Malik Watkins's Bloglines

So, to borrow from my ‘main man’ – Donny Hathaway – “I’ve been so many places in my life and times…I’ve song a lot of songs, made some bad lines…I’ve acted out my life in stages…with so many people watching…but, here I am, and I am singing this song to you….”…of course I am paraphrasing :), and the expression of songs comes in so many forms…but, hopefully you get my drift.

If you know me personally or have read my blogs, then you know that I have documented many of journeys here…and some I have not, but maybe one day. Some of these travels have come with work, some from family, and others – well, there are always other impetuses!! Being a distinct Anthony Bourdain groupie, my first two steps when preparing for a trip tends to be Mr. Bourdain, and also a historical source that can give me the context of the past, contemporary, and future that I am about to enter.

While recently I was in Argentina in October (2015), that journey had only just begun. And, so now I return and the journey continues. Instead of following Mr. Bourdain, I am taking a different route. This is less about sights, although some relevant ones will be included, food or just the overall experience. This is more about my personal journey into some of that and my own personal depths. At this point, I’ve been around long enough to experience intense joy…and intense pain…successes and mistakes…like many of us, our canvass of life is painted with all of that, plus what we want to see, be and experience. Through the planning and embracing, I have been reading Pema Chodron…so relevant to this trip.

“embarking on the spiritual journey is like getting into a very small boat and setting out on the ocean to sear for unknown lands…Pema Chodron…

Some equate the spirit and the soul as being close enough to be the same. Let’s not go with semantics…the best definition of the soul I have ever heard was given by Maya Angelou – she said, the SPIRIT…is the longing…I will leave that as that…place in your own context, and ask, what do you long for? And, so I set off….

(view of a ship coming out of the port in Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Out of all my travels, this has been the first time I’ve posted on my blog so far after the trip. For me, my trips are less about just seeing things, and more about pushing my internal dynamics – all of them – so that I can add the world and all its intricacies into the composition and flavor of the dish of self I am making…hopefully, you know that I didn’t travel on this container ship…but, thought is represented something hugely symbolic.

As we travel and experience life, we see horizons…the separations. Oh, it is much easier to breath above the separate…where we are all familiar with. But, as we travel and experience new things, feelings, experiences, people, emotions, history, and all the things that come with humanity…what about the horizon. Can we breath and learn to live underneath the horizon? That makes the difference between and person who see’s something, but can’t see it;…who hears something, but can’t hear it;…who experiences something, but can’t feel it!! That’s why there are those that grow up around significance, yet it escapes them. And, there are those that grow up around that others perceive as having no significance, yet they see, hear, feel and experience the world around them.

This may be considered as a bit deep by some for a travel blog, and others may find it more than appropriate. The latter are those that understand the significance of breathing underneath the horizon.

More to come…