WAYS OF BEING
Why I Embarked on an Epic Road Trip
Someone asked me recently why I decided to do the four month solo road-trip that I took across the US nine years ago.
I couldn’t remember.
I said it was probably because I’d just turned 40 and had no other commitments at the time. I’d been living out west and was ready to move on but didn’t have anywhere I needed to be right away. Why not travel?
Luckily I’d documented a lot of that trip in writing, and so this week I came across the actual reasons, in print. They’re actually more beautiful than I remembered (but also, I had just turned 40 and I did have free time).
This lovely piece is a good reminder to me to look at the people around me with curiosity and to see what I can learn - not just when traveling, but in the everyday.
Thank-you Arjenna from 9 years ago.
August 2014
“I don’t care what you do or what you own. I just want to know who you are.”
I came across this anonymous quote the other day, which reminded me of the original idea that inspired me to embark on my upcoming road trip. Well, ok, to be honest, the first thing that inspired me was when a friend slid open the door of his van to get something out of it, and I saw a full-sized single wood-frame bed with mattress built into the back. You can DO that? Hmmm....
However, I think the PURPOSE of my trip has come out of my experiences working with many different people who are all essentially DOING the same thing, but doing it in different ways. I can Google "organic gardening" or "outdoor school", or anything else I'm interested in, and I will find hundreds of people who do those things well. I have learned a lot from many people who are really good at what they do and I am so grateful for that learning and experience.
But also...as I get older I realize that I have learned most from the WAY people approach life, more than from WHAT they do in life. Those people I could not have Googled. They have serendipitously blessed my life in many unexpected ways. They are often those who have a way of interacting with the world that is sometimes markedly different from my own:
The ones who seem at peace and take things as they come.
Those who aren't attached to the material things in life.
The people who give generously with no expectation or strings attached.
The ones who listen and respond to other people, to animals, to plants, and to life with reverence and intent and gentleness.
The non-judgers.
The honest and open.
The irreverent.
The trusting.
I want to meet new people whose way of being intrigues me. That's the reason for this trip.
But really, when it comes down to it, everyone has an approach to life from which we can learn in some way. Perhaps the goal is not to meet people who have a certain way of being, but to seek what I can learn from everyone's way of being.
What we do is circumstantial.
How we interact with the world and the energy we put out affects every activity we do, whether it's designing a computer program or doing the dishes.
I'm starting to realize that I would rather learn by watching someone do the dishes with intent and love than by studying permaculture or doing a course on the theories of education.
And no, that doesn't require a road trip; it can be right in my backyard!
However, here I am with the opportunity to do a road trip, so...I will meld my desire to learn from others with the chance to push my boundaries by traveling solo to new places and allowing my route to unfold as I go.
May I be able to do so with openness, kindness, and non-judgement.
