Tag: exploration

thoughts

~ A Transaction ~

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~ A Transaction ~

“To lose your mind and find your soul. To abandon it all for the thrill of adventure. To not live bound by formula or convention, but instead slip beyond the boundaries and follow your heart through the wilderness. These things were all I ever wanted from life and I knew that such an existence would not come easy. Living a life true to yourself would inevitably see your character tested every day. You would be tested every moment it was easier to sell off parts of yourself to fit into crowds or systems. You would be tested when you are asked to trade your authenticity for acceptance – your dreams for comfort and convenience. I knew how it all worked and I was ready to walk my own path through life. Yes, I knew it would lead to solitude and isolation, but to be able to stand at the end of the day and say that I lived a life totally true to myself was a thought too beautiful to escape. Of course, on this path I knew I was not destined to be rich, or popular, or even accepted, but when I felt that passion surge in my heart, I knew that I was at least destined to live a life I could be proud to call my own. And to me there was no goal greater in life than that. I was out beyond the safe farm and it was a life of being completely guided by the heart. A life of finding your own truth and treasure. A life that did not allow itself to sink into some form of submission, but instead knew the glory of what it was to jump the fences and taste the air of real freedom.”

thoughts

~ The Greatest Adventure of All ~

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born explorer

~ The Greatest Adventure of All ~

“I knew from a young age that I was a born explorer. I wanted to explore everything, but in this life the act of growing up is something that asks you to quell that state of being. You become static in one place, stuck in a routine. You sink into a sofa and close your curtains to the world. I didn’t see how it would be possible for me to adjust to it at all, at least without killing a large part of myself. At all times my heart was longing to run free into an open wilderness; to venture into the unknown and see something new and wonderful. I looked at the script of society and was confused with what was asked of me to fit in. Forty-eight weeks of work a year, jobs that didn’t allow gaps, pieces of paper that cemented you down to one spot. The adult game was a strange one and one that I was not afraid to say I was fearful of. Everything good in my life had come from doing the opposite of what their culture and conventions asked. I had found greater riches within myself than any of their advertised products could offer me. I knew that the existence expected of me would slowly kill whatever was real inside of me. So what was I to do? I thought of how I could make it work on both ends – to adjust myself in some way – but in truth there was always only one thing ever to do for a natural born explorer. It was to reject. To reject their systems and reject their styles. To follow your values. To be brave enough to turn your back on a way of life that does not offer you any fulfilment whatsoever. Yes, there will be prices to pay, but the thrill of living a life full of adventure and exploration will make it seem small in comparison. You may not be considered successful in a traditional sense, but you will have a wealth that so many people will never know: the wealth of waking up every day and knowing that you are living a life that is totally true to yourself. And in a world where so few have dared venture into such territory, perhaps that – in itself – is the greatest adventure of all.”

 

thoughts

~ To Live ~

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~ To Live ~

“To jump the fences. To run with the wild horses. To dance beneath the stars. To walk wide-eyed through the wilderness. To stare into the sunset skies. To stoke the fire in your heart; to shine the light of your soul. To hunt the horizons of foreign lands. To awaken to new sights and new sounds and new smells. To be so immersed in life that your eyes glisten with magic. To forget everything you’ve been taught and begin anew. To take the trip. To roll the dice. To sail into the unknown. Is to live.”

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thoughts

~ A Warrior of the Wild ~

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~ A Warrior of the Wild ~

“And there comes a moment in your life when you know that they have failed to break you down. As you emerge with those eyes full of fire from the swamps and storms, as you throw down the muck and mess and madness – as you stagger forth fearlessly with the light of the cosmos still blazing bright in your heart. You will know that they have failed to break you down. When you hear that wolf still growling inside your head – still untamed, still rising up – your raw truth still propelling you forward against all the hollow-hearted and empty-eyed creatures who abandoned the very essence of life and themselves. You will know they have failed to break you down. When you remember that you chose love and not hate; courage and not fear; freedom and not slavery. And though your journey through the wild may have left you scratched and scarred, your very flesh will shine in the sun like a beautiful beacon of victory. You will bear the marks that show you fiercely followed your heart – that show you walked the path of the wild warrior. You’ll bear the marks that show you went out there and lived a life, and didn’t just exist in one.”

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thoughts

~ Reclaiming Your Heart And Mind ~

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 ~ Reclaiming Your Heart And Mind ~

“From the moment you can understand words, you are enrolled and controlled by a culture that teaches us that we are all marginal and that life is ordinary. But venture outside their control for a short while, and you sober up from the illusions. Life is not a formulaic journey to the grave down a grey highway of bills, television and weekend drinking. There is more. Despite what those men in suits say, there is more. I implore you to have faith in your own individual direct experience. I implore you to step out beyond the comfort zone, follow your bliss and wander into the glorious wilderness of the unknown. You may get messy hair, dirty feet and a broken heart – but on your deathbed you will be able to look back and say the thing that matters most: “I lived my life to the full”.

