GERMANY!

10^th Stop: Paderborn, Berlin, Germany

After hours on the train from Belgium to the Northeast part of Germany Paderborn, changing a few trains, one being delayed, and had to rearrange trains, I was really on an adventure. Later, met a girl from Greece, who I got a free cab-ride with to her hotel then walked, but got lost near midnight in a deserted city, Paderborn, I finally arrived tired but joyful to see my friend at last! In my last blog, I wrote myself this quote...

To Die is to Live. 

To Live is to Love. 

To Love is to be Nothing. 

To be Nothing is Everything.

Obviously this phrase that I just wrote down sums up how I try to practice each and every day with each person in each moment-much easier said than DONE. I would say it is definitely easier with strangers, and the hardest with the ones closest, the ones that we know will always be there for us, will love us no matter what. That would be our family. Some define family as blood-related or whom is living under the household. However, my definition is slightly different.  I define “Family” as who I can have mutual love with, who I can treat as a brother or sister, who is part of my home that has no barriers or limits.

Shatha (Jordan) and I

So to love the ones closest is definitely the most challenging, takes the most energy, and sometimes results in failure. Failure indeed is what happened when I visited a friend from Germany. We were both deciding on where to go, how to get there, and what to do. However we had both, two different perspectives, she wanted one way and I wanted the other. In the beginning, I was very patient and accepting of her ideas, as I listened to her opinion and thoughts. However, in a human sense, I just couldn’t “die” completely to my way of doing. At certain moments, we got frustrated and agitated with one another, and there was tension between us. In my heart, I didn’t feel at peace and knew speaking more wouldn’t solve anything.

When words fail, 

                actions SPEAK.

So after apologizing to one another, I tried to move forward. Later on when she wanted to take an evening walk outside, however my stomach had a massive cramp and would have preferred to go home, I went with her. I tried to completely forget and “ to Die” to  myself, being selfLESS, to show a small act to LOVE her. Also when she wanted to meet someone, but didn’t have enough courage to, I went with her to give her confidence. With these small acts of GREAT LOVE, I felt again at peace in my heart because I had become totally Nothing, selfLESS, died totally to MY idea, MY way, and MY thoughts, but to only do FOR the OTHER. At the end, my heart was full, filled with happiness, filled with joy, and filled of EVERYTHING.

As this experience shows how really “living” these words ain’t easy.

To Die is to Live.

 To Live is to Love. 

To Love is to be Nothing. 

To be Nothing is Everything.

let's move FORWARD. not backwards

I failed, We fail, but it’s only important to move forward, to re-start again, because if you aren’t going forward, you are going backwards because time keeps ticking.

Re-starting isn’t later, isn’t tomorrow, isn’t when the other person does the same,

 it starts with...

YOU.

NOW!

in Berlin

So re-start?

BELGIUM!

9^th Stop: Brussels, Brugg, Belgium; Lille, France

Annemarie and Me

Do Brussel sprouts come from Brussels? I wonder...but anyhow I arrived after an amazing day in Amsterdam to the capital of Europe-Brussels. As I had mentioned that initially I didn’t have a place to stay in Brussels, but a lady named Annemarie at the Mariapolis (while I was in Luxembourg) offered me a place to stay at her home. I eventually found my way during the calm and silent streets of Brussels without a flicker of fear because I knew I would found my way. They welcomed me with such warmth and love that I felt right away at home, sipping a cup of orange juice as I rested my feet after hours in the sun walking endlessly carrying a 30 lb backpack.

The next day I was off to Brussels on a citybike with Annemarie and her husband Gilles. As we rode into the city centre, Brussels was empty, a few business people, hardly any tourists, as many were off to catch some sun as Brussels wavered at 16 degrees with cloudy skies. As we passed many stores, half of them closed, one caught my eye. I’ve been taking pictures of words or phrases that make me think. This one was “The art of living.” I had read a quote the day after on my friend’s facebook reading...

“To know how to die is to know how to live.”

So I thought of this: The art of dying is at the very core of the art of living.

TO DIE is TO LIVE.

Such a paradox, so opposite, yet so intertwined.

How can you know how to die and know how to live?

Let me share an experience...

