Discovering...

As my adventure here in Seoul starts to come to its final pages, I wonder what it is that I have actually discovered while being here. They say a lot can happen in a day, so what exactly has happened in a month? Obviously I have explored the city and unearthed some of its secrets and hidden gems that the guide-books cannot tell one about; things only known by resident Seoul-ites. Amongst these have been numerous picturesque, unique and vibrant tea-houses, pieces of Eden surrounded by high-rise buildings and, just generally, an introduction and submersion into a world where I never really thought I could belong. I don't think that I can yet fully register what I have discovered about myself; I think that I will only be able to reflect and come to understand these things when I am back (home?) in London: so, for now at least, I will simply say that over eight thousand kilometers away from where one has spent their entire life, they can discover so much.

Too much to say: "It's a sign!" & "Capturing the hearts or readers."

This morning, a cloudy but dry morning in Incheon, I have too much to say. There are many things that I want to talk about...but I need to go to Home Plus, so I will limit myself to two topics.

Firstly, and this is the part which I have entitled "It's a sign!" in my diary. Yesterday evening I was on a bus home and I saw a sing that caused me to write this in the notepad that I carry with me for moments like this:

I just saw a road sign, as we drove past, that said, 'Begin.' Okay, I am aware that people would argue that this is only a transliteration of a place name but, actually, I think it is something more... What should I begin? Where to begin? How to begin? Is it the beginning of something? Has the race started? What exactly has commenced? Perhaps the answer will come with another sign.

And secondly, I have just finished re-reading one of my favourite books, The Little Prince, and I was struck by a particular sentence that, I believe, must have captured the hearts of many readers in the past and will continue to do so for many decades to come: "What's most important invisible..." Read that as you will.

Sunsets

Today I saw the most perfect sunset in Seoul. My friends and I were taking a break as we cycled through some parks and the surrounding areas; we stopped at a small riverside spot and watched the sun set while we listened to our iPods. I put mine on shuffle and "That's Life" was the first song that was selected and it certainly suited what I had been thinking about all day. Needless to say it really stirred my inspiration and imagination and I cycled away feeling like I could conquer the world. I will upload a photo of it at some point- it was too beautiful not to share.

Serendipity...

Apart from being a exponentially wonderful word, serendipity causes a fantastic sense of wholeness. I find it reasonably ironic, yet beautifully serendipitous, that my last post was pondering the quandries of the puzzle pieces fitting together; the next day...a truly serendipitous moment, albeit one that I did not expect, but, for those brief moments during and after (and for the rest of the day, I suppose) I felt a reassured that I was actually on the right track.

I was surprised at how much I needed to feel like that.

Wanting too much.

Since arriving at this point in my life, I have frequently pondered the idea of wanting too much. Not in the sense of being greedy, but wanting something specific too much. Perhaps a better way of explaining this notion is pinning all your hopes on one thing, planning your life around a single hope or desire... Is it a good way to live? If we live like this are we forcing events and experiences that need time to develop and materialize? Will we always be disappointed because, nine times out of ten, it seems, when we live in expectation of one desire it fails to happen? Or worse...if it actually happens, it fails to live up to our initial expectations and is thus as equally painful and disconcerting as said thing not happening at all.
It is hard to wait around for something, you know might never happen, to happen (while trying to lead and live an enjoyable, productive life) but, one might argue, it is even harder to give up on such hopes entirely, knowing that the acquistion or realisation of your dreams will transpire to be everything that you want and/or need. This being said, how long should one wait? Days? Weeks? Months? Years? I suppose that it varies from dream to dream, desire to desire and the individual nature of your wants but, if it is something that you cannot actively plan for, pursue or work towards, what do you do? How long should you wait before abandoning what may seem like naive fantasies or unrealistic ideals?
Perhaps there are no answers, or maybe there are no concrete answers. Maybe, when one returns to reality, the process of coming back down to earth will cause us to reassess or perhaps we will be further inspired, invigorated and lifed by a sense of stubborn pride that, actually, we were right all along to stick to our guns and, once again, it is surely only a matter of time until that pivitol moment where all the pieces in life's great jigsaw fall into place.

There seemed like no better time to start a blog than when I actually started living my life the way that I wanted to...although I already fear the lack of time that I have preventing me from always writing my opinions of the world, I hope that what I do write is meanful.