Step out of your life.

Readers, the world has gone mad.
I smile as I type this, mostly because I know I’m not the first person to come to this conclusion. I’m sure that people thought everything was falling apart in the 1940’s and the 1860’s and the 12th century.

Life is wild, when you look at the big picture. Sometimes I think about people who live in a small world… Who spend their lives in one place and have one understanding of existence. The existence might be very nice, fun, and pretty; or it might be hard, lonesome, and devoid of joy.  It’s no wonder so many people have a hard time understanding others who have lived completely different lives. If you stay in one place always, if you allow yourself to live in a rarified world, you will never move beyond those invisible -yet truly imprisoning- confines you create for your mind.

Right now, I’m feeling grateful that I’m not trapped in a small world – grateful for the opportunities I’ve had to see and experience different people and places and ways of life. But it’s made me hungry for more: if I was so sheltered before I ever started seeing and experiencing more than my original part of the world, how much more am I still unaware of? I want to learn more, see more, experience more of other people’s lives. What is life if we do not love other people? And how can we love someone we do not know? You cannot love anything without giving it a name, and a name requires some understanding of that being.

I’ve (many times) been a little derisive about the place I come from; I’m going to blame that now on youth and inexperience (although I am still young and still have MANY experiences to collect). Because now, I am so grateful that I grew up in a place where I could see stark differences in society – a place where incredible wealth was set in shocking juxtaposition with the surrounding (and more substantial) poverty. Sometimes, nestled here in the more moderate heart of Texas, I realize that if I hadn’t grown up in South Texas, I would be devoid of a heap of knowledge and understanding about the way people live. So even though I might not want to spend the rest of my life there, I relish every opportunity I have to return. Each return is an opportunity to observe more and learn more.

If you’re reading this, I suppose I want to encourage you to step out of your life every once in a while. Get out of your comfort zone. Travel, if you can – and I don’t mean to travel just to nice touristy beaches or just to have some fun. There is more to be had than “fun” in exploring the world. It can be a chance to broaden your mind, to learn, to become more in touch with human experience.

If you can’t travel, then still step out of your life – volunteer at a shelter, or a food kitchen. Give some of your time to volunteering at a hospital or a cancer center. Teach Sunday school. Visit a nursing home – please do this. I can honestly say there is no better place to learn about life than a nursing home because it is filled with people who have lived, people who are a wealth of knowledge… People who need love and friendship more than anyone else. Visit your grandparents, if you are blessed enough to still have them. But for goodness’ sake, SPEAK to them. Listen to their stories, and if they aren’t telling any (doubtful), ask them questions (Where were you born? What did you do for fun when you were my age? What was your favorite subject in school? How did you meet Grandma/Grandpa? When did you first fall in love? Were you scared? How did you manage to survive heartbreak? What do you wish you had done more of when you were young?) You will be remarkably surprised with what you learn. Take their advice to heart. There is nothing more valuable than collecting wisdom from humans who have lived decades more than you have… Which is why you should also READ BOOKS.

But that is another blog post for another time. I won’t get carried away with that train of thought now, since I should get back to my homework. My point in my musings right now is this: don’t let your world be small. There are many people out there who consider themselves to be “free,” but they cannot seem to see the gilded cage they live in. Get out there. Learn in order to understand other people. Understanding helps eradicate hate. We need more love in this mad world.