Gilles, Grandmother, Me

That day at Brussels, we stopped at a nursing home to visit Gilles’ mother, an 87 year old woman. When you first enter into a nursing home, the scent of cleaning products, mixed with body odours, and other unpleasant smells gives a great impression. In my heart I was so excited to meet this woman. As I entered into her room, she lay silently on her bed. As I greeted her with the touch of her hand, I felt immediately welcomed as she expressed her joy by the simplicity of a smile. She barely spoke any English so I only could communicate without words. As I held her hand, she placed both of hers around mine and gently tapping up and down continuously. I said nothing, but continued to warm her hands and looked deeply into her eyes. 

Many say that your eyes are the entrance of your soul, and so I allowed my eyes to stay focused on hers. In the deepest part of my heart, she brought the memory of my grandmother right before me. I wanted to treat and care for her like I do to my own, to give the love I have for my grandmother to her. But at the same time, I didn’t dwell on the memory of my grandmother, but saw the “grandmother” right before me. In her eyes, I understood she was treating me like one of her own, her own grandchild. Even though we weren’t family by blood, in the end we had become FAMILY.

I had experienced the “art of dying,” or in Buddhism, “sacrifice,” or in Christianity “giving one’s life,” or in Sikhism “Sewa: self-lessness or in Agnosticism or Atheism “detachment,” or in Islam “losing one’s life,” or in Hinduism “being of nothing.” I observed the art of dying is present in all beliefs, but expressed in different ways. All different ways, but at the same time trying to practice the same idea-the art of living. 

In each moment of that eternal hour, “my grandmother” was giving all that she could, her whole life that existed within the eyes of her soul and giving her nothingness to just concentrate on each glance I made. I had sacrificed all that I wanted to do for that hour and detached myself of the memory of my own grandmother to care for the one infront of me. Nothing mattered more in those moments for me than to give Everything- my concern, attention, and LOVE for her. This was my experience of knowing how to die which gives way to know how to live.

“to be Nothing is Everything.”

To die in all my OWN preoccupations, OWN thoughts, OWN memories, OWN desires, but to live for the OTHER, for the person infront of me. This is what I mean by the art of dying is at the very core of the art of living. She helped me understand.

After visiting also her son in Lille, France the next day and her extended family in Brugg, Belgium the day after, I got a glimpse of her life. I flipped through pictures in albums of weddings, family gatherings, and all the rest. When I first saw pictures of her as she was young, she was beautiful and gorgeous with a perfect smile. Now her beauty lies not in the exterior, but the LOVE held WITHIN, the person she has become.

This love that radiates from inside  is what’s left, what remains, what lasts, what continues on, what gives to the OTHER. All else fades, disappears, is forgotten, and dies, if there’s no LOVE that remains.

If we fill ourselves with all the things of the world materialism, consumerism, capitalism, egoism; they will give temporary life, temporary satisfaction, temporary happiness. This temporariness is when we find outlets of happiness-drugs and alcohol abuse/overdose, or having excess goods-clothes, electronics, cars, things etc., or concentrating only on profits and not people and the environment, putting ME first before OTHERS. To be SELFISH and not SELF-LESS. Sounds like the everyday media, news, society doesn’t it?

But Life is meant to be greater, to be lived for something GREATER, to give an eternal joy and an eternal happiness. So all the things of LOVE, with LOVE, done for LOVE, gives LIFE. This love lasts not temporarily but for eternity, this love marks, leaves an imprint on the OTHER’s heart. 

What imprint do you want to leave?

To DIE is to LIVE. To Live is to Love. To Love is to be Nothing. To be Nothing is Everything. 

I want to die to everything to live to be nothing.

Freedom.

Mark, Yolanda, Me
we went out to experience the nightlife in Brussels...
you wouldn't guess how old they were?

making Belgium waffles

NETHERLANDS!

8th Stop: Eindhoven, Thorn, Amsterdam, Netherlands
-to visit LAURA!

Laura and I

so the country's name is Netherlands for all those that think it's Holland, famous for its cheese, cows, windmills, wooden shoes, and for the GREEN. i enjoined Amsterdam quite a bit yes, but it gave me a headache. but that's definitely not why I went to Netherlands or Amsterdam, I always try to immerse myself in knowing the culture, people and PEOPLE. All the tourist attractions, beautiful churches, museums will always remain, will continue to stand for decades and centuries, but PEOPLE they are really what makes the place what it is.

