Variety is the spice of life
As I look back over the last few years, since I started my mostly daily blogging, I can see a pattern developing. Not only is the weather the same almost to the day, with seasonal fluctuations repeating themselves, but the very events and experiences repeat themselves. This leads me to conclude that life is just one great big repetitive cycle and we shouldn’t expect anything to change unless we make some major changes ourselves.
There are a number of ways to change our lives. The weather will change if we move location. The places we go to will change if we find other interests. Our outlook will change if we rethink our reactions to experiences. Perhaps this is why some people travel – it’s the easiest way to break the cycle of repetition. There’s no doubt that travel broadens the mind – you view things differently once you see how other cultures live.
This can’t be experienced in fancy hotels and resorts – these are isolated from the realities of daily living – and simpler accommodation in places off the beaten track can often be the most rewarding for authentic experiences. Luxury living soon palls (for me, anyway) and it isn’t long before I’m wanting to be in the kitchen cooking my own food rather than eating out. And there’s something rather unsavoury about having someone clean up after me in the bathroom (certainly for them) and using a vastly oversized, too thick bath towel when a threadbare hand towel is far more efficient and waterwise makes me feel I have left a tap running overnight when we are all urged to conserve our resources.
As an avid attendee at star parties, where most of the night is spent outside looking up at the stars, planets, satellites and any other extraterrestrial objects that might pass overhead, camping is a great option, particularly if the weather is good. Although many an event has been washed out by rain or simply inconvenient cloud cover, the simple pleasure of proximity to nature, separated only by a thin sheet of nylon, is guaranteed to take you out of your comfort zone and make you aware of all the sounds of the night that are absent when warmly ensconced under the duvet at home. A chorus of frogs clicking and croaking in the dam, an owl hooting from a treetop, and the wind soughing through the branches of the willows enhances the senses normally dulled by the constant background hum of electronics in the home, or traffic passing by.
By constantly subjecting ourselves to new experiences, we are able to appreciate life in a more meaningful way. We have something to base decisions on – our personal preferences rather than being led or influenced by general opinion. Life is to be lived on our own terms – go out there and do it!
