One thing I realised, sitting on the plane, is that I still actually have no idea what it means to be travelling for six months. I can't really wrap my mind around it at all. I can tell this in several ways - how giggly I feel when I think of how long I have, joyful yet incomprehending; also how I feel nearly panicked in my huge desire to rush around and experience EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW before it's too late. (Note to self: not really the best strategy when jet-lagged.) I try to tell myself, relax, you have a whole month in Japan, you don't need to eat everything all in one day. Although, given the variety of amazing things to eat, I still can't afford to slack off!
The thing about travelling, besides the exciting travel seeing-new-places part, is that it's a way of being so open to the world all the time. I really admire the way babies are so single-minded about everything they experience, but as an adult it's hard to sustain that kind of attention (and also, it's tiring). But travelling and seeing new things all the time, you are forced to pay attention. You need to learn new ways to behave, read new signals, hopefully speak new languages and meet new people. Everything new! All your senses are alive all the time. What an opportunity, to get to be like a baby for six months! The trick will be to balance all that newness with enough rest time to take it all in.
Another reason I'm happy to have all this time to reflect is the anniversary this trip coincides with. Ten years ago, almost to the day, I stopped dancing, something which made me feel like my life was over. Obviously it wasn't, but at the same time I never fully reconciled with myself over that decision. Remembering that, it seems all the more important to be conscious, careful about the implications of what we do. In a way, this trip for me is a very long meditation on that.
Plus all the tasty food.
The thing about travelling, besides the exciting travel seeing-new-places part, is that it's a way of being so open to the world all the time. I really admire the way babies are so single-minded about everything they experience, but as an adult it's hard to sustain that kind of attention (and also, it's tiring). But travelling and seeing new things all the time, you are forced to pay attention. You need to learn new ways to behave, read new signals, hopefully speak new languages and meet new people. Everything new! All your senses are alive all the time. What an opportunity, to get to be like a baby for six months! The trick will be to balance all that newness with enough rest time to take it all in.
Another reason I'm happy to have all this time to reflect is the anniversary this trip coincides with. Ten years ago, almost to the day, I stopped dancing, something which made me feel like my life was over. Obviously it wasn't, but at the same time I never fully reconciled with myself over that decision. Remembering that, it seems all the more important to be conscious, careful about the implications of what we do. In a way, this trip for me is a very long meditation on that.
Plus all the tasty food.
1 comment:
Childmind is mine.Here I also haven't seen Fuji-san but I did see
Hokusai's thin cloud-strokes sloping up in our October sky.Looking again at the sky I think of you dear one and your long
pilgrimage --- I do see on my Inner
a very large Eagle flying over Fuji-san; so be full of confidence.
Love, Poppy.
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