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(taken from my book ‘The Thoughts From The Wild’ available here)

thoughts

~ Into The Wild ~

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~ Into The Wild ~

“The choice between a conventional life and an unconventional life was one we all faced at some point. The period of your life where this happened was mostly in the post-education years. The first part of your life, you don’t have any real agency over – you simply follow the law and go to an institutional education facility for the best part of two decades. But when that was finished you suddenly were given an opportunity to walk whatever path you wanted to. Although there are many vehicles, there are essentially only two roads: A) You start a career and follow a linear and safe path of mortgage, kids and retirement, or B) you go down the rabbit hole and try something different. For me, the only desire I had was to travel and so, two months after my graduation, I caught a one-way flight to South America to begin my journey into wonderland. Over the next few years I continued walking down that path. The way took me to peaks of mountains, to seedy hotel rooms, to erupting volcanoes, to almost dying stranded with a friend in the woods of winter.

While it was thrilling and invigorating, I would be lying if I said at sometimes I wasn’t anxious or worried. Often I reflected on everyone else back home busying away, building their nests and bank accounts while I basically had nothing but a backpack and a worn-out passport. At my lowest point I was on the other side of the world with $50 to my name, sleeping in an airport lounge with no plane to catch. Suddenly I began to question myself; suddenly the homeless people on the sidewalks became society’s warning about where I could end up should I drift too far from the road of normality. Where was I going? What was I doing? Was it all really worth it? Yes, I won’t lie. I won’t lie and say sometimes I wasn’t apprehensive, or concerned, or that I didn’t think about turning around back onto the safe path, but it only took the thought of me slowly dying inside in a life I hated over many years to pick up that backpack and continue walking wide-eyed into the wilderness of the unknown.”

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(taken from my book ‘The Thoughts From The Wild’ available here)

thoughts

~ A Sunset Moment ~

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~ A Sunset Moment ~

“At the end of the day I stood looking out at the ocean, watching that ball of fire burn brilliantly as it always did. As its light flowed through my veins, I thought about the trivial things in the world that continually consumed us all. I thought of stress – of anxiety – of worry. I thought of the busy people rushing past me, looking down at their phones while completely missing the sunset. Here we all were: little creatures living in an infinite universe, and yet always we would choose to instead exist within tiny bubbles of thought. We’d worry about the future; we’d worry about the past. We’d worry about what other people were thinking and what they weren’t thinking. We’d worry about worrying too much about worrying too much. In a moment of realisation, I let go of it all. Yes, maybe I didn’t have a plan, or much money, or a way back home – but with my one-way ticket and a trust in the unknown – everything was going to work out. “Hurl yourself into the abyss and discover it’s a feather-bed” one of my favourite philosophers had said. As I watched the sun finally set upon the water, I knew I was going to do exactly that.”

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thoughts

~ Contrast Settings ~

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~ Contrast Settings ~

“When the colour of your life begins to dim – seek adventure. For though the world can often appear bleak in the adult way of work and survival, the open road provides moments where the greyness fades and you return to the infant-like state of seeing. Suddenly, among new sights and new smells and new possibilities, everything is again magical and mysterious. Suddenly you face the world like a wide-eyed child in an amusement park of flashing lights. Suddenly the mist of monotony clears like early morning fog, and life shines bright in brilliant colour once more.”

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(taken from my book ‘The Thoughts From The Wild’ available here)

thoughts

~ Overcoming The Fear of Flying ~

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~ Overcoming the Fear of Flying ~

“Always we look up at those birds in the sky and daydream about taking flight. But we rarely think about the fact that those birds are just doing what they are born to do – spreading their wings and flying. We are all human-beings and while we may not have wings to fly, we sure as hell have legs to run, fingers to write, mouths to sing and a whole damn world to explore. The only way for us to be like the birds is to just do the things which come profoundly naturally – the things we feel deep down we were born to do. To some that could be painting, it could be surfing or climbing mountains; to some maybe it’s even something as simple as gardening. Whatever it is, the only way to taste the freedom of flight, is to allow ourselves to do the things which make us feel absolutely weightless. In this increasingly convoluted world, it’s easy to let our lives become a chore of convention and expectation, but the day we neglect the nature of our soul is the day that the sky has one bird less. A human-being who spends their whole life ignoring their true inner nature is simply the bird that refused to spread its wings. A human-being who is prevented from doing that by another, is a bird that has been captured and caged. Don’t let either of those bleak scenarios happen. In our darkest moments, we all secretly know we could do with a few more free birds up there to inspire us all. So, go on – let go and take a leap of faith. Don’t let the weight of this world grind you down. Jump the nest of comfort and convention. Follow your instinct. Hunt that horizon. Explore your passion.

Spread those wings and become what you were born to be.”

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(taken from my book ‘The Thoughts From The Wild’ available here)