As always my journey begins by meeting someone, and this time it happened to be another traveler just like me, but American. Also lately people have been questioning me of what I want to do in the future, and this question also came up in our conversation. A professional basketball player in the WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) is the answer I gave to my mother when I was 12 years old, I believed it from the bottom of my heart. When we were young, our dreams were so grand, so high, so immense, but what happens? what happens to this innocence? We sometimes lose hope, lose belief, lose faith, lose that innocence of a child. Sometimes it doesn't hurt to live like a child, to BE like a child where nothing seems impossible, where each person despite colour, religion, background, education are treated as EQUAL. If you ever watch a child, all that matters in their world is to play with that doll, or drive around that toy car, only what they are doing at  THAT MOMENT. They never worry about the future, neither care about the past, nor live in any other time but the "PRESENT."

Venice of the North

Obviously, being a professional basketball player was not my answer to what I want to do in the future, and surely I don't exactly know because I'll never be fixed in my plans for the future. However, I do aim for the future, but I try to live in the present. 

Before I give this answer away I want to just give an insight to my experience in Amsterdam. A city-jaw-dropping beautiful- with canals at every corner, named as the "Venice of the North." I loved the expression and flavour this city has with its diversity of people, restaurants, and coffeeshops. Coffeeshops where marijuana is smoked, and literally at the end of the day it gave me a headache. Not that I have anything against it, but you see how our society has changed in the European-Western world. A society where freedom is shown in acting in the way YOU want, wherever YOU want, and with whomever YOU want.

definitely ENJOINED amsterdam. 

So this freedom is definitely expressed in a city like Amsterdam, where you can do all and be all, the sky is the limit, and boundaries have disappeared. This freedom is a very good thing, but it is HOW we use it. We have the freedom to choose between right and wrong, to respect or to disrespect, to love or to hurt, to argue or to listen, to share or to consume,  to forgive or to revenge, to be pessimistic or optimistic, to be selfish or selfLESS.

selfish or selfLESS. 

What do YOU CHOOSE?

This leads me to my answer and the conversation I had with this American girl. My answer is an idea based on what seems to be a silent killer in the Western society. In a society where the desires are an endless wishlist, where appearance is more valued than the interior, where the term family has been torn apart into pieces. Capitalism, consumerism, egoism are the motivations of advertisements, subjects of daily news, and fuels of everyday living. And you wonder why depression, anxiety, body-image disorders, alcoholism, drug addictions are an ever-growing problem in a society where money can seem to buy happiness. But obviously the facts show otherwise. These are the silent killers I was talking about, that infests the population of the Western society even us- the YOUNG. So we are suppose to be the future of the generation, who discover what is yet unknown, try to build on from history's mistakes, and bring ahead the globalized world. So another problem is- how can we, young people even learn at schools when we are struggling with these problems that are kept silent from the world and educators are in a lack of better terms uneducated to deal with these growing problems of the youth today. And I believe education of the us, youth, or the "future" is fundamental to a better society because that's where we form our values, construct new ideas, and contribute to a better world. 

But how? for many of the US, alcohol and drugs are solutions to help find temporary freedom to be oneself and live moments of happiness that pasts before you know it. So that's where my answer lies- I would like to work in this field to improve the education system, or to educate the generations to come- perhaps involve myself in politics haha. But like I said, that's the future, now I'm in the present and I believe it starts from ME. Being an example that doesn't find freedom in drugs or alcohol, doesn't find happiness in buying and having more material possessions, and realizing the inner self is much more important than the appearance on the outside. Actions speak 1000 times louder than words.

So, What example do YOU want to GIVE?

WHO are YOU?
iAM nothing.
[on a side note, I only spent 4 hours in Amsterdam, so definitely want to go back,
up until now it's actually my favourite CITY so far! ironic EH?]

LUXEMBOURG!

7^th Stop: Luxembourg-Arlon, Belgium-St. Vith, Belgium

Emblem of the Country

Luxembourg City, the name even sounds like it’s rich, and the ranking as the highest standard of living city doesn’t disappoint. Perhaps not everyone knows this country, as it is quite a small country, but not the smallest in Europe. This city is part of the European Triangle that makes the center of Europe-Strasbourg, Luxembourg, and Brussels- political powers of Europe. 

