"...nothing so liberalizes a man and expands the kindly instincts that nature put in him as travel and contact with many kinds of people." - Mark Twain
I am not a huge Mark Twain fan but I like this quote and I think there is some truth in it. When I read it recently it reminded me of a tv program I watched a few years ago about inner city violence in Los Angles. The thing that stuck with me was that almost all of the gang members had never been outside of L.A., that their gang culture was the only way of life they had ever known. It is a sad reality. Maybe if these gang members were given the opportunity to travel and experience different cultures and lifestyles then they would feel inspired to do something positive with their lives. In a different environment and surrounded by different people then hopefully they would blossom and flourish. But some people need therapy, not travel. I remember hearing a homily by a priest and he gave the following analogy: if you put a cow on a train from Glasgow to Aberdeen then the cow will still be a cow when it arrives in Aberdeen. I think the point he was trying to make is that there are people running around, filling up their lives with work and activities, but they are too afraid to look at what's going on inside them. There is no point in travelling the world with a broken personality, you will still be the same person wherever you go. If you are miserable in the east end of Glasgow then you are likely to be just as miserable on the gondolas of Venice or on top of the Effiel Tower in Paris. It takes courage to face our own brokeness and set those inner demons free. But I think the inward journey and outward journey of our lives can go hand in hand and both can set in motion the liberation and kindly instincts that Mark Twain speaks about.
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