Connectedness

“Dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres.” – Spanish Proverb

“Tell me with whom you walk, and I’ll tell you who you are.” – Spanish Proverb

There’s a certain part of me that wants to believe I’m strong enough to be unaffected by my surroundings. If the people around me are angry, negative, stressed-out, or apathetic for the most part I feel as though I can rise above this and maintain my own gravity. I can be who I am.

But there’s also the undeniable reality that I am influenced, innately, by what takes place around me. My family, my friends, my colleagues, even my students greatly impact the person I am. Yet it doesn’t end there. I’m also shaped by the music I listen to, the movies I choose to watch, and of course the books I spend time with.

My world, the way I see it and live it, is completely carved by these things. That’s why I try to select these things wisely and why I’m careful about how I spend my time. One book I’ve recently finished, which I happened to read while I was battling a case of bronchitis is How to Think Like Leonardo DaVinci. I know it sounds pompous and a bit ridiculous, but I opened it haphazardly one day after a student had lent it to me, and I was immediately engaged. It talks about seeing life differently, smelling life differently, and even sets out questions we should generate for ourselves. The book details how diverse DaVinci was, and different techniques he used to keep track of his diverse thoughts. From mind-mapping, to keeping a journal on hand at all times, it was clear that no thought was wasted. One chapter that really caught my eye was about the connectedness that DaVinci saw in virtually everything and everyone. His curiosity for life intrigued me and inspired me to begin doing some of these activities as well.

Another book I just began reading is called Three Cups of Tea. It’s about a man who fails to climb one of Pakistan’s tallest mountain, K2, but in the process he discovers a village in desperate need of education for its children. He then, slowly, begins to motivate people around the world to help him in his quest to build schools in this remote region of the world. Up to this point he has helped build 53 different schools.

Through stories such as these, and reading about different people I become inspired. Sure, I can motivate myself and I can make my own decisions about the life I ultimately want to live, but I’m also wise enough to know that my perspective is also influenced by what I expose myself to. Who I am never has been, and never will be isolated from those around me. It is true that we shape the world around us, but the world most definitely shapes us too.

I took this picture two weeks ago at a music festival I went to with a group of friends in Santiago, Guatemala. Had my friends not persuaded me to go, I might not have. And, had a friend not taught me how to use my camera in this way, I might not have ever learned how to use this effect on my camera.