However as always I’m far less interested in these facts, but much more thrilled to meet the people of the country. I was visiting another friend I met back in Italy and without doubt she welcomed me into her home, her family and all the rest. Perhaps I really didn’t meet that many Luxembourg-ish people as my friend was originally from Lebanon. Also others I had met were from Poland, Eritrea, Vietnam, and Portugal. But I guess that gives a good sense of the country, many immigrants have settled into this country and they speak at least French, English, German, and Luxembourgish. 

Only until I started learning Italian, I realized the importance of learning languages. With knowing English, almost everybody speaks it, Italian it obviously helps me in Italy, but actually also in Switzerland (there’s an Italian part), a little Cantonese gets me nowhere because Chinese people don’t speak much, and a little French helped me to ask for directions (I can actually understand so much better since I know Italian). All the rest you manage using gestures, head nods, body language and the universal smile. =)

I try to smile everywhere and to anybody because it’s the easiest way to spread some love and happiness to people you don’t know. 

You should try!

But anyhow the first day we did some indoor climbing in Belgium, it’s that easy literally from Lux to Arlon, Belgium. At first, it was quite scary, as you want to feel that you are secured every step. But after a while I realized you gotta take risks, stretch to what seems out of reach and overcome the feeling of fear, in the end to finish at your goal. I guess that’s what Life is about, going out of yourself when you are unsecure, and scared. But how many of us do?

climbling!

Many of us stay in the same way of life, do the same thing day in and day out, plan our whole life as if we can control the outcome of everything. Some regret things that occurred in the past or either worry anxiously of the plans for the future. But isn’t LIFE more than just HAVING a secure career, having the best grades, HAVING the latest technology, having a girl/boyfriend.

Lfie is nto aubot HVANIG. (Cna yuo raed?)

LIFE is not about HAVING.

It is about GIVING and SHARING

G-I-V-I-N-G

S-H-A-R-I-N-G

Giving a smile or hug, sharing your lunch, giving a hand, sharing a story, giving up your chair, giving a call, sharing yourself, giving TIME-the most precious of all, and sharing your TALENTS.

When I was young, my greatest fear was public speaking, I remember my legs would go numb, my hands would shake, and my palms would go cold. I dreaded the public 5 minute speech I had to make every year since I was in primary school. Even in highschool I didn’t enjoy much of the presentations, drama skits, and making myself look like a fool. After these years, after all the failures, I actually love speaking with people, talking in front of crowds, and SHARING a talent I never realized I had.

that's ME

When I went to the Lux-Belgium Mariapolis while I was in Luxembourg, they knew I had come from Loppiano (Italy for 9 months), and they asked me to SHARE an experience or something between the performances at the traditional show on the last night. First of, I just went there for the day with my friend, I knew just a handful out of the 700 people, and prepared nothing to say. But of course, I didn’t hesitate but said YES. 

I would never imagine in a million years if you told me 10 years ago to do the same thing and I would actually willingly agree to speak infront of 700 people unprepared. Being able to speak about something just on the spot with such confidence didn’t just come so easy, it took learning from FAILURES, taking risks, overcoming the instinct of FEAR, and years of PRACTICE.

and that was the Focolare Family in Belgium-Lux

we were born to develop our talents, and most importantly SHARE them, no one has the same talents because each individual is UNIque.

So SHARE YOURS!

I basically was sharing that on this European tour I’m doing, I really wanted to visit the Focolare in Belgium too, just like I have been in every other country. However it was in Belgium that I didn’t have a place to stay. I didn’t worry about it too much, just tried to live the PRESENT MOMENT in the task at hand, with the person infront of me in wherever I was at that particular moment. So when I went to the Mariapolis in Belgium for the day, I met a lady in the washroom while I was washing my hands. She introduced herself with a smile and warm welcome and soon after asked if I had a place to stay? We had just met! So when people try to love one another treating OTHERS as themselves, we really become one HUMAN FAMILY.. So wherever I go on this trip I feel just at home because everyone around tries to bring this LOVE wherever they may be to whoever in the PRESENT MOMENT.

So I think you should TRY to SPREAD the LOVE in each moment!

the LUX fam<3

 “Truth of Truth is Love, Truth of Love is FREEDOM.”

