Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. ~ Helen Keller
I was listening to Brené Brown’s Ted talk about vulnerability and couldn’t help but see the connection to travel.
For when we travel we put ourselves out there and face the unknown. We have no guarantee that all will be well. In fact, we know a lot can happen, and indeed will happen, on our journey. But we do it anyway. Why?
Although Brené Brown surmised that one’s embrace of vulnerability had something to do with the need for connection, I would add that, in a traveller’s case, it also relates to faith and intuition. I believe we travel, or take any large steps for that matter, because we not only feel compelled to do so, deep down, but we also have faith that all will work out in the end. And, similarly we trust. We trust the call and we trust we will be supported along the way.
This reminds me of the time I came upon a young woman, alone on a pilgrimage trail, in the middle of India. My intuition told me to fully stop and engage her in conversation instead of just walking past and saying “hello”. As I did so, she suddenly remarked that she did not feel so well and in the next moment I was catching her in my arms as she fainted. I was amazed at how things added up so that I was exactly in that spot, at exactly that right moment, to save her. She fully recognized her vulnerability once she regained consciousness, travelling alone in a foreign country, but, to her credit, she did not react in fear. She experienced the loving kindness of humanity instead.
And so, we have no choice but to accept vulnerability if we are to live life fully and deeply. With faith, intuition and trust, it propels us forward.
