Although I’ve almost always held an optimistic view of the future, there are times where I felt all was lost and I wanted to escape and live in a secluded area for the rest of my days. There are people who have done and continue to do this, such as deeply religious people who live simple lives in isolated regions. While that sounds interesting, I’ve never done anything like it. If I did, I probably would only do it for brief periods of time; I don’t think I could live like that indefinitely.
While I think people who live most or all of their lives in secluded regions are fascinating, I wonder how much they’re doing to change the world. That’s why I’m more interested in those who have spent a great deal of time living like that and then went back to their regular lives, often having been changed for the better by their time away from everything. Within the past few weeks, I realized how much I’ve benefited from these people who “went to the mountain” and brought back what they found. Some of them went on grand trips to exotic places, others stole away to their cabin or homestead, and still others simply spent a great deal of their free time alone with their thoughts while living an otherwise “normal” life. A few of them later shared their experiences by writing books, making videos, giving interviews, etc. Many of my biggest breakthroughs have come from learning about their revelations and applying those lessons to my life. I think my purpose in life is to do that very thing for others.
So far, my “mountain” has primarily consisted of reflecting on things I’ve learned from books and videos, relaxing in my hammock, healing past pain, and improving myself in as many ways as I can (along with an occasional brief vacation, which gives me a chance to “reset” myself). I’ve mainly used this blog and social media to share my experiences but I also talk about them in person or over the phone with a few close friends. I love having a blog because it allows me to share my ideas with nearly anyone, even if I don’t know them personally. I’ve always loved learning about a variety of things and then sharing my findings with others. Also, I’ve enjoyed trying to find connections between different things (such as in six degrees of separation and variations of that idea), including things I’ve been looking into for the past few years now.
Many of the books I’ve read have overlapped each other in many ways; this makes it easier to remember the information by reading it several times and it’s also cool to see different takes from authors writing about similar matters. Plus there may be a lesson in one book that strengthens a lesson from another, making the combined lessons much more powerful than either one would be by itself. The more I read, the more connections I find, and the easier I can see the image they create in my mind. It’s like putting together a puzzle, except in this case that puzzle is my place in the world. Right now, I’m focused on gathering a lot of information and ideas and putting together the puzzle pieces. I just sort of fell into this, so I take that as a sign that I’m where I should be. I want to leave the world better than I found it and my long-term plan for doing that is helping to create close-knit communities where people can live, work, play, and support each other in peace. I think the life lessons I’m learning will help me with that and I’m excited to see how everything plays out.