SCOTLAND!

6th stop: Glasgow, Edinburgh Scotland- Wewlyn Garden City (London), England


About 30 min plane ride from Dublin to Glasgow, the plane doesn’t even seem to have ascended before you start descending again. It’s just that close to each other, I mean not just the distance, but the nature, the sheeps, and the endless rolling hills makes me conclude that when the world was once one mass, Ireland was connected to Scotland. You will notice right away that definitely the capacity to understand the English language is miles more difficult. Scotish people at times seem to have something stuck in their throat that they just can’t seem to shallow when they speak English. I really had to make an effort to listen to what they said (sometimes). Everything is like a wee bit, a wee more, a wee bowl...

with Anne's FAM

It was so funny because me and my friend speak the same language, but there were so many times she would need me to repeat myself. We arrived in Glasgow her hometown, as we both went to Ireland together for the Mariapolis, and we were exhausted. I made some PANCAKES, which I was craving and literally we spent the whole morning just relaxing. Whenever you travel, there needs to be at least the first day where you just rest your body. Traveling gets so TIRING.

Well it wasn’ t long before we both headed to London or Wewlyn Garden City the next day from Scotland on an 8 hour mini-bus ride. We were off to attend “reGENerate,” a weekend with young people from all over UK. I was so hyped to go since many of the people I knew were gonna be there, and I just needed some “regeneration.” The theme was “Rooted or Uprooted” and the first session we had to divide into small groups to come up with a quote, and creative expression of the theme. Our group took a turn on the word root, and used “route” instead. We discovered this quote...

ohh YEAH

“A name is what you seek, an address is where it is, and a route is how to get there.” (Jon Postel)

from all over Italy, Scotland, Brazil, and yeah England

If you think about it, a root of a tree is similar to a route of a journey, it can diverge connect, travel to other roots or paths. We interpreted this quote as a name is what you seek such as something, or a concept such as happiness, love, joy... an address is where we can find these things, and a route is the mysterious way to find it. I thought to myself, on this journey around Europe, the name is LOVE that I seek, the address is in each person I meet in each moment of each day, and the route is always a surprise each day. Also everyone in my group of 4 happened to be people I had met even before going to regenerate, and how we ended up being in the same place is not a coincidence because most of us seek something similar, the places may be similar or the same and our routes may seem to intertwine and cross eachothers’ ways. Each group took different spins on this theme...
“For a tree to become tall it must grow tough roots among rocks” (Nietzsche) 
“That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you may be rooted and grounded in love, may know the love of Christ.”

all of us

but where it originated from is that whether we are rooted in our faith, or our belief in something greater, which is directly connected to being rooted in loving our neighbour-brother-sister. The more we love our brothers and sisters, the more we love God our Father, these are two inseparable commandments. So like the Mariapolis, we all tried to Live this, Practice this, and make this the tattoo of every action towards the Other.

The next day was just incredible because we were fortunate to listen to a life experience of a couple whose crosses were carried with such faith and love. She was diagnosed with lung and heart issues that the doctors just couldn’t seem to cure, and he married her despite all the odds of her health. Not much later after their marriage, she was only relying on a respirator, and physiotherapy to keep her feeble body alive as she desperately waited for a proper diagnosis. Later she discovered she needed a lung and heart transplant, and she recalled 9 young people having died just waiting for their transplant. She went through days where she wanted to just give up and one day she told the nurses she had enough. She wanted an end to all the excruciating pain she was going through every second of every breath she took. But on that day something in her changed, she wanted to believe, and she wanted to give herself another chance. And her prayer was answered, she received a call to have a heart and lung transplant, but even through this operation her chances were slim, but she held on to a flame of hope. Before going to the hospital, she literally gave away everything she owned, and said her goodbyes to each and every loved one because she was prepared that her chances of surviving weren’t high. But now she is breathing and surviving on a respiration level of 1/4th of an average person. Through it all, she gave herself to everyone whenever they visited her. She had a love for each person, and even ran a small lottery for the other hospital patients.

