Veneration

"90 percent of life is just showing up" - Woody Allen

I am totally sold. There is no one thing more conducive and compelling to promote positive change in people than traveling. It is one sole learning experience that has a more profound impact on any one individual. I have never had a child or persevered through insurmountable odds but the one thing that I have done and seen in so many is how exposure to other cultures, views, environments, and the people encountered along the way dramatically alter one's sense of self, purpose, spirit and persona.

I am not referring to the travel that millions do every year, essentially transplanting North American people and culture to a tropical paradise combined with debauchery and monetization, better known as the all inclusive. The kind of travel I am referring to is off the beaten path. It can have a structure but generally takes shape as things unfold. Basically travel that is filled with the intention of experience, the kind that when shown to others evoke the reaction 'wow I wish I could do that'. The specutacular thing about this type of adventure is that the only abundant resource it requires is the will to do it. Which really leads me to my opening quote and should really bring up the question in everyone's mind...Am I showing up in life?

The most interesting people, of which it is no coincidence, are the most well travelled. They seem to have left a part of themselves wherever they have been and replaced it with something they collected along the way, contributing to a greater more complete person. It is truly a vicious cycle that begins immediately after the last adventure ends. The urge and constant itch to continue to explore the world and unearth themselves even further. If the world were full of travelling souls seeking the simplicity that comes with understanding the world through experiencing its wonders, we would all be in a better place.


"People say that what we’re seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. What we seek is an experience of being alive."

Song of the Day: Ben Harper-Diamonds on the Inside