Changes

July 28th 2008

"I don't believe it's true what they say that as you
travel you become a different person. What happens is
that you grow lighter - you shed your obligations and
your past just as you reduce everything you possess to
the few items you need for your luggage".
Antonio Munoz Molina (from Sepharad)

A very wise god mother of mine shared this quote as something for me to think about as i headed off to South America.

I heard another quote during my travels that was something along the lines of: 'you haven't started traveling until you have left behind your past and are walking in your new life'.

I understand how over time during a travel one can get to a point of just continuing to walk. I thought about it but my grip with what I left behind was too strong.

I arrived home after having no fixed address and living out of a small bag for 100 days:

I notice the little things in the Western World that I now appreciate. The toilet paper business, the hot water, the drinkable tap water, the sewer systems, the proper roofs, the paved roads, the cleaner and more abundant everything.

I have seen real poverty and I have finally come to terms with my internal confusion or guilt about sporting affluence. I know that most cultures are in the process of figuring out how to become westernized. While I may have a problem with this trend; I have to appreciate where I come from and live my life as I know it with pride.

I notice the how easy it is for me to get back into the rhythm of over consuming (food, drink, water, heat, energy, clothes.....the list goes on).

I notice how complicated life can be in Canada, not because it is complicated to live in Canada, but because I make it complicated.

How will I make my life less complicated?

The three tenets of my life: Balance, Mastery, and Oneness (dreamed up in my university days).

I strive to find balance in life through the mastery of those things that bring to me a sense of oneness. I have been unbalanced for quite some time as I spent the past 10 years searching for wealth. I have made some good investments and some very bad. I am alive. While money allows me to be who I am in the outside world, I strive to find a balance between positive income and mastering those crafts that bring me a state of internal oneness.

I will do more pottery and turning. I will play soccer for the love. I will do those things I always wanted to do. I will stretch and drink water. I will work for myself and offer those around me a better experience. I will live this short life like it is a celebration of balance, mastery, and oneness. What I put out will be received.