I believe we all have many soul mates in our lives and in the end it all comes down to timing. We are like onions – all the soul mates come into our lives to peel off a layer of that onion, to show us something about ourselves, sometimes make us cry (no pun intended) and then leave. But then it just takes one soul mate to peel that last layer at the right time, revealing our core and leaving us exposed.
Today I went to see the movie Eat, Pray, Love with Julia Roberts. I read the book written by Elizabeth Gilbert a few months ago and am glad I finally had a chance to see the movie. The true story is about a married woman (Elizabeth Gilbert herself) who realizes how unhappy her marriage really is, and that her life needs to go in a different direction. After a painful divorce, she takes off on a round-the-world year long journey to "find herself" – enjoying all the pleasures in Italy, meditating in India, and finding balance in Bali.
She realizes that she is not happy where she is so she creates a plan and leaves to experience something new and to get a greater understanding of herself and the world. My generation seems to do this a lot. We go on long term travels and explorations, trying to “find” ourselves. Some would argue we are egotistical and selfish, that we think so highly of ourselves that there is a need to “find” ourselves in this world. Others would say that we have no direction and that the concept of family is lost in our generation because we are delaying this to “perfect” ourselves or to develop our careers or to explore the greatness that is out there in the world – instead of focusing on the importance of family.
I believe that traveling goes beyond this. And when I say traveling, I mean experiencing new cultures first hand by interacting with locals, living and breathing their lifestyle – not hopping around from site to site (though I do admit I am guilty of this sometimes). Traveling in this way is not a selfish act- it benefits all because it promotes peace and understanding through cultural exchanges. Learning about other cultures and sharing our culture with others can help us to avoid conflicts that might be caused by misunderstandings.
I have been in Egypt for so long because I fell in love with the people. There is a sense of liveliness and energy here that cannot be experienced in the USA. Of course the harassment, crowded streets, and polluted skies are some downsides, but one gets used to it. Every place I go, I make an effort to speak to people living there and participate in the lifestyle and living conditions of people as much as possible. Egypt is no exception. And there are plenty of times where the lifestyle was something I was not completely used to – even to a point of me hating it, but I left with a better understanding of why things are the way they are. I think this part of the world is incredibly misrepresented in the media. As a result, people’s perceptions of Islamic culture in the USA are greatly skewed.
I remember telling people I was going to Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia and getting shocked faces and “why are you going there, it’s not safe” and “aren’t you scared” among other comments. But traveling here is safer than the streets of downtown LA at night. The number one thing that has gotten me far here is just simply being respectful and aware of local culture and customs. I think this goes for people traveling to the USA also. You may not like or agree with the way things are done, but if you make an effort to blend in and to live life as the locals, people will recognize this and it will go a long way.
