What am I doing here?
You will either step forward into growth, or you will step backward into safety.
-Abraham Maslow
“Why?” is easily the question I’m most often asked about this trip.
Why go so far? For education? Pleasure? Wanderlust? None would be completely incorrect, but all are symptoms of a larger answer. The real reason I traveled to the opposite end of the globe is even less tangible. I came to grow.
Growth
In almost all of nature, growth is the natural response to pressure. If the water in a desert oasis begins to dry, the animals must learn to conserve, or journey long distances to find new sources. This sort of evolution happens in human lives as well. A posh city dweller forced to live on a farm will quickly develop the necessary skills to survive in his new environment.
In the wild, refusal to grow means death. This is as true for humans as it is for polar bears. Most humans, however, can suffer a great deal of environmental pressure without loss of life. Staying in a dead-end job, with a spouse you no longer care for, or in an out-of-shape body you loathe can be very uncomfortable, but it is rarely fatal – at least, not physically. Spiritually, it’s another story.
You’ve seen them, the physically alive but spiritually stagnant. You probably walk by dozens every day. You can recognize their droning complaints, “God, I hate people,” the helpless viewpoint of their situation, “This job is lame, but getting a new one is a impossible in this economy,” and the lack of smiles on their faces. These people may not be spiritually dead, but they are certainly in a deep spiritual sleep. Their existence is barely beyond physical survival because they have waited for life to catalyze their spiritual growth.
But what if we don’t want to sit and wait for our circumstances to determine our growth? What if we want to be prepared for the drought before it comes? Luckily, we share a gift called consciousness that allows us some control here. While the circumstances of our lives will force some of our changes, we can choose to grow beyond these circumstances. How? By doing things beyond ourselves.
For example, In a world with such incredibly quick means of travel, there is little evolutionary pressure to run fast. Yet, year after year, people learn to run faster than the year before. How does this happen? The answer is simple, but the implications are great: People practice running, and they get better at it. People can choose to take on more pressure, and reap the rewards of extra growth.
My Goal
My life has rarely been uncomfortable. A denizen of Generation Y, I have plenty of entertaining technical gadgets, social escape mechanisms, and parents who would probably support me into my 40s. I could wait it out, mooching off my folks, avoiding social interaction, and playing video games. Then, one day my folks wouldn’t be able to support me, and I’d suddenly be forced out into the world. Of course, I’d have no social skills, no experience working, and no idea where to go. Maybe I’d make it.
But I don’t want to wait for life to play me out such a bad hand. I don’t want to spiritually sleep away my life, avoiding difficulties, confrontations, and therefore, growth. Not when I could instead be out in the world meeting people, supporting myself, and living instead of surviving. Not when I could be inspiring others to do the same.
The Blog
All this growth is wonderful, but does it really need to be recorded? Probably not. Traveling to the other side of the world for 8 months would cause a good deal of growth if I didn’t shoot any film at all. But, there are many benefits if I do.
First, creating a video blog takes time and effort. This applies doubly for myself, because I have zero experience shooting video or blogging. I’ll have to learn on the fly, while still producing some sort of content. In addition, I want the blog to be interesting, which means I am motivated to do cool or entertaining things every week. This is in addition to learning how to find places to stay, finding those places, finding a job, and supporting myself. Such a high pressure situation is likely to cause rapid growth.
Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, I am filming the blog for other people like myself who may be spiritually drowsy. It is my intention to be a little illumination on the eyelids of those who are sleeping their life away. It won’t work on those still in a deep slumber. They’ll excuse the trip, saying to themselves, “It was easy for him, he’s such a [insert label here].” or “It isn’t within my means. I’m sure I’ll do it later.” Some people, though, will take the trip as proof that they can also go out and dive fully into life. They’ll pack their bags or quit their job, start their business or break up with their unloving significant other. In doing so, they will inspire others to do the same. Eventually, we’ll all feel the effects of their positive decisions.
So what am I doing here?
I am traveling to Australia – the furthest place in the world from my home – to put pressure on myself. I’m traveling to succeed, to fail, and to learn from that failing. I’m traveling to experience pleasure and to embrace wanderlust. Most importantly, I’m traveling to grow. Hopefully, I’m traveling to help you grow as well.
If you would like to get in touch, email me at Trent@TrentInOz.com.