One day, I was lazily watching a rerun of The Brady Bunch, The Monkees, or perhaps it was a new episode of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. I don't recall. My father walked into our rumpus room and began trying to convey to me the gravity of the moment, that he and my mother were at a crossroads and seriously did not know what to do.
He then said to me something that I have never forgotten. I paraphrase, but it was essentially this. "You may look at me and believe that I have all the answers, but I don't. You think that grownups have all the answers, but we don't. We don't know anything more than you do about life".
Even at the time, that remark both stunned and informed me, and I am forever grateful to have heard it, and indebted to my father for his stark honesty. That was a teachable moment, and I still carry the lesson to this day.
My father had shattered my blind acceptance of perceived authority and helped me to become a person who questions all authority. I am quite willing to accept the validity of legitimate authority, but in this ever expanding world of fake experts and dubious pundits my fathers sage words continue to serve me well each and every day.
The reason that I bring this up is that in my little social circle I am acquiring some perceived authority of my own through my trip to Ghana and my plans to travel to Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam in mid November.
In theory, I am supposed to take all this perceived authority and use it to promote my website, blogs etc. Other people have done this quite successfully and many of them have the validity to be rightfully referred to as "real travellers" and "experts".
If you want real experts on traveling, here are two of my favourites, here and here
But I am not one of them. I am just a person like yourself, trying to figure things out.
My goal is not to be an expert, but to throw my story out there. In an ideal world, you hear my story, respond to it and share your story with me. I want to hear your story, so that we may learn from each other. Its not about perceived authority, its about honestly recognizing and sharing our common human experience and teaching each other.
As my father said to me all those years ago, " I don't know anything more about life than you do".
As for me, I'm just trying to share my experience. I have no idea what you should do, and only slightly more knowledge regarding what I should do.
www.goyestoeverything.com
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