Sentiments from seasoned travelers
A collection of advice for living a fuller life that I have acquired over the years from people I have met and experiences I’ve had along the way.
You get everything when you give everything. I believe there is nothing more terrifying than a life half lived. Usually we look back at moments with one of two feelings: either you’re proud of what you’ve done or you wish you did more.
Isolation is usually the cost of inspiration. I find that those who inspire the most, often feel the most alone. People who have original thoughts and create original works are often stand outs. Even when they are quiet or prefer to have a subtle presence in a space. People tend to reject ideas and people that are different for fear of the unknown. But also, people and things that are out of the norm are the most inspiring. Nobody makes history by being well behaved or by following the heard and on that same note, feeling like you “fit in” is often not in the cards for those on that path. It’s a trade off.
I dont know that taking actions in steps is always best. Rather, take action in storm. When there is momentum. Let it take over. Let things be fast, be compulsive, be dangerous. I have done weeks worth of work in hours. I have had years of build up be fulfilled in a few days of action. Time consuming work is simple when you are consumed. So, follow the momentum. Don’t force it.
Don’t be afraid to change everything over night. I moved to NYC sorta on a whim. After years of build up, a flight booked 8 hours before and a lease signed after two days of searching, fully changed the corse of my life for the better. So book the flight, cut your hair, change your name, wonder a new place with no plan, enjoy as many tables for one as you can. Ask strangers how they are, genuinely. Remove the space between idea and execution. That is where potential and momentum go to die. Life gets better when you leave room for change and even more so when you welcome it, invite it even. I used to be so afraid of change in any capacity. I really liked for things to stay the same, so much so that I stayed firmly planted in a lot of places and situations that were not just unproductive but genuinely hurting me. That has changed completely in the last year.
Your ability to be comfortable in discomfort will greatly determine your success in life. As soon as the fear of missing out outweighed the fear of failing or being uncomfortable, life did a complete 180 and the glass ceiling felt like it had been shattered.
I have found that the most well adjusted people are the ones who are constantly readjusting. Your ability to change your mind and go with the flow is a big determining factor to how happy and content you will be in life. Being malleable will play to your best interest.
The obsessed inspire others to be obsessed. You can feel when someone loves what they do and they really live inside of their craft. I think it pushes everyone around them to care that much about something. I hope my love for life and art inspires others to love something deeply too. Obsession is showing up every day, even while nothing changes, while it’s slow and hard or uninspired.
One piece of work can change everything and you probably won’t see it coming. “Overnight success” is hidden under thousands of quiet nights obsessing and working. Those are the moments that make you. Not necessarily the moments after things have taken off. Imagination, isolation, iteration.
Use what consumes you to create. Chaos becomes craft, madness becomes material, experience becomes energy. Your work transforms from what you do to who you are, so make it something good. Something worth hitching your “you” to.
What you can create is determined by what is inside you.
It is okay to be scared and to take things slow. you have to listen to your body and mind but also know the line between fear that is protecting you and fear that is holding you back.
When they say traveling “heals” you, they mean that. It is a cliche for a reason. It poses a series of challenges that in the moment feel like they are breaking you, but in hindsight you see they were strategically placed to put you back together. Traveling, is just one example of this phenomenon.
Cars use suspension to handle pot holes and imperfections in the road. Think of life’s challenges like pot holes and rocks on the road. Sometimes you see them coming, sometimes you don’t. sometimes the obstacles are bigger or deeper than they appear from where you’re sitting. Your cars suspension is what helps you handle these unexpected bumps more smooth. Unlike cars, our personal “suspension” gets better at handling the bumps the more pot holes we hit, therefore making our ride smoother. So embrace the bumps when they come.
The things in life that make you feel most alive, will mess up your hair. Always, always, always. Running, jumping, surfing, giving birth, swimming, roller coasters, the summer wind, driving with the windows down. All of these things will mess up your hair. So god willing, you will live a life where your hair is often made to be a disaster.
It absolutely always does work out. Almost better than you could have anticipated. Write a thank you letter to everything you have lost. Thank them for teaching you and for setting you free. What a privileged it is to experience all the wrong things just as much as the right things. This is what the human experience is all about. Experiencing things. Feeling them. For we can’t fully appreciate the right things if it weren’t for the wrong ones.
Life will produce waves. You either surf or you drown. it’s your choice.
Regardless of everything, life will be wonderful because you will make it wonderful. It will be so full of love because you are so full of love. It will be exciting and ambitious because you are those things. What you are full of is going to spill out on the people and things around you so make sure you are full of good things.
Life is the occasion and you do have time.
XX
MS
