A Richer Life

The whole of all your experiences, when pieced together, make up the lens through which you view the world.  The richer and more diverse your life is, the easier it'll be to see the world in its numerous dimensions.  Every thing that happens to you expands your ability to relate to others (including non-humans).

There are things that you can't imagine, can't fathom, without experiencing it firsthand.  For example, love.  What is love?  I know what platonic love and unconditional love is.  But I've never been "in love."  I can watch as many movies and read as many books as I can but they are not sufficient substitutes for possessing the real feeling.  People say that "you will know" when you experience it.

Step 1: Experience. Step 2: Write in sand.

Recently, I went skydiving.  Jumping out of a plane is something I've always wanted to do in my lifetime.  It's also something that is hard to truly fathom.  I've seen movies where people skydive and can only imagine what it feels like.  You need to experience it to comprehend the feeling.



I've heard people say that it's anti-climatic.  After jumping out of that plane from 14,000 ft., I can understand why people feel that way.  The jump lasted less than ten minutes with the free fall portion lasting barely a minute.  After landing, it was even hard to believe what I've just done.  But, the experience lies in the process of internalizing it.  Shrugging it off as anti-climatic would make it just that.  However, if you review your thought process, or lack thereof, when you are crouching at the door of the plane with nothing underneath you except clouds and 14,000 feet of air, when the air is rushing past you and you can't even hear yourself yelling "this is crazy," that's when you appreciate the gargantuan nature of what you've done.

Appreciate flower. Smell it. Be it. Photograph it.

Imagine stopping at a single flower and taking in it's unique shade of color, aroma, and simplicity rather than glancing at it while walking past it, texting on your iPhone.  Imagine knowing, but not fully comprehending, that a single tree can provide so much for its ecosystem; that a single good person can hold such an overwhelming influence on society through a lifetime of interactions; that tiny, minute things we dismiss daily can have a massive impact in the grand scheme of things and yet, at the same time, be so minuscule when held in juxtaposition with the immensity of the universe.  To live such a conscious life would be to fully appreciate the world we live in and the people with whom we interact with.

Trees and sunlight. So symbolic.

I have not reached that point yet.  However, it is my goal and I strive to achieve this for the duration of my lifetime.  I'd urge you to do the same with the belief that it would enrich your own experience on this good earth (and possibly space for future readers).