Dragonfly at Songnisan National Park, Korea
View from Westin Chosun, Room 1123, Seoul, KoreaThe truth is I haven't traveled much in recent years. I hadn't been off the continent for over 30 years. I never visited Asia before. I should have. It's easy to understand that the world is big and it's not all the same. But there is real value in experiencing the difference: in not being able to make myself understood, in accepting help with simple things, in being a minority, in not understanding conversations all around me, in not being able to read packaged goods. The food is different. Fashion is different. Manners are different. The smells are different. The mountains are shaped different. The bugs are different. Buildings are different. Baseball is different. The Teaching of Buddha is in the same hotel drawer as The Bible. There are shrines and palaces many hundreds of years old, and whole cities less than ten years old. My understanding, perspective and empathy are all expanded. I think it's true that I can find beauty and wonder right in my own backyard, but I can clearly learn much more when I venture out. I'm very happy that I visited Korea.
Love the artwork and the perspective. Thank you
ReplyDeleteThe view from the room is lovely, with so many building aligned at different angles.. nice to know that you enjoyed the difference in everything that you saw..spirits are different but finally the soul is the same at the root level :-)
ReplyDeleteLove the dragonfly. And the view. I haven't been out of the states other than to Acapulco ...well Hawaii yes, but that's a state even though it feels like a different continent to me because of flying over the ocean.
ReplyDelete