Admirable Characters
Before we begin…
As I live the questions, I like to distill the answers into insights as I arrive upon them. While mind maps are an effective nonlinear way of expanding initial chaotic thoughts and feelings, I prefer to solidify those learnings into affirmations through writing.
This is how I flow between questions (doubt) and forming new values (faith) based on life experience. In other words, discovering personal truths. The process is not unlike how I derive new mental models from empirical observations.
Going into this entry, I had just finished my first week in Taiwan. Having immersed myself in the company of both travelers and locals, I reflected on the characters I liked and disliked, and to distill their characteristics into guiding values for when I returned home.
I also got to explore Elephant Mountain right outside of Taipei where I found solitude and unexpected discoveries that reawakened my love for nature and adventure.
It’s fitting that this entry ends on yet another question 🙂.
Admirable Characters
Yesterday was a 10/10 day. Climbing Elephant Mountain rekindled my love for nature. I haven’t wanted to capture and share as much as I did on that hike in a very long time. Absolutely amazing. I’ve already gotten over the fact that I lost the phone mount. Seeing how everyone else just adapts inspires me to do the same.
My chance meeting with Ki validated my map of characters that I get along with the most.
I made this characteristics map while taking a writing break in an abandoned homestead I found in Elephant Mountain the previous day. After meeting a wide variety of characters in the past week, I wanted to distill the characteristics that I like and dislike. The following passage solidifies this map into affirmations.
Those who don’t judge, who are honest and straight forward. Brave enough to pursue the best version of themselves. Seeking meaning even in the face of death. Perhaps because of death. That’s when we realize that everything else is not that big of a deal. That freedom, kindness and love are the most important things in life.
To live with minimal repression. To be the same person when drunk as sober (Hemingway). To be impressed by others without downgrading ourselves (Quentin), and to express that others in the form of appreciation (Brian). To live simply with less bother and more mobility (Charles). To make the most of what we have, rather than pining for more. To give without expectations, for the sake of a good time for all (Hoe).
To be present, fully engaged yet still cognizant of surrounding beauty to share that presence with others. For presence is a form of selflessness, when we lose our self consciousness in conversation and in the moment. There is no particular place we must get to, no set deadline, no expectation of how the future must unfold. In every moment, we just are, just be.
To be grateful of the life we have already lived and look forward to sharing the remainder with those we cross paths with, however long or short, without remorse of ending and goodbyes, for our meeting was by chance anyways.
To recognize the randomness of life, that it takes the right time and place for the stars to align. In that way, the world will forever be filled with unknowns to discover, ever changing, ever ending, ever renewing. Forever learning and updating.
No sunset is ever the same.
While I haven’t gone to many places on this trip, I’ve covered more ground, had more experiences and learned much more about myself and the world, and as a result grown more than my younger travels where I was in constant movement. Simply absorbing views, none of which leaving a lasting impression.
Whereas this trip, everyone I’ve met have changed me in some respect. Perhaps in the absence of work, of not having one foot always in the future, allowed the change to easily seep into me. I like this openness.
The question is how to retain it or channel it when I return home. I think creating space and boundaries is important, so that I may relax. As is good rest and maintaining my body. The last few days I’ve found myself growing steadily less social as the fatigue of late nights reduces my appetite for expending mental energy.
However, scarcity of rest is different than scarcity of time and attention. The former can be fixed in as little as one night. The latter is far more pervasive, manifesting as impatience, frustration, and fear in the form of avoidance from people in general.
That is why before this trip, I had lost the ability to connect with others. That sickness, surprisingly was cured in just the first two days here, thanks in part to awareness (of the problem), intentionality (to prioritize people over places), courage (to overcome habitual shyness), and truly letting go of work to embrace a new mindset in a new country that no one knows me, immersed in the company of other curious and exuberant travelers. I give much of the credit to the Meander Hostel, which is aptly named as the starting point for one’s wandering through a new exciting city.
As it stands, today marks one week from when I landed in Taiwan and I have already answered many of the questions I posed myself in the beginning. My cup is full. I am content. Life is good.
I am ready to venture beyond Taipei to lean into my love for nature and exploration. The love that used to excite me, make me feel alive, but lost over the last few years. I now “want” to do it, instead of feeling like I “have” to prove to myself that I still have it.
It never left, just got buried.
The question now is…where to?
I stumbled upon an abandoned homestead in the mountains and took a writing and filming break to capture the thoughts from my first solo travel week.
Make the most of your mind maps
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