Maria and John- the testimony of true love

She is a testimony of LOVING in the midst of suffering, on the brink of dying, and when all odds were against her. This wasn’t just her story, but her husband also shared how much he struggled, and how much he loved and supported her through the most difficult times. At the end, he sang a song for her that says, “Maria (her name), you are a miracle, a walking, talking miracle.” Every time he looked at her, there was this smile that expressed his unconditional love after 21 years of marriage. If you don’t call that love, what is?

Love that surpasses all limits, overcomes all barriers, embraces all suffering, and sacrifices all of self. We will only discover real love when we have lost all, given all, and sacrificed all. Only then, if we have an empty heart and mind, with the door wide open that we can actually discover and experience what LOVE is. But it only requires our YES, a leap of faith to receive this love, to open ourselves, to makes ourselves feel vulnerable, to lose everything of ourself. This is what we were created to experience, to be LOVED and to LOVE. But we will never know how to love, if we don’t have love, if we don’t believe in LOVE. But thank God Maria did, she is one of the oldest woman surviving with a heart and lung transplant in the world.

at the Focolare in Glasgow

with Anne's friends Claire and Rachel

I went to visit a Sikh temple!

IRELAND!

5th Stop: Dublin, Waterford, Dungarvan, Glendalough, Prosperous, Ireland

with Anne in Dublin

baaaAAAAAA sheeps on rolling hills is much of what you picture Ireland to be. But even before I got to Ireland, my adventure started already. I was going from Zurich to London, then London to Dublin the next morning. As I caught the last train from Rhine Falls to Zurich (thank GOD) to catch my train to Zurich Airport, just imagine what I would do in the middle of nowhere trying to get into Zurich.

Since I flew with Easyjet, you can’t expect that much, as the flight ended up being delayed by a few hours, and then I just happen to start talking to a man behind me in line as I was waiting. I shared with him about my travel experience and adventures, then about my experience in Loppiano, which he remarked by saying, “sounds like a cult- but just joking.” I didn’t really care since everyone has their own opinion, but anyways we ended up going back and forth on the topic of having respect for others, and he didn’t seem to agree much about having respect for people that don’t have the “right” views-for example one who stands up for racism. And although I didn’t agree all the time with what he said, I just listened and tried to respect him in whatever he thought. Also I realized proving him wrong, or trying to would have no point, although humanly-speaking we always want to get our point across because WE think it’s right. But in the end, what matters really isn’t who’s right because each individual should be respected in whatever they say. I guess we maybe had a different definition of respect. Because for me, respect is this mutual love for one another treating each person as a brother or sister surpassing the barriers which makes us different.

I wanted to treat him the way I would have wanted to be treated, to be listened to, and to be respected. But as we sat waiting for our delayed flight by about 2 hours, we somehow started talking about science and religion. As he started talking about this, he hesitated because he perceived it to be a sensitive matter. But I obviously wanted to listen and to understand his point of view. And again, we definitely didn’t have the same views, but as he spoke I listened, and as I spoke he also listened. It was amazing because we didn’t get into a conflict like the beginning, and I’m sure you know whenever this topic comes up, it is a classic debate where everyone just wants to get THEIR point across.

I tried my best to put myself in his shoes, to see things the way he saw even though I had a very different perspective, because there would be no space for dialogue if I just saw things from my perspective. It always seems to be that way in society, that we see things from our way, our past, our thoughts, our opinions, and everything of OUR. But anyways, as we spoke endlessly, he commented saying, “wow, you’ve been really cool about this, we just met and we’re talking about this.”

The conversation only reached that point because I think it takes that first step to just love, to listen, to try to understand the OTHER, without letting the “ME” and “I” get in the way. But do we take that step to put ourselves in the OTHERS’ shoes, to put the OTHER before ourself?
We need to try in each moment, to LOSE our ego, the SELF, and to think beyond US, and to think of, to help, to LOVE the OTHER, no matter the differences.

Just to say, maybe you figured that he was an Atheist, and I am a Christian, with somewhat opposite views, but in the end I treat him like a brother, because in the heart of each individual, we are made the same way, from the same origin, part of the same HUMAN FAMILY.

As we got on the plane, he saved me a seat, he offered to help me bring my luggage in the cabin, and offered his candy. We ended not debating no more, but just talking and sharing beyond what makes us different. That is UNITY, that is this universal brotherhood I want to build in the world, that is the SOMETHING GREATER I live for. Unity is bringing together people who come from different backgrounds, beliefs, cultures, religions, and etc but with mutual love for one another. 

