What does it entail? and most worryingly …. does it equate essentially to being selfish?
Finding yourself is a privilege. It most definitely not afforded to everyone. It often comes in the form of traveling. However, traveling to find yourself is one of the biggest privileges of them all. This privilege certainly was not afforded to my father as a new college graduate in India. In those days once you finished college you found a job and you tried your very best to support the family (my father ended up leaving his beloved field of aviation for a job in a petroleum company). Taking time off for “selfish” reasons wasn't an option. In reality how could you even think of traveling when back then you couldn't legally take more than $50 out of India? There was no safety net of the welfare system. No income meant no security and no survival.
Admittedly, some true free spirits can’t be caged regardless of society. What comes to mind is the S. American travelers that I’ve seen in Peru and Brazil. Selling beads, crafts, busking, juggling at intersections and somehow surviving without any help from the government. A lot of people give them money (that’s mainly how they survive), but a lot of people shake their heads in disapproval, which brings me to my second question. Is taking time off unfair to society at whole?
Taking time off to find yourself is often frowned upon or thought of as a phase to get out of your system during your youth. Above all in our industrialized societies we value productivity. I think a good example of this self-worth-productivity nexus is the way the elderly are viewed. Brilliant former scientists, scholars, housewives, mechanics at the retirement home I volunteer at, are relegated to their bridge games and strolls in the park. Aging is associated with a certain degree of loss of respect and marginalization as people’s ‘input’ to society decreases. Most elderly are certainly are not as valued and respected for just being who they are, as they should be. I personally think the elderly have a tremendous amount to contribute to society, but that will have to be another blog post. Our society also values time to the point of comodifying it, hailing it with the same regard as we do money. We often say things like “time is money” and that we are “buying time”. How does care free traveling, throwing watches out the window, living and enjoying yourself for the sake of living and enjoying yourself all fit with this? But I ask why does it have to fit into the larger societial contructs of self-worth and value? The status-quo mold isn’t necessarily the only right way to be. What about the value and beauty in just living?
When I was in Peru I had the opportunity to help out with a local sanitation project in meliton, a village in the Amazon jungle. The people there live simply, their clothes are filled with constellations of holes, but they are just fine. “What’s the main industry here” is normally one of the first things I always find myself asking when I visit new towns. Over the few weeks that I stayed in the village, I realized their main industry was happiness. They were living for the sake of living and they seemed truly deeply happy. No-one harmed them and they didn’t harm anyone else.
I find a lot of travelers/hippies/adventurers/wastes of times/call-them-what-you-wills share this same secret. Living for the sake of living. Being happy and living full enriched lives outside the bubble of the 9 to 5 society. Traveling, seeing amazing, beautiful things every day, sharing experiences with people they meet a long the way. Is this a waste of your life? What is a successful life anyways? A great job? A big salary? Status? What if you don’t want those things and your definition of success differs? What if success to you is fulfilment, freedom and constant learning and discovery. I say great! Go for it! Ambition is a shape shifter taking on many differing forms.
This leads me to one more question … where does this all fit in with you Margaret Tellis? Why do you feel like you can throw away thousands of dollars paid in international fees for your education in Canada for often low paying work in International Development. Isn't that a slap in the face of your parents who worked so hard for you to have the opportunities that were not afforded to them? To which I say – this “choice” is one of the greatest gift my parents have given me. My parents have afforded me the opportunity to make my own definition of success. Paying exorbitant school fees so I could live in Canada didn’t just result in Canadian citizenship it gives me freedom …. To chose my own work and live wherever I want in the world. I have status in society, an education and a set of skills to use to sustain myself. This also gives me security and the freedom to travel and learn about who I am and what I want to do. This is the greatest gift of all. I do not take this gift lightly. Definitions of success differ. My definition of success is devoting myself to the service of others. Every day I work hard and strive to be “successful”.
Finding yourself is a privilege. It most definitely not afforded to everyone. It often comes in the form of traveling. However, traveling to find yourself is one of the biggest privileges of them all. This privilege certainly was not afforded to my father as a new college graduate in India. In those days once you finished college you found a job and you tried your very best to support the family (my father ended up leaving his beloved field of aviation for a job in a petroleum company). Taking time off for “selfish” reasons wasn't an option. In reality how could you even think of traveling when back then you couldn't legally take more than $50 out of India? There was no safety net of the welfare system. No income meant no security and no survival.
Admittedly, some true free spirits can’t be caged regardless of society. What comes to mind is the S. American travelers that I’ve seen in Peru and Brazil. Selling beads, crafts, busking, juggling at intersections and somehow surviving without any help from the government. A lot of people give them money (that’s mainly how they survive), but a lot of people shake their heads in disapproval, which brings me to my second question. Is taking time off unfair to society at whole?
Taking time off to find yourself is often frowned upon or thought of as a phase to get out of your system during your youth. Above all in our industrialized societies we value productivity. I think a good example of this self-worth-productivity nexus is the way the elderly are viewed. Brilliant former scientists, scholars, housewives, mechanics at the retirement home I volunteer at, are relegated to their bridge games and strolls in the park. Aging is associated with a certain degree of loss of respect and marginalization as people’s ‘input’ to society decreases. Most elderly are certainly are not as valued and respected for just being who they are, as they should be. I personally think the elderly have a tremendous amount to contribute to society, but that will have to be another blog post. Our society also values time to the point of comodifying it, hailing it with the same regard as we do money. We often say things like “time is money” and that we are “buying time”. How does care free traveling, throwing watches out the window, living and enjoying yourself for the sake of living and enjoying yourself all fit with this? But I ask why does it have to fit into the larger societial contructs of self-worth and value? The status-quo mold isn’t necessarily the only right way to be. What about the value and beauty in just living?
When I was in Peru I had the opportunity to help out with a local sanitation project in meliton, a village in the Amazon jungle. The people there live simply, their clothes are filled with constellations of holes, but they are just fine. “What’s the main industry here” is normally one of the first things I always find myself asking when I visit new towns. Over the few weeks that I stayed in the village, I realized their main industry was happiness. They were living for the sake of living and they seemed truly deeply happy. No-one harmed them and they didn’t harm anyone else.
I find a lot of travelers/hippies/adventurers/wastes of times/call-them-what-you-wills share this same secret. Living for the sake of living. Being happy and living full enriched lives outside the bubble of the 9 to 5 society. Traveling, seeing amazing, beautiful things every day, sharing experiences with people they meet a long the way. Is this a waste of your life? What is a successful life anyways? A great job? A big salary? Status? What if you don’t want those things and your definition of success differs? What if success to you is fulfilment, freedom and constant learning and discovery. I say great! Go for it! Ambition is a shape shifter taking on many differing forms.
This leads me to one more question … where does this all fit in with you Margaret Tellis? Why do you feel like you can throw away thousands of dollars paid in international fees for your education in Canada for often low paying work in International Development. Isn't that a slap in the face of your parents who worked so hard for you to have the opportunities that were not afforded to them? To which I say – this “choice” is one of the greatest gift my parents have given me. My parents have afforded me the opportunity to make my own definition of success. Paying exorbitant school fees so I could live in Canada didn’t just result in Canadian citizenship it gives me freedom …. To chose my own work and live wherever I want in the world. I have status in society, an education and a set of skills to use to sustain myself. This also gives me security and the freedom to travel and learn about who I am and what I want to do. This is the greatest gift of all. I do not take this gift lightly. Definitions of success differ. My definition of success is devoting myself to the service of others. Every day I work hard and strive to be “successful”.