DAY ONE - Nice, France
Too often we are so focused on the end goal that we forget to appreciate the beauty of the journey.
On a larger scale, arguably the largest, is life. Life is happening every year, month, week, day, minute, second... I’m not suggesting that you never strive to reach your end goal, cause that would be silly. I have my end goal and ambitions that I am going forward towards. But along the way, in life, just like climbing to the top of a hill, you have to stop, breathe, embrace and smile. Love life and remember that you are living it. That is what my trip here to Nice is for me. I feel at such peace, calm and relaxation. Right now I can hear the soft crisp cool breeze combined with the loving sun pouring onto my face. And I’m smiling.
Two strangers... no longer strangers.
How often do you talk to a stranger? Someone that you don’t know. For some reason it never happens to me in Birmingham. When I travel, however, I meet loads of new people from various types of backgrounds. Moments after writing my last note... I was walking by and I passed a guy sat in a sunny spot on a bench. He called out to me asking if I want to smoke some sheesha. I immediately said no, that I was okay and then he said well if you change your mind I’ll be here. He seemed genuine. Just another fellow human hanging out wondering about the world. He said he wanted to practice his English. So I sat with him. We are sat in a beautiful place, Castile with the sun in front of us and the sea, and an amazing view - just to set the scene.
And you know what? I went and sat and spoke with him and it was amazing. We didn’t need to smoke, that was just his way of trying to make a new friend, meet another human being. Is that so bad? We should talk to eachother more. And in a more natural way. We shared stories and views on life. We talked about how the world needs to wake up and realize what is happening around us. We discussed how appalled we were with slavery happening today in Libya. We wondered why people care about colour of skin, ethnicity, religion or appearance. He was a black guy himself telling me about his experiences with a Chinese man who wouldn’t talk with him because he was black. We both just couldn’t understand how the world can be so cruel and exclusive sometimes. We questioned so many things and it felt so nice to have the warming sun soothing my skin with vitamin d whilst we chatted together, two strangers... no longer strangers.
I won’t forget what he said to me when I was getting ready to leave and continue my walk. He said it was lovely to talk to me, and I said the same cause it really was nice. He also said “Thank you so much. After talking to you, I know you have a good heart”. That really warmed me as I felt how good his heart was too. Two complete strangers managed to have such a deep and meaningful conversation. It came after our long discussion about how people don’t smile enough or talk to eachother enough. Let’s talk to strangers more; and not just whilst drunk on a night out. Do it during the day, sober and real. Remember the conversation. Feel the deepness and the love that can be created amongst strangers.
Love is such an intricate emotion; it can create many types of the same thing.
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