Move and Be Still

Timepieces have always caught my eye. I guess I should clarify that. Old timepieces or pieces where you can see pieces move catch my eye. I guess that's why I love the Astronomical clock in Prague so much. (See my profile picture.)

Ironically, I don't often wear a watch. Nor do I enjoy clocking time. It passes far too quickly or slowly depending on the long or short term and the situation.

In a few weeks I'll be traveling overseas. It's been a few years since I've really traveled. Far too long. And yet, when I think back on all the trips I've taken--whether they were months long or days long--they seem like a blip in my life. It never seems long enough, does it? And if I didn't have the memories and the experiences it could be as if it never happened. It's like that with all trips.

I've spoken with traveling Europeans who have months to travel. They feel the same way. But we all love it. Love how it changes our perspective. Gets us out of our comfort zone and into seeing new sights, meeting new people, and putting ourselves in new situations. Of course, a trip only changes you as much as you let it.

"Let's go to Burger King."

My heart drops. We're in another country that has wonderful food. Yes, it's different from the usual American fare but that's part of the adventure. Unless there is a dietary restriction (I'm lactose intolerant) I try to try everything.

In my travels I've eaten cooked blood, duck brains, snake, alligator, duck feet and tongue, eyeballs, innards, and probably a lot of other stuff that I don't even know I ate because I didn't know what it was but wanted to be polite.

My parents taught me that culture is everything when you're traveling. It is so important to know what is insulting and what is not. To notice how people react to things if you haven't already studied the culture.

It's important to know that in Asia it is rude to not clean your plate. And when someone offers you something you say "no" and they will offer again, and you say "no" and they offer you again, and then you say "yes, okay, you're too polite, thank you."

I thank them for that lesson. It's really helped me feel at home in a lot of situations when I was far from home.

When I lived in London for a short time I noticed the scowls on the faces of the taxi/lorry drivers when American friends just hopped into the car first and then stated where they wanted to go. And then I noticed that my British friends would lean into the open passenger window and state where they wanted to go and only after getting a response from the driver would they step into the vehicle. On the rare occasions I didn't take the Tube, Lorry drivers were much nicer to me because I did the lean and ask before I opened the door.

Traveling can show you more of who you really are. Especially when you're traveling alone. But even if you aren't...you can surprise yourself. Situations pop up that you don't expect. You can be more courageous or more fearful than you thought yourself to be. When you're in a country where you're not familiar with the language you can find yourself more flexible or capable or inflexible or incapable.

You can find yourself following an 80 year old woman down the streets of Rome to a hidden hostel in a cozy but very strange neighborhood. She'll be chattering away at you and you won't understand anything except her gestures and the pointing of directions.

You can find yourself pick pocketed in Ireland having arrived only 5 minutes into the city having nothing left to get back home. And there you learn that being too trusting has its faults too.

In the end, I guess its the same thing that draws me to both wonderful timepieces and travel. It's the movement. To be able to see the movement and how things change. How things work inside because of the movement. Each move causes something new to happen and that change causes another change inside and that, in turn, moves something else.

And then, every once in awhile, something big happens and things stand still. And we take in those moments as well. Why? Well, because in the world of movement absolute stillness draws attention doesn't it? We notice the moment someone gasps and holds their breath. Events go in slow motion when we get into an accident. The old tradition of stopping the ticking clock in a home when someone dies....and then the movement begins once more.

It may be a moment of stillness. It may be weeks. But movement does begin again as does change. Both bear growth. And if they go on too long, both can bear stagnation as well. So we move and be still, move and be still.

Well..I'm ready to move. And I'm looking forward to it.