Well, today my father and I embark on an exciting adventure. I wouldn't say that it will be life-changing, but it's definitely one of those life events that you don't forget.
We're going to China.
Crazy, right? I'm still trying to wrap my head around it even now, just an hour away from our departure. China... For a guy who's never been farther from home than Minneapolis, Atlanta, and Wilmington, Vermont, who's never been out of the country before, this is kind of a huge deal. Mind if I tell you a secret? I'm terrified. Absolutely and utterly. It's crazy to me what a bundle of nerves I am, but there it is. I've packed and repacked three times now, changed my traveling outfit twice, and now I'm just sitting, waiting for my dad to finish making all the final arrangements. In the background, Chris Martin sings on Spotify about carrying the world.
I haven't felt nerves like this since I used to get stage fright at piano recitals, and even that was nothing compared to what I'm feeling now. I am so ready to go, and yet at the same time I don't want to leave. It didn't help that my best friend decided to regale me with stern warnings of a hundred possible dangers inherent in international travel...
If I took to heart every item on that list, I'd never set foot on a plane again. But hey! Isn't that what life's about? Life is simply a series of "calculated risks." Or rather, to put it in layman's terms, life's about deciding how insane we can be without letting it get us killed. That brings with it a certain sense of terror, especially when we consider Murphy's law.
But it's so exhilarating!! Why be safe when you can live?
Okay, I'm not advocating some sort of YOLO trip or a complete abandonment of discretion. But life is about experience, about taking crazy risks. And you know what? Quite often, those risks actually pay off. Sure, sometimes they don't. But that's part of experience, too. Every time we screw up, we get better at not screwing up. It's a win-win situation.
Well, as long as I don't have an asthma attack in smog-filled Beijing and die. That would be a rather lame ending to my story...
Title is from "Butterfly Culture"
Lyrics by B. F. Leftwich
