I realize I'm no Harold Crick, but when I come across guys like Matt Harding, I get a tightness in my chest on the verge of detonation that I recognize as a desperate, immediate desire to put my current life on an indefinite hold to crawl slowly in a winding, indirect path around this world.
To never experience the rest of the world is to me, a great tragedy that I am currently living. It astounds, and depresses me that there is an enormous planet full of varying vegetation, landscapes, people, languages, food, sounds, animals, music, clothing, rituals, lifestyles, that I have not been able to see, hear, touch, smell or taste.
What good are our senses if they are only exposed to the same experiences day after day? How can we expect to have true compassion for mankind if we've only ever had encounters with one culture? Do we truly understand what it means to care for our planet, if we've never seen vegetation outside of our own? How can I sit at this desk every morning, pretending to write music, expecting to contribute to a society I've never met?
This is not Matt's advocation. In regards to any message he might be stating through his happy feet he states: "Up to you. I'm just dancing."
Check him out, and see if you don't feel inspired to do the same:
For more on Matt's adventures, visit Where The Hell Is Matt?
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3 comments:
Don't detonate. Looks like he's having a lot of fun, but what is he really accomplishing? I'm sure it would be great to see so much of the world, but when he's gone, all he'll have left behind are a bunch of goofy videos. The daily struggle of human existence is hard enough without beating yourself up about not being able to wander the world at leisure. Hopefully one day, your own passions will take you to all the places you want to go, but if they don't and you have had a positive effect on even one other person, even if they live on your own block, then you haven't wasted anything.
I didn't know you liked Weeds- cool.
Yes, please do not explode into bits.
You're living in New York Fucking City for crying out loud! You have such opportunities to overload your senses, and I'm not talking about walking through time square. You have to command that part of you that longs to experience new things and honor it.
Plus--you're living in New York Fucking City!!!!!! That seems like a huge first step for yourself to get out there and actually live. Take your time! And do not explode!
JT & KMF,
Thanks for your comments.
I apologize if it seemed I was whining or complaining. The use of blogs is often debated, but I think we can all agree whining and complaining is not one of them.
I was simply (if not a tad dramatically) venting some personal frustration at the slow rate my bubble of experience is expanding. Yes, I live in NY and find its diversity and cultural experiences amazing. I love NY, that's no secret. But I truly believe that in order to evolve personally and as a society, that bubble needs to never stop expanding. By experiencing and learning from other cultures and lifestyles, perhaps as a human race we can evolve past our lesser attributes, like problem solving through violence and the trashing of the planet, to name the hot topics. (Or perhaps I'm just a bit too obsessed with Heroes!)
You're right, Matt probably will only be remembered for some goofy videos, but perhaps by doing so he has raised awareness of what lay outside of freakin' America. Maybe he even inspired a few people to leave the continent and expand their own bubbles.
I don't mean to be ungrateful for my current residence, but I will not be satisfied until my bubble encompasses the entire world (and if I'm lucky- the moon, too!)
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