A Way of Traveling @awayoftraveling - Tumblr Blog

"Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come through." -Isaac Asimov

Mark Twain once said, "I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened." Do not assume the worst of people, the future, yourself. Life is open, completely unwritten, and nothing is certain. Why would you confine yourself by choosing to see it any other way? Wayne Dyer put it, "Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at change." Scrub off your windows. Let the light through.

Take care of yourself.

We say it all the time, usually as a quick parting phrase, but do we ever think about what it means? We have so much on our plates, so much demanding our attention, that we often forget to add ourselves to this list. Buddha says, "You, yourself, deserve your love and affection." Max Ehrmann says, "Be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the tress and the stars. In the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul."

Take care of yourself. Love yourself. Don't be so hard on yourself - you're doing the best you can.

"Become comfortable with uncertainty." Eckhart Tolle

The full text is, 'when you become comfortable with uncertainty, infinite possibilities open up in your life.' So often, we are held back by fear of the unknown, assuming discomfort means we're making a wrong turn. The truth is, nobody knows what they're doing in this life. Nobody knows how it's all going to pan out. All we can do is to do what we can, where we are, with what we have. Shying away from uncertainty is not avoiding the tough decisions; it's choosing comfort and security over growth and possibility. Become comfortable with uncertainty. Accept it as a fact of life, and have faith in what will come.

"Happiness is the absence of the striving for happiness." -Chuang Tzu

When we strive for happiness, we are hoping for fruit at the top of a tree, while blindly neglecting its roots. So often we look around for happiness, and, when we don't register constant bliss, we think it's absent. Let go of this expectation. The fruits of happiness come from watering the roots of a passionate life, of meaningful relationships, of awareness and gratitude - and only through striving in these endeavors will we look up and find our tree blooming.

Make space.

In your day, for a moment of mindful peace. In your walk home, for wandering. In your heart, for a stranger's story. In your mind, for a new perspective. In your expectations, for the unexpected. In your life, for love.

If there's empty spaces in your heart, They'll make you think it's wrong, Like having empty spaces Means you never can be strong But I've learnt that all these spaces Means there's room enough to grow And the people that once filled them Were always meant to be let go And all these empty spaces Create a strange sort of pull That attract so many people You wouldn't meet if they were full. -Ernest Hemingway

"There is unmapped territory in all of us."

Disney said, "It's not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are." Life isn't so confusing and scary when you know who you are. At least, that's what I've heard - I'm working on it. I'm exploring the vast territory of my soul - from the breezy meadows where kindness and integrity bloom, to the dark caves with jagged rocks where my demons live. I don't always like what I find, but I can't deal with the demons if I never look them in the eye, much less if I deny they exist at all. Open yourself up to your truth, accepting and appreciating the good and the bad, so that you can love yourself and grow.

"We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand, and melting like a snowflake." -Marie Ray

I love the imagery of this quote. Sparkling. Melting. Each moment is a little glimmer in our hands, and we can appreciate it, marvel at it, use it to light our world, or not, but either way it's going to melt and be gone in an instant. The time passes whether you notice the miracle of it or not, so why not take a look around and let the moment shine?

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." -Plato

Imagine this: a mom in the whirlwind of a new baby, a high school misfit wondering what is wrong with him, an old man struggling with coming to terms with his age, a mid-twenties girl jogging to clear her head of boyfriend problems that seem the size of the world - all walking past each other and more on bustling streets thinking, "Nobody understands what it's like..."

We are all just lost souls swimming in a fishbowl, to use Pink Floyd's terminology. We're all just people trying to be happy, so why are we so against each other? A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle, so why aren't we trying to make our fellow humans' experiences brighter instead of darker? Choose kindness.

"The bird of paradise lands only on the hand that does not grasp." -Zen Proverb

Thoreau said a little differently: "Happiness is like a butterfly; the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder."

Zhuangzi said, "I cannot tell if what the world considers 'happiness' is happiness or not. All I know is that when I consider the way they go about attaining it, I see them carried away headlong, grim and obsessed, in the general onrush of the human herd, unable to stop themselves or to change their direction. All the while, they claim to be just on the point of attaining happiness."

Don't focus on chasing happiness. Focus on living a full life, feeling things, appreciating things, loving things, and happiness will land softly on your shoulder.

"Let's not try to figure out everything at once." -The National / Fake Empire (listen here)

I'm learning that building a perfect plan won't stop the waves from rolling in and rolling out. Life happens, you make mistakes, people - and you, yourself - aren't what you expect. Sometimes, you need to take a break from the thinking and planning and trying to make sure you're doing life "right". Whatever comes, let it come. Whatever stays, let it be. Whatever goes, let it go. "Turn the light out, say goodnight/No thinking for a little while/Let's not try to figure out everything at once/It's hard to keep track of you falling through the sky."

"enjoy life while you're living it you can never know which moments will be the ones that you'll remember and when happiness will hit you so be open for anything at any time do not fret over the past but learn from it and make new memories every day for there is only one life and one chance" -a.p

You only live once - it's possibly the most abused and overused phrase of our generation. We've all heard "YOLO!" so many times that we roll our eyes at it now, but really think about it. Everyone looks back on the "good ol' days", but nobody realizes when they're living them. Don't wait until you're looking back on your life to enjoy it. You can never know which moments will be the ones that you'll remember - why not make this moment one of them?

"If people sat outside and looked at the stars each night, I’ll bet they’d live a lot differently. When you look into infinity, you realize that there are more important things than what people do all day." -Bill Watterson

It's easy to get tangled in the details of our individual lives, accepting the confines we've built around ourselves then cursing the troubles they create. Every now and then, look up at the vast night sky and remember how small you are. Not for discouragement, but for humility and inspiration. Thinking about how big and magical everything is can really make your worries seem small.

