Blog #38: My Life

My life is unreal.

I've said this to many people. I've thought it to myself even more.

And I know my life is real but when you wake up in a villa in rural India and climb 650 steps to a Jain temple which is a pilgrimage site for the people of that faith and receive a blessing there then look down at the city below and the people surrounding you and you're just filled with awe it's difficult to describe your life as anything but unreal.

Incomprehensible. Wonderful. Unbelievable. Exciting. Wild. Unimaginable. Weird. Unreal.

And as I sat in that temple today, expressing my disbelief in the reality of my own life, I realized that feeling is one I never want to lose. No matter where I am in life, both literally or metaphorically, I hope the day never comes where I am unimpressed by impressive things. I want to continue to be awestruck by awesome things, rendered speechless by splendid things.

And, more than this, I hope I never lose my sense of wonder at simple things. Laughing with friends and eating good food and creating music are such simple activities, almost daily occurrences. I hope to never take them for granted, in spite of their repetitive nature.

For a philosophy major this is kind of a loaded statement, but I think my life is real. As unbelievable as my experiences may seem, especially to me, I am inclined to believe in their reality anyway.

Still, I find such beauty in the child-like wonder that has accompanied my life, that if the best way to translate this is disbelief at my life, so be it. My life is real... I'm just lucky enough for it to seem unreal.