Travel and my increased faith in humanity.

Throughout my teenage years, I have repeatedly considered that WE are living in the final iteration or period of modern humans – technologically developing far beyond our human touch and weaponizing ideology wherever we like.

I entertain that everything is going towards nothing and that life is nothing more than electric circuitry interpreting complex gamified situations.

The issue with this belief system is that it gets utterly pessimistic at times and leaves me in a comfortable state of acceptance. Sticking to logic and arriving at quick conclusions about the nature of existence and humanity is easy – not profound. While there could be some truth to this thinking, one must stop and question how these beliefs make living life any easier.

Thankfully, people have explored faith and metaphysics since the dawn of time. There are plenty of resources to better understand yourself and reassess adolescent perspectives. For me, it wasn’t books that forced this reassessment but travel. Living overseas cooked my half-baked perceptions of the world and contextualized my place in it.

Days before moving to Taiwan (August 2022), news headlines warned of Chinese military operations around the island. DANGER was the idea that the state-run propaganda machine ran with. Some of my classmates feared their upcoming move to Taipei and even considered staying somewhere ‘safe’ like the United States – the nation with weekly school shootings.

Fast forward several months, my friends and I had the time of our lives in Taipei. Within the hyperbolized danger the media manufactured, we found the safest city, the most peaceful society, the most expansive nature, and a strong sense of home away from home.

In Taipei, I could not simplify reality and life in the way my teenage self could.

Would I benefit from labeling these new experiences as meaningless chemicals and electricity?

There had to be more to it all. Why did the rain, trees, and humidity put my mind at ease? Why were the people so kind?

I am pretty certain that most people everywhere are kind and that ‘evil’ is just the byproduct of corruption. Most people I met in Taiwan were pure. I felt the same way about civilians in Seoul and Hyderabad; wherever I go, the common person is good.

Humans are humans. Politicians plot us against each other, and yet their messaging sticks.

Anyways. In Taipei, I felt that many of the little things I was chasing were right there in front of me. The warmth of the place made me full. I was already at my final destination. What more do you want than peace?

I developed faith – an idea transcending the know-it-all kiddo mind frame.

I had to be in a new environment experiencing fresh stimuli to see the amount of love people could share with each other.

In the moments I pull away from my comfort zone, I absorb human behavior through the clearest filter. Instead of being numb to the noise in front of me, I take in the novel information and appreciate the interactions more than my past self ever could.

*** I am saying that in new places and situations, you have less room to be comfortable and interpret every situation in the same routine way. Life in California only taught me a certain narrow range of expression and wisdom. After moving around, I learned to see things for how they truly are a bit better due to the abundance of information and increased references I had access to. Whenever I go to a new place, I acknowledge the social dynamics that I did not think much about when I was home.

I like to think that you are more likely to wake up and enjoy your day when love and faith are more accessible or more easily communicated. Far from home, I did not have the option to be mean or tease the newer people in my life. Accepting the kind exchanges was what brought me forward. Smiling and thinking about my body language helped me fit in as well.

So basically… traveling did increase my faith in humanity. It continues to reveal things about people and our behaviors that my default settings could never fully grasp.

I do encourage you to accept the good in people and to find reasons why we diverge from our purest selves. The calm and collected Taiwanese people are my reference here, but you can find references elsewhere.

Being receptive to these foreign sources of love brings me joy. This joy fuels my faith.

That’s all for now.

Straight from my noggin, with love. If you enjoy my writing, consider checking out my MUSIC (click here).