[On a side note, he is a professional Opera singer, and if you listened to Opera, you would probably know his name]

Dungarvan (where the Mariapolis was)

So we parted ways, finally after arriving past midnight, then helping these girls with their luggage I finally laid out my sleeping bag behind the chapel curtain at Gatwick Airport to get a “goodnight’s” rest. The next morning I was off to Dublin, and easily enough met my friend Anne from Scotland. We were heading to meet someone about 9 miles away from Dublin Centre, and guess what? We walked since we had the time, strength, fitness and energy, walked beside the railroad tracks for 3 hours until we reached our destination. Who is crazy enough to do that after 4 hours of sleep waking up every hour?

So we were heading to the Mariapolis, annual gathering of people, families, for a summer retreat held by the Focolare Movement on the coast of Dungarvan (2.5 hours from Dublin). Usually every year I make it to the one in Canada, but this year was quite special as I went to Ireland! It’s different people, a different culture, somewhat different language but not really, a different place, but it is the same atmosphere. The place where everyone who comes tries to live this basic rule of “love,” loving everyone, and treating the other as you want to be treated to bring unity amongst us.

our house-United World

We had a treasure hunt around the city working together, went to the beach to play sports and games (freezing cold water), danced the Ceili (Irish Dance), every night there was the Pub...of course there were also moments of talks and discussion. But more so, it is a “living camp” where everyone tries to practice the way of life of “Love.”  I stayed with a group of girls in a house, where we had to cook and clean together. But I mean in whatever we did whether it was cooking or playing, we tried to help one another, listen to one another, and have mutual love for one another.

The 5 days I was there wasn’t always easy as you can imagine living in a house with 9 other females, but I mean I did live in a house in Italy (Loppiano) with 50 other girls from around the world. But to be honest I think at times I couldn’t help but compare the two experiences which made it really difficult for me. I was holding onto the memory I had in those 9 months at Loppiano, remembering all the experiences I had lived, the unity I had built with each one of the girls, and the feeling of being in paradise on earth. I knew deep down I had to lose in a sense that memory, not to physically forget, but to a certain extent detach myself from that memory because I couldn’t fully live in the “PRESENT MOMENT.”

Memories are of the past, stored away in our hearts and minds, but in order to feel FREE, we can’t hold on, we can’t hold on to that person, or that moment, or that object. In order to fully love who is in front of you, or live fully in the present moment, we need to be “NOTHING,” to lose all our OWN thoughts, preoccupations, memories, and anything that is of “Mine and Self.” But to think, help, and love the “OTHER,” in each present moment of each day.


Care to Try?

Freedom.

at the Mariapolis Lieta (Prosperous)

Zone Centre in Prosperous

at Glendalough-monastic site with Ita
(who I stayed with)

SWITZERLAND!

4^th Stop: Lucerne, Ticino, Baar, Brugg, Au, Zurich, SWITZERLAND

-to visit Marita, Claudia

Rhine Falls: waterfall not better than the Niagara

The gem of Europe, the diamond in the rough, paradise on earth, -Switzerland, a country where the nature doesn’t stop taking your breath away. Mountains, lakes, waterfalls, rivers, forests, and endless beauty that is simply indescribable to the human eye. From the moment I arrived, this country definitely lived up to all my expectations, and surpassed it without doubt.

My journey seems to always begin by meeting someone interesting and this time around it wasn’t a Buddhist, or Muslim, but this time was an Agnostic. I was sharing with him about certain problems of the world regarding our environment. He was Irish, but lives in England, and we were discussing about how a country as wealthy as England is very non- eco-friendly. I was quite taken by not even seeing a bin for compost. But for him, he actually told me how he implemented a system at his work to have recycled materials divided, and promoted an eco-friendly environment. Even though he was telling me how difficult it is to be the “one” that starts, and brings about change.

Being the “one,” that goes against the current of everyone else, or the society around us, is always quite difficult as we can’t bear the judgements of others, or we care too much of what others will think or perceive of us. I shared with him that being that “one person,” bringing a new idea, bringing about a change in the world around us is not always easy, but nothing in life really is easy, or else we would never grow, never be better. We just have to act, to spread our message through our life, through our actions.

