The purposes of publishing & some words on 'Courage'

Its just easier that everyone can see this...

People will often ask me what I did for the last 12 months when I return back to the states... or then again, most of them probably won't.

If they do, then I can tell them that most of the time was spent not doing much of anything: reading, waiting, walking places, talking to people I'll never see again, randomly getting lost just because, informally meeting with people, browsing through markets, ect...

Most of it isn't that exciting.


'Oh, Really!'

Raised eyebrows always follow the hot words like "living in North Iraq" or "going to Mosul", but the truth is that most of it - the experience of it - and most importantly - the experience of the people that live there - is actually mundane and ordinary.

Sure, I lived in Egypt and North Iraq and a myriad of other places in between; but so have many other countless people from the novice like me to the expert in languages and customs.  Lets not also forget the millions who were born and live each and everyday of there lives in those places.

The difference between them and me is that I'm trying to get in while they're desperately trying to get out.  Some even go as far as to sell their own daughters or organs, if that means a better future for their family or themselves.


'Truth'

Anybody can do any of the unremarkable stuff that I did.  In fact, I really didn't do anything.  I just got on buses and had a bank account with which to fund my travels.

Just showing up is the biggest part, and I invite anyone who hasn't done it to do it at least once.

The 21st century's advances in technology have made it ridiculously easy as well:  It took me a whole ten minutes to surf the internet and find a ticket to Istanbul from Seattle.

Stuff that years ago would have taken phone calls, office visits and hassling trips to the local consulate are now largely bypassed by the use of a debit card and some extra spare time.


'Courage'

I've often been patronized with phrases like "so much courage that you have."

While such comments are well meaning, they often don't do justice to the fact that real courage has nothing to do with getting on a plane and flying to another country.

Any douchebag or coward can get on a plane and fly to another piece of land.  That's easy.  It takes no courage and in fact might be an indication - in my case at least - of an underlying lack of courage and fear of commitment and patience.

So, that's what I want to emphasize here.  I have no courage.  I just had a good salary for three years that allowed me to stay abroad for long periods of time without having to return to contracted work/life commitments.


'The Real Courage'

I think courage is when people face the realities and situations before them in life and take them by the balls.  It takes lots of courage to commit to something and see it through.  It takes lots of courage to have patience, training for years and years, even if you don't see the result of all of your effort.  It takes courage to do mundane things day in and day out, because without it, the economy wouldn't operate that allows people like me to travel in the first place.  It takes courage to unconditionally love people and be there for them day in and day out.  It takes courage to sacrifice personal endeavors in life in order to fulfill those commitments and responsibilities to the other relationships in your life.

That's what courage is.

Its not, and I repeat, not what I've been doing for the past 13 months.