The following is an entry from my journal. I know last time I shared something from it I was drunk in Ibiza. This time I wasn’t. I just had a lot on my mind and thought I should share this with y’all. It’s something I’ve always wondered and don’t even know if it makes sense. I wrote it verbatim from my journal. You can leave me your thoughts at the end.
I’m currently in seat 10D on flight TK690 on Turkish Airlines in route from Istanbul to Cairo. I’m sitting here and a million thoughts running through my mind. I have tears running through my eyes & have no clue why. I seriously don’t. I have my head in my arms writing in my journal so no one can see. I don’t know if they are tears of joy or tears of sadness. I think it’s because the last few months have been too amazing to describe (ugh I use the word amazing too much. Sorry about that y’all.) Now I’m on my way to Egypt the #1 one country I want to visit in the world. It has captured my imagination & dreams since I was a kid & cannot believe I’m now on my way. But anywho… that’s not what I want to write about. I want to write about “transit”.
Every time I board a plane, bus, car, train or anything that is getting me from one place to another I think “okay here we go again”. Then while I’m on it I always think is this what life is about? Hear me out… I know that sounds stupid, but is it true? No matter what we do in life we are constintly in transit from one place to another. When I was at home it was to and from work or to and from a friends house etc… etc… Now it’s flying or getting between some of the most amazing cities in the world.
Then when we are at “said” place we are thinking about where to next. When you are at work you think about home. When your home you think about where else you will be going that day or weekend. For me now it’s I’m in a city enjoying it, but thinking “oh I’m going here, here & here next…” I can’t help it.
While I was in Athens I attended a meeting about a mixture of things like travel… camel milk and the world we live in. One of the quotes I heard there that has been engrained in my mind is:
“MOVEMENT IS THE PRIMARY MEDIUM OF OUR ALIVENESS”
– Mary Starks Whitehouse
Take a second read it… try to understan it? What do you get from it? I don’t even know who she is and don’t care to find out, because I get that it’s 100% true. Is that the purpose of life… to keep moving expanding our boundaries to feel alive? Movement is key to feel alive, but does that mean we always have to live in transit? Does it mean that to feel alive we constintly have to move? But if we move to much are we lost? Why is it that to feel alive we have to move?
I have no clue if any of this makes sense at all. It’s something I have always wondered. I think aside from sleeping we spend more time of our lives getting from one place to another. So I always wonder… Do we live in transit?
Beautiful post Jamie. I think you’re right in many senses – we are constantly on the move but I don’t think you need to be to find our happiness or to feel alive. Personally, I think people are always on the move because they’re trying to escape the previous to seek the better but once you’ve found that place or thought that makes you happy, you can stand still and soak up the present =)
Toni recently posted..It’s ok NOT to travel the world
Thank you so much Toni! I think I agree with what you are saying because to be honest even though I was not running away from anything. I did leave everything behind because I was not happy with how things were in my life and wanted to be happy. Now that I am on the move and doing what I love I am finally happy. So maybe soon I will stand still and soak it all up in the present.
Very true – There is only the moment. Everything else is beyond us. If our minds are constantly in transit, we’re missing out on what’s in front of us…. unless we actually don’t *want* to be in the moment we’re in.
I know right now I spend my life going from work to school to home, always moving and rushing to the next place I’m required to be. But it doesn’t make me happy. It’s when I’m in a small moment, enjoying what’s around me right now without trying to move on, that I feel alive. We move to find somewhere we can stand still.
Patricia GW recently posted..Jack’s New York Coffee
I like the way you put that as well Pat, I think that is true I think its the small moments that we enjoy the most and are able to actually soak in, because it’s those that we will remember for years to come. The rest are just part of life the constant movement that is required to be alive.
I like this contemplative post, Mr. T.!
I think the real challenge is having the bravery to move ahead (in life, to adapt to change, to experience new things, etc…) while – at the same time – living fully in each moment.
