The most beautiful journey

Dear Journal,

How does a living language become dead? I have always been fascinated by ancient civilisations, those societies that developed a way of life and of thinking sometimes the opposite of ours. How could all that disappear when there is still so much diversity on this planet?

Humankind is an explorer; it has been written in us since that famous dawn of time, which sometimes feels so familiar to me. For me, travel is a path towards open-mindedness, towards accepting difference and setting our ingrained patterns in motion. It puts us back in our place: one expression of life among so many others. I think I miss it.

In a world where the general pace keeps speeding up, it is a parenthesis that invites me to slow down, to feel joy and discover the richness of simplicity. The essence of life is in the present moment. In emotions or spaces created together: love, friendship, kindness, conviviality, shared knowledge, pleasure.

And yet the present era sometimes makes my journey on Earth a bland and toxic dish, far from the true flavour of discovery and wonder. I see so much beauty decimated by the selfish desires of a few… I perceive so much innocence stifled by fear… We mask our own shadows, our deep suffering. We struggle in vain.

I watch this infernal machine, powerless, but in fact the real battle is elsewhere. It is within me. You know, it is hard to realise, but it is liberating. It takes courage to accept the whole of one’s personality, and wisdom not to identify with it.

How can we want to take care of the Life around us if we do not take care of the life within us? Perhaps that is where we must begin: honouring and loving ourselves fully in order, at last, to respect all living things. And in the end, that is the most beautiful journey: the one we take to the heart of ourselves. Today I can say sincerely that I am happy to be my own companion in exploring this life.

✦