Life. (Because you're not dead yet)

Once upon a new years eve... in a car bar... because you don't actually have to go out to have fun...

Bungee jumping, licking a president, reproducing, writing a novel, taxidermising a pet, starting an empire, winning a noble prize…  There were so many things I still wanted to do and now it was too late. The engines had roared to life and I soared towards the light.

I always figured “surviving a plane crash” should be the last thing I tick off my bucket list, just in case I didn’t. But life never really works that way - you can’t tell God/ fate/ Murphy what to do; and even karma doesn’t always behave. 

I gripped my seat and exchanged life accomplishment regrets with the random stranger next to me. She’d gone whiter than I had, and apparently she was actually Indian… 

We were going down fast. This was the end.  We hit the ground. Bounced. Bounced. Bounced again. And then, after two hours of absolute terror, it all came to an end. Random stranger and I flung arms around each other – we’d survived our overly dramatic imaginations.  

What ensued was an awesome reunion with good friends old and new; the most incredible weekend in the Drakensburg, and then a reunion with my ‘long’ lost boat crew - All things that would have been terrible to have missed out on had the plane actually gone down.

The Drakensburg

I also reunited myself with buckie, my seasick companion... we'll be as close as ever  soon enough (I hope)

Sometimes you need near death experiences (or perceived ones at least) to remind you to live more – It’s like when you lose your tooth brush for a month and then, after finding it again, suddenly havefriends again. And even though I’ve now been in Richard’s Bay [where it appears to be fashionable to have 8-12 teeth missing] a week, waiting for one small sail part to be repaired, it’s not so bad – there’s the beach, there’s beer, I’ve learned how to carpet a floor, met some of the strangest people imaginable, and had a rather therapeutic killing rampage…  -although I do still hope to leave soon!

Our lives are short enough as it is, so we really ought to be seizing every second: Doing instead of just talking about it; Running away from regret; Attempting the impossible; Frequently facing fears; making sure you have good stories for the grandkids some day; Making sure you have grandkids some day; Always going to bed happy [when we have time for sleep].

Lick a jellyfish...

Climb a cliff...

Go clubbing barefoot (actually wait - this is not recommended)

Jump off an oil rig

Drink artificially coloured drinks that look like they may poison you... unless of course they are poison , then don't, it's probably best to check first.

My cousin and his wife gave birth to their second kid yesterday…  And I was a little jealous that tiny Cuan had the whole of the rest of his life to live. But then I realized: so does everyone else

If you’re not living, you’re actually dead.

Life's a Journey

They say life’s a journey.

And so far it’s been quite a trip – learning to crawl becomes learning to walk, learning to walk becomes learning to do so without being hit by traffic or roaming elephants or falling off a cliff. You progress and learn how to use a toilet and read and write (assuming of course that by reading this you’re all literate… if anyone actually reads this trash). You progress through school and learn the basics of physics and math and languages and geography and history and art and begin to develop a personality and you learn how to trust and make friends and how to love and hate.

When the foundation’s been set, you learn how to make difficult choices like what and where to study or whether or not to grow up. Some get married straight away and sprout a family, a white picket fence and some llamas. Others start climbing a corporate ladder and some try and produce an empire or become dictators or assassinate [or lick] royals. Some become doctors and lawyers and actuaries and psychiatrists while others become toilet cleaners and Celine Dions and gypsies.    

Last night a friend said to me:

“Can I ask a slightly random question? And slightly existential:

are you searching for something?”

And I had to think about that for a while. What was I searching for…

For those who go through 300 years of med school, have you arrived when you’ve finally graduated? Or is it only when you become specialized? Or is it only when you’ve become the best?

For those who have families, have you arrived on your wedding day? Or at your first house owning? Or at the birth of your first child? Or is it only when they’re potty trained or graduated or sprouting grandchildren?

Do celebrities ever arrive? Or dictators ever conquer enough? Do archeologists only find success in uncovering mammoth ancient ruins? Do cleaners ever get things clean enough? Do travelers ever see enough of the world or endure enough adventures?

Can you ever have enough friends? Earn enough money? Find enough time? Sproot enough offspring? Get enough ticked off your bucket list (http://barefootedgypsy.blogspot.com/2011_01_01_archive.html)? Find enough happiness?

A couple of weeks ago I found myself being potty trained all over again – learning how to use a pump toilet. Then I found myself learning to walk again – it’s a different kind of ground on board a sailboat. I had to learn again how to keep meals down while the boat bounces about on rolling waves and every time I go ashore it begins again because the land seems to constantly shift beneath my feet. I’ve gone from pretend-to-be grown up to an infant in days. 

I’ve thought about it a lot over the years – but last night’s question really made me ponder. I know I’m definitely not just gypsying about to escape real life or run away from responsibilities, but what is it I’m searching for? It’s like I’m chasing something that doesn’t even exist.

This is probably far far and further too deep for a Monday morning in the office/ on the commute/ in a space station/ lazing in bed or on a beach/ wherever you may be… but I really am curious how anyone ever really knows that they’ve arrived? While I’m still frivolously happy plottering about this incredible world – meeting amazing people, seeing incredible beautifulnesses, sampling foreign cuisines, learning new skills and licking foreign artifacts – but where and when does it all end? How do you know it’s time to end one and begin a new chapter?  

Life’s a journey all right, but where does it end?

.... THE END.