Since he was in business, we started discussing about the economy and its problems. I told him about this idea of a new economy, a culture not of “having” but of giving. This culture of giving is the main principle of the Economy of Communion, a branch of the Focolare Movement, where profits are divided into 3 thirds, one to the workers’ salaries, one to the development and improvement of the business, and the last third to the less fortunate to either find work, better their environment, or provide for their necessities. This “new” economy of which 1000 businesses takes part in, is something small, something idealistic, something new. But everything does start from small, Facebook just started from a computer game that Mark Zuckerberg created, but now if it was a country would have the 3^th most habitants. Isn’t that crazy that 1 in 9 people have Facebook. Even though when I was explaining this idea of a new economy, he commented saying, “it sounds too religious.” Since I realized he was Agnostic and was against the Church, I just tried my best to listen with an open mind and heart just trying to see him through his point of view and not mine. In the end he said to me, “So what’s that thing you were talking about...-the Economy of Communion.” So even though we had different views because each person is unique and different, he actually tried also to understand what I had said. Universal brotherhood, unity in the world is not by making each person the same, that’s communism, but it is treating each person as a brother and sister, respected and loved as part of a human family.

the view of Lake Lucerne from our table as we chatted

So later I met up with my friend who I hadn’t seen in 5 years, she came to Canada for an exchange. We just sat infront of Lake Lucerne, nature’s beauty, and talked for hours. Seemed like nothing had changed because friendships that aren’t built on superficial things, but built on love remain, stamped, and marked in your heart.

Next day we headed the southern region of Switzerland called Ticino, Italian-speaking! We headed on top of a mountain where only sheeps, mountains, waterfalls, and rivers exist, and hardly any existence of people. It felt like going back 40 years in time. We visited her uncle where we gathered the grass without machines, but MANUALLY by a rake. For breakfast we ate home-made bread, lunch we ate home-made dried tomatoes. We shaved the fur off these look-alike llamas, but called Alapakas. We slept in complete darkness at 9pm because there were no streetlights. We washed dishes with one dim light and I could barely see if they were clean. It was like living back in time, but so simple.

Me and Marita raking grass to the Alps and
 to the sounds of the waterfall

Life can be so simple, sometimes we freak out when the electricity suddenly goes out, or we don’t have internet for a few days, or we forgot to bring our cellphone charger. We don’t really take the time to appreciate how much we have, and these things just don’t seem to satisfy. Society is filled with desires, wants, surplus of needs, and consumes our minds.

But it was actually such a beautiful experience to work out in the sun for 4 hours, raking the grass manually, eating the basic foods, home-grown and home-made. Can we ever live life with our needs, instead of desiring always for more?

with Marita's uncle and aunt where we stayed at Ticino

Because the people that drink away their life, smoke to get high, or party so hard they forget what happened, find temporary happiness, find nothing by instant satisfaction, and are left with nothing after, nothing that remains, nothing that really satisfies that hole in their heart. But life is built for so much more, built to be simple, built to be valued, built to be treasured, and how often do we say thank you for all the things we have to the people we love. Life is built to live for something greater, to bring a change, to make a difference. But it is so simple, bring the love to whoever that is infront of you in each present moment in each day. “Do to others as you would do to yourself.”

PIZZA :) i made for the first time

And with my friend’s family, I felt like it was my family, her parents were like my own. Her mom was literally like my mother, helped me with my dirty clothes, left food and water on the side of my bed, made sure I was never hungry, cooked the most amazing food, listened to my experiences, and the list goes on. Her father would pull out the weeds after his work, just like mine. When we needed him to pick us up when we were stranded at a train station, late at night we came to pick us up without hesitation, and joked around whenever he could, listened to me with such attention. That’s what I call love, love that is without measure, that doesn’t expect anything in return, that gives everything, love that is free. 

Marita's Mom

Marita's Dad

In the end with such gratitude and appreciation, I made my first PIZZA for them, one with mushrooms onions and tomatos, and one with pineapple and ham. Little acts we do for love because in life we can only do small acts with great love as Mother Teresa says. 

demonstrating how freezing the water was by the waterfall

we went with Marita's theory music class for BRUNCH

with the Gen of Switzerland (Baar)

its LOVEE