Paris. 8 a.m. Monday, May 9, 2011. I board an all-Bulgarian Eurolines bus, heading for Sofia. We are scheduled to arrive around 8:00 p.m. the next day. Expanded notes from my journal scribbles.
I can't believe how much and yet how little, time has gone by since my last trek out East. How much has happened, how much I've learned, how much is yet to come! This bus ride to Sofia is a kind of necessary purgatory, a time for overdue reflection, to find out what really hurts, what can be let go of, what can remain in place and what needs improving. In 7 months, I have learned to live deeply, fully, listening more and more to my body, my mind and my heart. The "promise" of Greece has begun to bloom in a real way now as I go back in that direction and know and am becoming increasingly aware of my life's potential and limitations. Perhaps the return to Athens will hurt, perhaps the veil will be lifted. Perhaps it will be even more magical than before. Note: I never did go back to Athens, bypassed completely "The Battle of Syntagma Square" and all the memories. Got carried away with Northern Greece. It is frightening and also liberating to travel alone, relying on the kindness of strangers, accepting that you won't connect with everyone, that you can't do everything right but that when it's right, it's really right. Opening yourself to the possibility of mistakes, even big ones, in the name of learning, growing, pushing forward. Realizing that even those who seem put together crumble, fall, tear to pieces from time to time. Talk less, listen more. Know when each has its place. Judge less, both yourself and others.
I can't believe how much and yet how little, time has gone by since my last trek out East. How much has happened, how much I've learned, how much is yet to come! This bus ride to Sofia is a kind of necessary purgatory, a time for overdue reflection, to find out what really hurts, what can be let go of, what can remain in place and what needs improving. In 7 months, I have learned to live deeply, fully, listening more and more to my body, my mind and my heart. The "promise" of Greece has begun to bloom in a real way now as I go back in that direction and know and am becoming increasingly aware of my life's potential and limitations. Perhaps the return to Athens will hurt, perhaps the veil will be lifted. Perhaps it will be even more magical than before. Note: I never did go back to Athens, bypassed completely "The Battle of Syntagma Square" and all the memories. Got carried away with Northern Greece. It is frightening and also liberating to travel alone, relying on the kindness of strangers, accepting that you won't connect with everyone, that you can't do everything right but that when it's right, it's really right. Opening yourself to the possibility of mistakes, even big ones, in the name of learning, growing, pushing forward. Realizing that even those who seem put together crumble, fall, tear to pieces from time to time. Talk less, listen more. Know when each has its place. Judge less, both yourself and others.
No comments:
Post a Comment