Besides extinguishing fears, a cosmic perspective can kindle aspirations, too. In the words of Whitman, "The powerful play goes on and you have the opportunity to contribute a verse. What will your verse be?" Look up at the stars tonight and ponder this powerful play of life - there are more important things than what people do all day.

"There is only one day at a time here, then it's tonight and then tomorrow will be today again." -Bob Dylan

Today is the day.

There are so many things that I am going to do someday. But what does that mean? Today is the "someday" of last year, or even of yesterday, yet today never looks like what we expect "someday" to look like. Today looks like any other day, and someday should have fireworks and signs telling you this is that day you have been waiting for, the day meant for you to do that one thing, right?

Our whole lives are a series of "today"s one after another. This mystical place called "someday" is going to show up looking just like today - in jeans in a t-shirt, not in a sparkling wizard's robe - and it might walk right past you if you don't decide it is that someday. Stop waiting, stop saving things for special occasions - every day of your life is a special occasion, and today is the someday you have been looking for. Today is the day! For new beginnings, doing the little things you've been putting off, calling that friend you never have time for, seeing the things in your hometown that you've never gotten around to because they'll always be there and you'll make it out there...someday. Today is the day.

"I hope you wake up feeling like a blank canvas. Paint yourself beautiful today."

Every day, we are creating and composing our lives, whether we choose to be intentional about it or not. Words and thoughts are often treated like no more than a harmless, spewed mist, immediately wafted away and forgotten. But they have much more weight than that.

Imagine your day is a blank canvas. Your attitude translates to the colors of the background, your awareness dictates the scenery, and every word you say or think appears in the foreground. This is the permanence that these elements have on your soul, so choose them carefully. That isn't to say you can avoid sadness, anger, and disappointment, but you can decide what role they play in your composition. Treat today like a blank canvas - every day it's pure, new, and fresh - and create something that you're happy to see.

"When life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate. When life is bitter, say thank you and grow." -Shauna Niequist

Yoga inspiration Rachel Brathen said something a few weeks ago that has stuck with me. She was watching the sun breaking through the final clouds of a rainstorm, commencing a beautiful sunset. She said:

"Pretty much sums up my life. Maybe yours, too? It rained, and then the sun came out? Or perhaps it's raining, still, and you don't know what to do? For some of us, it's been raining for a very long time. Some of us have given up hope of ever seeing rays of light burst through the clouds. And some of us are on the opposite side, having seen so much sun that we no longer appreciate the way it kisses our skin.

"We need the sun. We also need the rain. We are not complete without it. The problem is, we expect sunshine and complain about our feet getting wet. Rainy days take us by surprise. But there is beauty in rain, too. There is a silence behind it.

"Don't doubt. Don't fear. After rain, comes sunshine. After sunshine, comes rain. This is the way of the world. When the sun comes out, say thank you. When the rain comes, say thank you to that, too."

"It is never too late or too soon. It is when it is supposed to be." -Mitch Albom

My first day of twelve in Morocco, I lost my phone, making the only connection between me and anything besides that moment my analog watch displaying not numbers, but a vintage map of the world. Combined with the simplicity of mountain villages and long bus rides through vast emptiness of desert, this was the perfect setting for the book I had chosen for the trip - Mitch Albom's The Time Keeper.

It's a fable about the inventor of the first clock who must teach two souls - a troubled teenage girl and a dying billionaire - the true meaning of time. Albom introduces the concept by challenging the reader to imagine a life without timekeeping. He says, "You probably can't. Yet all around you, timekeeping is ignored. Birds are not late. A dog does not check its watch. Deer do not fret over passing birthdays. Man alone measures time. And because of this, man alone suffers a paralyzing fear that no other creature endures: a fear of time running out."

It seems like everywhere you turn these days, there is an article telling you what you should/shouldn't be doing in your twenties, for example, making guidelines off of this thing called time which was once completely arbitrary. How old would you be if you weren't counting the time passing? How differently would you collect and appreciate moments if you weren't measuring them? In most of our lives, commitments and schedules are inevitable, but outside of what's necessary, I challenge you to stop measuring life so much, and just live it. Oh, and read The Time Keeper.

"To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other, and feel - that is the purpose of life." -The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

I don't care what Rotten Tomatoes said - I loved The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Then again, I'm a sucker for awkward humor, underdog characters, and, of course, inspiring travel cinematography and a good quote. Here's my take on the movie's mantra:

• To see the world. I read this in two ways: first, with emphasis on the world - travel and experience new cultures - and, second, with emphasis on see. As Marcel Proust says, "Discovery consists not of seeking new lands, but in seeing with new eyes."

• Things dangerous to come to. With the exception of ignoring your survival instincts, things that excite and scare you at the same time are usually good things to try. Failure isn't as bad or as permanent as our imaginations and the fear in our hearts make it out to be.

• To see behind walls. Be curious. Dig deeper. Notice things other people overlook. Question. Open doors.

• To draw closer. Really soak things up. Embrace the world, instead of hiding from it.

• To find each other. Recognize the oneness of all people and things, and feel at ease in this harmony. Help each other. Let people in.

• To feel. Let the highs and the lows wash over and envelope you, realizing that both have their purpose, and neither are permanent.

In the end, this quote is just another stab at the age-old question about how we should spend our short stay on this planet. Does it satisfy the question for your life? If not, what is it missing? Food for thought. :)

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