't need anything more than that to tell you the truth. I was yesterday I was I was sort of lusting after somebody's Kawasaki, the new Z900. I was like, oh, this is totally my and then I look over the at the SV and I'm like, such a Suzuki girl. So yeah, I I it's it's comfortable, it's it's lowered because I'm pretty short. So uh not the suspension, the seat. But it's like the perfect combination for a five foot three, 110-pound little woman. Uh it could launch me to the moon to tell you the truth. And then that's fine. So I don't need 900cc to tell you the truth. But um, yeah, it's a nice little nice thing.

Ron: 30:59

There um what you just said is an indication to me, being a longtime rider, over 50 years. What you said about knowing that there's a lot of power there and you've got to be careful, that is such a sign of motorcycling maturity. I that will keep you alive, in my opinion. So many people just don't get that at all.

Nieta: 31:22

But and then there's also, as you said, like um the reason why I like the city driving is that that art of going slow, of being very well balanced in kind of chaotic and very dynamic situations when you have traffic lights and people and uh you know all kinds of things going on and making good decisions at the right time and the right place. So that's that's I think I really have a lot of fun.

Ron: 31:48

Yeah. Well, you know, we we've hit on several things, and um among many things that stick out to me is that um some of us get it and really love it, love it, some don't get it at all and don't understand what we do. But but those of us who do it, I think we we have this brother and sisterhood of it's the whole where the bicrow wave thing comes from. We wave it total strangers because we're experiencing the same weather for sure, and the same the same risks, the same thrills, and uh and what a joy it is that we found something that makes us so happy. I I love that. I just love that.

Speaker 2: 32:31

Me too.

Ron: 32:33

Yeah. Well, I um before we close, is there anything maybe you would like to leave as advice for people who are thinking about starting motorcycling later later in life?

Nieta: 32:48

That's a good question. Um I mean, of course I say go for it, and if it scares you, it should. Like it should be scary. I remember my motorcycle instructors who I had to take, I think, 20 hours of lessons. Um, I I said just sitting on the bike with it running for the first time, I'm scared. And he said, if you weren't scared, you would be 24 and male. I mean, that's thinking about 24 and male people, of course. Um, yeah, he's a motorcycle instructor and he's probably seen a lot of very enthusiastic young guys who are not afraid. But um, being afraid is healthy and it's like you said, Ron, it it saves your life. So um go for it and have confidence that you are in control. Um with some yeah, with some practice, of course, and some realizations about yourself. But I would say go for it. It's never too late to get on the bike and to and to experience the bike as a love of your life.

Ron: 33:59

I'm so excited when we get this uh on the air to share this episode with my neighbor right next door. Uh, she is a young mom, a wonderful, wonderful person. We just love her. Uh, as she just got her first motorcycle. And she too has this healthy fear, but just this excitement about the adventure of uh getting out to have their zen mindful moments out there. She's she's so excited for that. So I can't wait for her to I'm excited for it too. Yeah. Yeah. Again, I I'm glad to be on the uh in the same company as you. And I'm so glad that we've had a chance to meet. I'm sure we'll be in communication again through the um the through the uh I'm going completely blank. Mindfulness at IBM, uh, and and other things. What what else do you have? Uh just quickly, what else do you have going on coming up at through the IBM uh support of like the Zen mindfulness ideas?

Nieta: 35:03

Well, we just finished a week-long summit that was last week, um, or the week before last week, um, in which we shared a lot of different practices, and not specific to Zen or anything. We try to keep it very secular at IB IBM. Um, but practices to encourage resilience and to try to sort of collapse your where you stand in time. So most of us are either worried about the future or thinking about the past, and we're not really here now, which is where the motorcycle brings us into it. So these practices are all about collapsing our awareness to here and now. And to spend a little bit more time right here, right now, because right here, right now is where we act. It's where we um it's is what we can actually hold. We can't hold the past, we have no uh no idea what the future is gonna look like. So spending time right here and right now, I think is something that um it leads to a lot of self-awareness. And the more time you spend here now, um, the less time you spend worrying.

Speaker 2: 36:09

Absolutely.

Nieta: 36:10

The reason why I love the motorcycle so much because it's a very much I'm here now. Your mind is nowhere else.

Ron: 36:17

Absolutely. Uh Nita, it was so good to have to have you on the podcast. So great to meet you. And uh just thank you for being such a positive person who is making a really big difference in the world, one person at a time. And I love that.

Nieta: 36:33

I really, my my heart is touched. Thank you so much, Ron. I I really enjoyed talking to you. I love being on podcasts and talking about motorcycles and being with other people who are just as enthusiastic as me. Peace and love are two things of the world. That's what it means to me.

Ron: 36:49

I agree.

Nieta: 36:50

And my motorcycles too.

Ron: 36:51

That's right. Thank you so much. Talk again soon.

Nieta: 36:56

Thanks again.

Ron: 37:02

Well, my friends, once again, I'm reminded of this tremendous gift that we're given: the ability to ride a motorcycle and the fun and relaxation that we experience in that dance, right? And how fortunate we are too to be part of this global community. Nita, it's so wonderful to have met you and thanks again. Look forward to talking again. It's clear that motorcycle isn't just a machine, it's about personal growth too. It can be. If Nita's commitment to Zen and mindfulness resonate with you, check out the link in the show notes that is uh directly to her interview on the Mindfulness at IBM podcast. It was so good. I know you'll enjoy it. So, as Nita said, let's keep riding. Stay safe, keep showing your love for your fellow humans, and never stop chasing that perfect moment of peace from the seat of a motorcycle. Until we visit again, I wish you peace and I wish you love.