When you’re traveling, you
are what you are – or what you choose to be – right then and there. This is the beauty, the liberty, the appeal
of being in a place where nobody knows you.
People you meet on the road have no idea of your past achievements or
failures, glories or hurts, talents or neuroses, status or possessions or lack
thereof – and usually don’t give a damn about them, either.
You will be neither lauded
nor judged for all that went before. By
the time future you rolls around, you’ll be long gone. This makes living in the present infinitely
easier, not having to conform to others’ expectations based on previous
prejudices. Unless you decide to unburden yourself and/or toot your own horn
(both obnoxious and inadvisable social maneuvers) the world will see only the you
of that day. So who do you really want
to put forward?
Went out to Waiheke Island
the other day to see “New Zealand’s premier outdoor contemporary sculpture
exhibition” – cool works in a beautiful setting:
One piece in particular spoke
to me (text from the catalog):
First Step to Existentialism
Christian Nicolson
STOP. This is really important. Have you flossed
today? Do you buy free range? In life we are faced with decisions constantly.
Some big, some small. We are forever processing information. How do we choose
to do what we do? Is it easier to do what is expected of us?
I believe in doing the right thing whenever
possible. But sometimes it’s more
complicated than that. Sometimes it’s a matter of not doing the wrong
thing. Is the right thing the wrong
thing? Is the wrong thing the right thing? It’s a judgment call. Sometimes that
takes courage. Don’t forget who you are. You’re a fully-fledged human being.
Ok the light is green now, you can probably go. But
don’t listen to me. What would I know?
Of course, this journey of
mine has been one big pause button on the existential mp4 player. I stopped the
relentless projection of my life and have spent these six months rewinding, replaying,
sometimes even fast-forwarding, while trying my best to take full, life-affirming
advantage of the moment.
My point being (I think) that
the traffic light up on the big screen has gone from red to yellow and is clearly turning green;
ok, some days it’s flashing a pretty strong caution signal but all in all, I
feel it’s time to move ahead.
Yikes, there must be something about
having a birthday that makes me so contemplative…and on that note, how I wish there were no
tomorrows, either!