Kent @ No Vacation Required recently posted..Everything Is Blurry
Thanks Kent… so much contemplative stuff goes on in my mind.
And you are right too it is the bravery that is required to move ahead and live life to the fullest and enjoy each moment. Y’all two are a great example of that.
We must Skype soon in order to learn more about that contemplation.
Kent @ No Vacation Required recently posted..Everything Is Blurry
We will… xoxo
I like your journal entry posts.
I think the transit is always there, but how much focus we place on it changes. For a couple of years before I went to Oz, life felt like I was always in transit…every day was the same and I shuffled from one thing to the next. I know this wasn’t exactly your point, but that’s how I felt at times.
I’ve tried to be more mindful of living in the moment while looking to the future and things I need to do to get from A and B. Loving what Kent said above!
Heather recently posted..The time I went to Istanbul, continued!
Thanks Heather… I know they are rare, but hopefully more will be coming soon. It’s funny cus these are entires I write in my note journal not my journal journal… it’s strange, but anywho!
No I know what you mean that is my point exactly we live our lives on the constant move no matter what it is we do that like others mentioned we miss the small moments. I guess in the end we must just live our life to the fullest.
Interesting post Jaime. I wrote about a somewhat similar topic when I was asked to describe what “home” meant to me (sorry to throw a link into the middle of a comment but http://www.aaronswwadventures.com/2011/10/the-meaning-of-home-the-travelers-at-moca-nyc/).
And I totally agree with you here. The purpose of life IS to keep moving and expanding our boundaries as, if we don’t, isn’t that the definition of “small mindedness?” As for feeling alive, I definitely feel more alive when I travel, but some times spending time constantly in motion gets a bit exchausting. Perhaps this is the larger esoteric meaning.
I think the other way I’d interpret this quote is that mammals are largely built to move. Life would be awfully dull if we had no choice but to be stationary at all times. Like a piece of corral. Just sitting there watching life go by. I think I’d go insane if that was me…
Aaron @ Aaron’s Worldwide Adventures recently posted..Get to Know Me Through My ABC’s of Travel
Aaron I will check it when my net connection is not so damn slow…lol! Between this an facebook and twitter I am killing this poor router.
& yes that is true the purpose of life is to keep moving and expanding our boundaries. I never thought about it as MAMMALS but that makes complete sense too. I mean thats true we are designed to move and continue moving cus if not then um yeah life would be boring.
Interesting thots Jaime (and everyone). I’m a teacher who works the school year then travels in the summer. I find that when I travel my thots are more aligned with who I am. Also, tho always on the move whether traveling or not, I have fewer mindless distractions and spend more time with my own thots on the road, rather than carrying out someone elses. But even tho our minds are constantly in motion, flipping from one thot to the next, there are ways to settle it down and be in the moment, whether we’re traveling or sedantary. On the road it’s the newness that puts me in the moment. At home it takes more discipline. I like your thot the that life is about expansion. I think it’s true, whether moving or sitting still.
Thank you so much for the comment Sarah. I understand what you are saying, because at home my thoughts have always been about what I did and what I need to get done. Now on the road I think my problem is kinda of the same because I do think about the past and future, but see it in a whole different light. On the road my thoughts are more aligned whit who I am… just like you mentioned. So in a way I think it’s the same yet so different. I don’t know if I am making any sense at all to be honest.
Oh & yes life is about expansion for sure, because if not we aren’t living.
Always felt the need to be in constant transit. Love the feeling of motion, change, progress. Probably the main reason I love travelling. But I do feel it can be both a blessing and a curse. I miss feeling content and mindfull and the more I spend my life “in transit’ the harder it becomes to be happy with what I’ve got.
I love the way you said it Olovl, it really can be a blessing and a curse! I understand what you are say & it’s so true… constant transit is TIRING… that is why I ended up spending a month in ATHENS doing nothing. I needed it.
True we are always in transit and it gives us purpose and meaning in life
That’s true Krystal!