life in a nutshell

an article that i recently came across pointed out something really obvious. here's a single line from the article that was as obvious as an elephant found in the middle of downton los angeles yet i could not have figured it out on my own if not for this article; "the average person, if he /she travels once a year for vacation, would only go to 50 places at most in their lifetime". this fact smacked right across my face and questions flared at every corner of my brain. would i want to be that person who gets to visit only 50 places (most probably less) throughout his entire life? continue being the average californian and after 5 years, return to become the average malaysian?

the answer is, no. i want to see the world through the lens of my eyes, not the lens of a camera. i want to see, hear, smell, feel the animals and plants, not just watch them on a flat digital screen. i want to use the fifth sensory organ to taste the different cultures of the world through the food that they routinely eat. that is what the heart truly wants. but does the heart always get what it wants?

the brain on the other hand has issues of its own that require answers. what of my family? my parents that have spent a fortune just so that they can grow old to see their second son grow up into living a comfortable life just like everyone else. just like everyone else. the typical malaysian chinese mentality is to work hard and do well in school ( didn't do well), earn full scholarship (didn't earn one), go to college work hard and do well (didn't do so well), get out of college and work really really REALLY hard (not working really really REALLY hard, the fact supported as i'm writing this in my bleak little cubicle instead of validating) and finally when you have worked so hard all your life, with "tons of money" you can now settle down and start a family, living a supposed prosperous life. the problem is, after you've "settled down", you have to work even harder just to be able to feed the extra mouths that suddenly appear in your life.

prosperous? maybe. but isn't life all about living it to the fullest? in my remaining years here on the planet, i want to experience and absorb all there is to absorb. immersing myself in the endless sea of wonders and discovering new and fascinating facts about the world around us is definitely a fulfilling life. one might argue that life with a family is eniching and fulfilling. in many ways, i concur but is that all there is to life? with so much the world has to offer, most of us still succumb to the trappings of the corporate life. spending, no wasting away 40 precious hours of each week in a dreary building just to earn material wealth.

prosperous? no. preposterous more like it. to me, life is definitely more than carving a name for yourself in the modern jungle. it is, i opine with conviction, more than gaining riches to live a "comfortable" life because you will never be comfortable if you have to keep climbing the corporate ladder 8 hours a day and never being able to see more than 50 places in your lifetime. it is even more than just having a family to go home to. sure, family life is another one of those must-have life experiences but how about bringing the family along for the adventure? of course, it would not be fair to the little one, deciding for him / her to a life of travel instead of the city lifestyle we are all stuck in.

another concern that my trusty old brain decided to ponder upon is this; what happens when you are old and you are not able physically to travel to see the world anymore and you do not even have the material wealth to live out the rest of your life comfortably because you decided to leave the hectic lackluster working life about 40 years ago? maybe the sons and the daughters will take care of you. but if you bring them along for the adventure, they are definitely not going to be able to do so much less take care of themselves. maybe you will be like ol' Carl Fredricksen , the old chap from the brilliantly crafted cartoon that is UP, strong at heart is all you need to be strong physically. nonetheless, the bare truth is that it does not matter for when i look back i would have seen that i have led a fulfilling life. at least i have been to more than 50 places. at least i have tasted so many culinary wonders even the most opportunistic raccoon pales in comparison in a competition based on gourmet explorations. at least i have experienced the world. that in itself is more than enough reason for me to let go of life itself in the end because isn't that what life is all about? living life to the fullest, experiencing as much as possible before your time is up. our lives here in this world are certainly timed, as if someone up there is playing a cruel joke on each and everyone of us by starting and stopping the stopwatch whenever they feel like it or when the timer is up.

there you have it, life in a nutshell.

oh and i have to add, nutshell in life, on the other hand, means to live in a nutshell, to be shielded by the nut (city / corporate boring life) from all that the world has to offer.

should i live in the nutshell and conform to society? or should i crack it open, leave it and partake on an adventure that will fatten up my passport with countless stamps and stapled visas?