Part III:

I reflect on my very premium search (of myself.)

Maybe you can help me with this one. As I look at this from the macroscopic point of view, I am ultimately distressed, unhappy and unenthusiastic about humans. The big picture right now is not good. We have become a global society, but we aren’t thinking globally. We are exposed to all this international news, all of this international culture, but what are we really seeing? We aren’t seeing ways in which we can join together, we are just seeing ways in which we all suffer. It’s why I don’t watch TV or the news. How do we shift the paradigm to foster support and care – not disconnection and judgment? I have no answers.

I know this has a lot of negative overtones to it, but it brings me to my conclusion; that we should follow the ideas of “thinking globally, and acting locally.” Through these disasters I got to work with people on the local level, person to person, and see how strong community can really be. People came from all over the region to help out their brothers and sisters in need. Foreigners pitched in, no matter where they were from, and were accepted by the local community because the spirit was right. Person to person. Making a difference. On the last day G. and I did a memorial walk from the edge of town with thousands of people who had come from all over the region, to show respect for those who had perished, and to show the power of community. People walked for the entire day to be there, from villages that didn’t even seem to be connected in any way, but were still connected by a respect for the sanctity of human life. To me, this was what brought everything around for me. I felt connected, even though I had never been to this place before.

Community is wherever you make it. This will stay with me always.

To me, that’s the meat of my experience. That what can be done on the community level needs to be expanded outwards; needs to radiate outwards to the larger community as a whole. That ways need to be found to embrace the fact that we’re all on the same planet and ultimately share exactly the same fate. So without getting all “we are the world” on everyone, my thought is that if you are doing your best to strengthen yourself and the people around you, you’re moving in the right direction. That was what India did for me.

I knew that when I set out India, it was going to be intense, it was going to be overwhelming, it was going to be full of unexpected surprises – and it was exactly that. There were so many emotions tied into the experience that I still have trouble even beginning to sort them all out. I can definitely say that it wasn’t relaxing, but I can say that it was chalk full of value. I feel now, more than ever, part of a larger community that is bigger than I can ever define, and I feel that if I am so frustrated about the way people act, then the only thing I can do about it is change myself and radiate that outwards. You can’t make people do things, you can’t make people change, and you can never know exactly how you are going to affect others, so you can only work on yourself. I know there are still so many things I don’t do well, but so long as I acknowledge that and keep at it, I hope that will be enough.

Thanks for going on this journey with me and listening to my thoughts (if you made it this far, I would love to hear yours). The next post will be my last in Ukraine, and thus will begin the next part of my journey – whatever that may be.

Cheers, and Namaste,

Werd