How Travel and Exploration Are Good for the Soul
How Travel and Exploration Are Good for the Soul
Adventure, travel, movement, and exploration can enrich your own life story in so many beautiful ways. Following pandemic years of stagnation, isolation, fear, and complacency, the welcoming of wanderlust feels and is so medicinal for the soul. A southern California native, Adam Joseph Wesley, has found his way to Ellicottville on a journey for meaning and self-awareness. Adam is here to share a few discoveries he has learned:
LAURA: What have you learned on your travels?
ADAM: An overarching lesson I have learned is that people have goodness in their hearts. All across the U.S. I have found people show love towards me when I meet and sit with them in person. The media or internet spirals can depict such hatred and hostility within the human race. However, I have found that people are much more similar to one another than they are different. I have found that “the other” doesn’t exist as much as we think. It is much more of a challenge to be hateful towards another when you are sitting, standing, and looking at someone.
LAURA: How has travel been good for your soul?
ADAM: There is hope for this country. Some have said that the U.S. is in a declining state. However, on my travels across the country, I am walking away with a sense of hope and aspiration for our futures. There are a lot of opportunities that are alive and building. I have been blessed with the gift of witnessing the meaning of life across various people’s perspectives and spectrum views. There isn’t an objective way to live life. There are lush and abundant pockets all over the U.S. This trip has enabled me to sit with my own anxieties and fears. I have been in several situations where I had to rely on others or where I had to figure a situation out all alone, or where I had to survive. I am approaching the mindset that life will throw curve balls and that no matter what I have coming my way, I can approach it with a level of calmness and surety. I am truly learning to roll with the punches.
LAURA: What have you learned about people on your journey?
ADAM: I have learned that people innately are filled with goodness; darkness presents when trauma has occurred. Areas of the country that resemble elements of darkness have experienced collective traumas. Those areas, at times, resemble a certain energy, elements of resentfulness, and perhaps subconscious distrust. I felt moments of sadness for those who live and have experienced hardships, disasters, suffering, and traumas. I grappled with the concept of leaning in and approaching others with curiosity, particularly in moments of misunderstandings.
LAURA: What advice do you have for others preparing for a trip?
ADAM: My biggest piece of advice is to drop any and all expectations. Do not go with the agenda of finding a southern bell, do not pick up and go with a magnifying glass. Step into the community you are entering. Breath in with intention. Do no not go looking for things and have any hidden agendas. “Abandon all hopes of fruition.”
LAURA: What about if the cost and time to travel across the country isn’t feasible? Do you have any advice for people seeking wanderlust closer to home?
ADAM: You can take little steps forward to view life outside of your own lens. Find community members who you look up to or who inspire you and connect with them. There is a theory called “Matthew’s Principle”; its premise is that the more opportunities you take, the more opportunities you will receive. Just say yes! Say yes to invitations. Just go to events you are invited to. Go to festivals. Join a group. Chit-chat with the table next to you at a restaurant or turn to the person in line behind you.
Develop the self-reflective ability to catch yourself living on autopilot. Recognize when you are not living life in the present and steer yourself back to mindfulness. Have great conversations. Ask the questions that are on your mind, without your inner critic holding your tongue. Come to the table with genuine intentions and ease into the flow when clarifying your perspective. Do not be afraid to just speak and ask questions. Find people that you love and love them deeply.
T. S. Eliot states, “Every moment is a new and shocking transvaluation of all we have ever been.”
Laura Widger is a NY State Licensed Clinical Social Worker with 15 years of experience in the field of emotional wellness and mental health. She owns and operates Inner Peace and Strength - Mental and Emotional Health, and specializes in trauma healing with children and adults. She lives in Cattaraugus County with her husband, children, and German short haired dog. Laura personally and professionally strives to promote internal self leadership and the discovery of true genuineness and balance within.