Explorations

[Waterstiller]

ex⋅plore
1. to traverse or range over (a region, area, etc.) for the purpose of discovery: to explore the island.
2. to look into closely; scrutinize; examine: Let us explore the possibilities for improvement.
3. Surgery. to investigate into, esp. mechanically, as with a probe.
4. Obsolete. to search for; search out.​

So.. after watching Encounters At the End of the World I was reminded of aspects of myself that I've lost over the last couple years relating to exploration. To make a very long story short, I've sorta been pushed by the world into a situation where it has been really scary to explore and move throughout it. The danger has lessened considerably lately and what little exploring I've done has come as a great relief. It has come as a reminder to me that exploration is living. Exploration of ideas, people, places, etc.


Much exploration can be done locally in my mind or through reading, but that isn't satisfying me lately. I really feel a great need to go far away. I'm hopping on a plane next week to New England for a couple weeks, which is a first for me as I've only ever been on the West Coast. I feel most alive when I'm doing something I haven't done before, where I'm lacking some control or comfort but things end up going alright.

"Starting fresh means ending something stale."
Ned (Pushing Daisies)
​

So I suppose what I'm looking for from you are some stories. I'm mostly curious about the moment you realized you had to end something stale. I think in those moments we have a sense of direction that eludes us otherwise. I don't want to limit this to spacial explorations or necessarily those deemed as "big" explorations by society. The small explorations that have made deep impacts on you are good enough. So tell of your most treasured explorations, epic in relation to how they affected you as a person.

 

[Auburn]

That's friggin' awesome ^^
That's something I really want to do too - as soon as I can.
Do share your experiences when you return?

exploration.. *sigh*
I wish I could explore much more than I do (both internally and regionally). I also wish I had some interesting stories to share with you, but all I have are small expeditions here and there; nothing noteworthy.

Actually, I am currently right in the middle of one of those stale stages. I feel a strong desire for change, for transition, for new beginnings - but I'm just a hair shy of the motivation necessary to catalyze such an event. I get frustrated at myself for it, and even a bit guilty for being unable to take action. I think to myself; if only life gave me a small push, and nudged me to the other side of this fence I am straddling, then perhaps change would take place.

 

[Inappropriate Behavior]

I'm in a stale stage right now but will get out of it once I move in a few months. Packing up everything you want to keep, getting rid of the rest and taking your whole life to a new location is a great way to refresh your life. Apart from the 3 different places I lived as a child, I've moved 7 times as an independent adult. The 8th is coming up.

Travel is one of the great adventures in one's life. Especially overseas. After my first year in college, I got to go to the Soviet Union (back when it still was that). It was still the cold war era and I had aspirations at the time of joining some intellegence agency. I just had one year of Russian because I wanted to be qualified to play some role in it so getting to get a first hand glimpse of 'the enemy' was the opportunity of a lifetime. Gorbachev had been in power less than a year, Chernobyl happened just a few months before. WOW! It seemed perfect.

I came home with a rather different outlook. Instead of a big bad enemy, I saw a crumbling society.

There were, however, signs of brilliant organisation. I was in a packed red square on V-E day with what was easily a million people to see a fireworks display. It was absolutely pathetic with only one burst at a time (talk about lame). But then something amazing happened. When it was over me and the group I was with used our hotel pass to slip into a hotel that was supposed to be for Poles and we used the bathroom which was much needed as we had been treated to lots of drink beforehand. We then spent a few minutes watching some WW2 Polish veterans singing some song beofre deciding it was time to make our way to the subway and to our own hotel. When we stepped out, the place was deserted! A million plus people were gone, the subway being the only means of leaving the area. It took maybe 15 minutes and you'd never would have guessed there was a million people there such a short time ago. So they did some things right.

Otherwise though, I saw a crumbling infrastructure (except the subway of course), I met a population that was outright scared of our so-called star wars missle defense system that was never in place and everybody was poor. On their own, they couldn't build a decent elevator. The only one we found that worked was in a hotel in Leningrad that was built by the Finns. The roads had big gaping holes in them that would wreck any car that ran into them, there was no signs to warn drivers, no sign of anyone trying to fix them. There was a lack of initiative amongst the people and their government seemed a bureaucratic nightmare the likes we have never seen in the Western world.

I came home wondering what the hell were we supposed to be so afraid of.

Had an interesting time in Turkey a few years later but I've rambled incoherently long enough for one post Been to 5 other countries which was great but not as 'adventurous'.

 

[Darby]

Thats kind of interesting, as far as history goes, the things that get stale are friendships, or worse, they turn sour, and when such a stale moment occurs, I remove myself, and it's interesting, because sometimes I will feel it's stale, but I won't be ready to remove myself, and when I try it hurts, but after long enough, it's just....gone, and when I look back it feels like it was never there.

one of the reasons I think mine mostly deal with friendships, is because I am still in high school, and many of my decisions I haven't been able to make myself

currently however, I am in a position where I feel like I am being forced into a decision, when I am actually quite happy with my life at the moment, I need to start choosing colleges to apply to, and I've barely started looking.