The beauty of traveling is that, every time I leave home, I return with a new perspective. Some impression is always left in my mind and for the most part, it’s one I want to keep.
I recently traveled to Europe for 2 weeks. I was in the southern part of Italy. It’s not very wealthy there. People live very minimalist.
I stayed with my extended family. There are two young adults, my age, living with their parents. One doesn’t have an education beyond high school and the other is a teacher, who has the summers off.
They live their life pretty simply — wake up, watch the news or sports games, enjoy coffee with a pastry, walk around town, sit down and have lunch all together. Drink wine and pasta for every meal. Reconvene at dinner time for more family time.
They are affectionate — always smiling, kissing and hugging one another.
They don’t speak much English. While you’d think this was a barrier for us, it was actually the most beautiful part of staying with them in my opinon. No need to say much, just smiling, laughing, enjoying one another’s company and precense. You get to BE with them. It was a different way of living, communicating and sharing time with another.
It was so cute, seeing them living in this way. They seemed so content with their lives. They kept paying for my things — my food, my toiletries, etc. They seem to have less means than I do and yet, they were more gracious than most people.
I wanted to give them all of my money.
The thought occurred to me that I could easily be the one in their shoes. That, had my family members made other decisions, I could have grown up in the same situation — no formal education, only speaking another language, never really leaving my small hometown to travel and see the world. Just a series of choices that led me to where I am and led them to where they are, too.
It makes me think about all the people living their day to day lives across the world. Different cities, different responsibilities. Obligations and expectations. We’re all doing it, just in difference circumstances and perhaps for a different goal in mind.
It’s freeing to think of this and my insignificance in it all.
My world — my job, my family, my friends and my daily life habits seems so large in my eyes and yet, when I take a step back, I realize just how small and insignificant it is.
It still rings true that I have to live my life in the way it should be lived. Meaning, I have to honor myself, my wants, and my authenticity — prioritize my relationships and work towards things in my life.
But, with this perspective, there’s less pressure to do it all so “perfectly”. There’s too much world out there to put that kind of pressure on anyone.
