Number one thing that has been most challenging in returning from a long trip abroad and then diving right back in to New York City has been a latent resistance to the return of the pace of the city life. And I remember swearing to each other that we didn’t want to return to that pace when we came back, but here we are and I think we are moving even faster and busier than before. How does this always happen and why does it feel right and ok this time?
Off and on I’ve been trying to answer these questions and finally it’s hit me right in the face. As I sit here reflecting on yesterday’s connections made and connections missed. When we stepped out of our routine of daily life we were able to give ourselves an opportunity to really look at how fortunate our lifestyle is and how much more we can do in this world if we take it as an opportunity rather than a right. We have re-discovered the greatness of the ideals and underlying belief system that swells from the shores of this country. Every individual impacts the world, but we have built a unique civilization whose very existence and progress has shaken the foundation of belief systems around the world. And we can choose to move through life and fail to pay attention, fail to think about and react to our interactions and fail to impact the world in a positive way or we can step up and do something with that opportunity to shape our influences in powerful and positive ways because we are these fortunate individuals that have transformed a few powerful ideas into a way of life.
Throughout our trip, everyday balanced on our connection to others and their individual actions. We were dependent on strangers and they carried us through. Strangers became life-long friends, friends and family grew closer than ever before by following our story on the internet from abroad as we hurtled further and further physically away. This would not have been possible if we were from another time or another place. So, in our return to the busy-ness or business of this American life we return with a renewed sense of purpose and this propels us faster and faster every day. No longer are we fearful of the busy-ness of the city or the world, rather we are driven to make more and more connections which pushes us that much closer to our eventual undoing where it all will just seem like a flash in the pan.
But will we be just a flash in the pan? I hope not. And as we lay back in our warm and cozy bed this morning we talked about our dreams of the night and of the future as the changes in light pushed me out of bed and into the kitchen where a cup of hot coffee was minute a away. Fresh water flowed into the electric kettle, energy thrust it up to a temperature that would give water the unique properties that forced open my eyes and excited my body and mind such that I had to sit down and share a few reflections from the road less traveled by us and more considered.
And so we let go a bit of the resistance to life threatening and unyielding pace and leap forward to new ideas and connections and are thankful for the ones that brought us to places we’d never imagined and then carried us home. We take another look at fall light and leaves as they both drift and blend into winter and recognize that we will take what we can get and make the most of it.
A Surlee Voyage 