Apparently 'peace and love' is how folks in Nicaragua refer to hippies :). I've been busted again but I still maintain I'm not a hippie. We need to widen the categories for people living alternative lifestyles!
Anyway this kid poked his head into the window of the motorhome as we were preparing to do our social circus show in an urban community in Nicaragua. He said, "Oye, ustedes son 'peace and love' ?" Ha! Everybody burst into laughter thinking of all our bickering. Nine people of different cultures living, eating, working, sleeping and waking together in a motorhome ain't what I would call 'peace and love'.
Sometimes I feel like folks romanticize being a traveler. Like it's all peace and love and complete freedom from your everyday troubles. Many people say they wish they could drop everything and just go like we have. This is not a complaint but in my experience, it is freedom but only because it gives you more everyday problems. On the road we are constantly resolving what and where and how to eat, to get water, to sleep, which way to go, who to trust etc. so we don't have time or head space for the problems of a more stable life. I think its been quite healthy for me not to be comfortable enough to let my mind wonder into the problems or pleasures of the past and future. I really hope I can maintain this level of attention to the present moment in any lifestyle that I inhabit in the future.
One thing I can say about traveling is that it's freedom from certainty (the imagined certainty that we tend to invest so much in). I read this quote on a wall in a cultural center in San Jose, Costa Rica and I wanna share it with you guys:
"Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position. Certainty is an absurd one."
Right on. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment