Its funny what travelling does to you. A lot of time to think, especially when travelling alone. It also puts you into new situations where you get to see life from something of an outsiders perspective.
I always find that this can be very illuminating. It gives you that moment where you can step back from your day to day and look at things a little more objectively. It tends to be the time that you see things most clearly.
Travelling at the moment, my mind turns to Life, the general organic structure, rather than my own existence. Seeing the breadth of life and regarding both the subtle cultural differences around me and the points where our creeds concur makes me have a little more faith in humanity tonight. This is because whilst the US is a vast, slightly daft, very self assured but ultimately very lonely place for many at times due to the geographical distribution (not just across the country, but the distance between houses, the distance between community), they make up for it with a profound attempt to create a true community and interaction with one another.
Seeing that kind of interaction makes me happier. And so too does travelling to another culture and finding such good in it. In fact, it reminds me of the good I have found in every culture so far. It sits there ready to embrace, if you only let yourself see it.
In the face of this, I cannot begin to state how happy I am to have had such a moral decision in my life as to change industry so that I can truly embrace pacifism. Essentially, I cannot in good conscience understand the compunction to undertake violence against others because ultimately they are all precious, hugely interesting and generally good.
That is also making me extend the question as to the rest of Life in its organic sense. If I wish to embrace peace properly, must I be vegetarian? Must I stop driving in order to help the environment? I have no answers on these ones yet, but more than anything - and Descartes would be proud...
I am thinking.
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