Life, Travel, and the Pursuit of Books

“Every book brings you different world, 

        one that has the potential to surprise and excite you, 

               reinvigorate you, take you down a new path, 

                     or make you believe that 

                          something incredible is possible”

When I travel, my mind wanders to musing about all sorts of things, usually things I'm gazing at from a car, plane, or in my case lately, kombies.  As the country sides hurtles pass me, I look at the lazy idylic landscapes that appear before me, then vanish in a moments time. I'm learning to embrace each journey as something to be valued. There need to be moments when we stop, look out the window, and just think for awhile. While watching the world go by, I draw forth comparisons of leisure and work, personal fullfilment and social responsibilities, love and friendship.

In life, we continuously balance considerations such as these with one another, sometimes effectively, sometimes poorly---but the management of those balances seems to determines how good we feel and how effective we are in accomplishing our goals. The problem arises when we don't view consideration with one another the way we view other cyclical processes such as breathing in and out. Signs of imbalance, irrational and agitated behavior, less patience with minor inconveniences occur---then we wind up ignoring the feedback our psyches are trying to tell us. It almost makes us resent the journey.

Which brings me to thinking about books and reading.  Books have become my closest companions since coming to Africa. In fact, with more time and less distractions, reading falls in the number one slot of things to do in my free time. Most PCV's go on a reading rampage, from fiction to facts, filling our minds with a million thoughts. Books remove us from the incessant bustle of everything else. They demand quiet attention and at the same time encourages us to relax. They are the window from the kombie, but better because every book looks out onto something different, brings you to a different world, one you weren't specifically looking for. A book just doesn't pick you up at JFK and plop you down in Jo'Burg, they let you see everything in between. Books, with their accumulative clutter, have been asimiliated as part of my existence for a long time, but now with so many people having Kindles, Borders and Independent book stores closing, I don't know what to do. I'll never give up the real thing, the feel of the paperback, it's pages turning, the finger print on page 79 of the organic chocolate bar that was sent to me. It's all so delicious---the books and the chocolate!

So, let's embrace the journey of life and the life in books! Let yourself get lost in the worlds of fantastic adventures! The journey is something to be valued, it changes the game---It turns out that a lot goes on between "Once upon a time" and "The End"----Don't miss it!