Living, fleeting

I want to live a passion filled life. I want to do adventurous things, visit places, experience unforgettable moments, get to know other people, embrace conversations with them, however fleeting, and just live.

When I die, I want to know that I have lived a life worth living. I want to remember these moments and these people with no regrets.

Everything in life is so fleeting. You snorkel with a whale shark for a couple of minutes, dolphins surround your boat and while you're on the way back to the island, you chat with locals and get to know a bit more about the person behind the friendly face, you stand by the crashing waves and look up at the night sky filled with stars, you catch a fish with your father beside you. These moments. They're all so fleeting and special. Once they pass, they pass and only exist in your memory.

I just got back from the Maldives yesterday and I feel this strange mix of happiness and sadness. Withdrawal symptoms. It was an 8 day trip and it passed so quickly. It was also filled with so many special moments - encounters with beautiful marine creatures and conversations with lovely local people. I feel blessed and grateful to have experienced all that but at the same time, there's this sadness that it's over and that the moments have passed.

I guess the saying "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." rings true now. I need to focus more on the blessing of having had these moments and people in my life. Moments pass quickly and I must remember to always make the most of it while it is happening.

Anyway, here's a quick poem that my father shared with me when I was younger:

"What is life?
It is the flash of a firefly in the night.
It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime.
It is the little shadow which runs across
the grass and loses itself in the sunset."

Crowfoot, Blackfoot warrior and orator 1830 - 1890

He explained it to me then but I didn't really get it. Now I think I kinda do.

Adventure, travel, death, living

I found out recently that a blogger from the travel community was kidnapped and murdered while he was attempting a motorcycle adventure across South America. I'm a pretty regular follower of several travel blogs. They help fuel my wanderlust and I draw travel inspiration and advice from them. They're an avenue that tells me that I can do the trips I want, that I can travel, that I don't have to conform to societal pressures because there are so many out there living passionate and travel filled lives. They also reinforce my belief in all the good and beauty that is in this world. These blogs are mainly positive influences and you don't usually read about the dark side of travel, the side that takes lives or changes them in ways that aren't so positive.

When I read about what happened to 32 year old traveller, Harry Devert, it was a reminder of the bad things that could happen. The kind that would hurt your family, the kind that my dad worries about, the kind that many fear. These things are not limited to kidnappings and murders. There is so much else that could go wrong when one travels and the longer one is on the road, the more trips one takes or the more far flung and dangerous these places, the higher the chances of something unfortunate happening.

It's tremendously sad what happened to Harry and a stark reminder of the bad in the world. He was a lover of life, of people and of the world. How he lived resonates with how many of us hope and/or strive to live.

When I found out what happened, I visited his blog and read his most recent post titled "Sense of Adventure". I would just like to reproduce several parts of his post that resonated with me. These paragraphs do not only represent how I view adventure, they also offer a non-judgmental perspective of other people and also captured what an amazing human being Harry probably was. I hope to be more like that, without prejudices or judgements. I hope to love and accept and understand others like Harry did. I also hope to jump headfirst into life, without fears or inhibitions, just like he did. He may have passed, but his words live on and I believe he lives in the hearts of many who knew him.

"People talk about things in different ways. There’s a different tone that someone has when they’re talking about work, about news, about the weather. Everyone has had their own adventures, to whatever extent they may be adventurous or whatever extent their life has presented them with the opportunity of being so. Everyone has different adventure tolerances so to speak. Some of my friends will tell me about the time they took a walk on a deserted beach outside of their resort with the same light in their eyes and passion in their voice as another friend will tell me about climbing a mountain. The particular adventure doesn’t matter as much as the feeling one gets when one is being adventurous. "

"Some people have a greater sense of adventure than others, undoubtedly, some people more cautious and some more carefree, but I can’t help but think that everyone has it in them. Some people dream of traveling the world, climbing mountains, sailing across oceans or down jungle rivers, and some people dream about owning a house, getting a promotion, buying a new watch or eating at a new restaurant. No matter what it is however, I feel like adventure is that delving into the unknown, and everyone has that desire in them. For some that unknown is a far away country, for others it’s a different part of town. There’s not one that is ultimately greater than the other since in the end it’s the emotion that results in the individual that matters, and if I get the same sensation, the same thrill sleeping in a cave in a jungle as someone else gets from walking down to a deserted part of a beach, who’s to say one person’s adventure is greater than another’s?

Everyone has different dreams. It’s one of the things that make us human. Having a family is an adventure, as is getting married, as is climbing a mountain. We owe it to ourselves to test our limits. To pursue our dreams. To see what we’re really capable of. To push ourselves. It’s one of those most human traits. To have a dream and figure out a way to pursue it. I don’t think many other animal species are capable of that. I doubt there’s anyone who, on their deathbed ever lamented pursuing a passion, pursuing a dream, I imagine in fact it would be quite the opposite. “The saddest thing in life is wasted talent,” Sonny told Calogero in A Bronx Tale. We all have talents, we all have dreams, the amazing thing being that everyone’s talents and dreams are unique. My dreams are undoubtedly different than yours, and that’s what makes us all interesting. It’s what makes us all beautiful."

RIP Mr Devert, I may not have known you previously or in real life but you are an inspiration. May you keep doing what you love up there in heaven and may God bless you and your family.