I just finished watching a TED talk a couple moments ago, presented by a Sir Ken Robinson. He spoke of creativity, overmedication, over-classification, and all the ways that the modern education system exists to put people in nice little boxes to be roughly snatched up by the claws of corporate peasantry.
An example he gave was striking- a girl in elementary/primary school. Fidgety, unable to concentrate, distracting others. As Robinson said, classic ADHD, if only the affliction had been invented then. Her mother took the girl to the doctor and went through the laundry list of things that were wrong with her. The doctor turned on the radio, took the mother outside, and they watched. The girl stood up and started dancing in moments- the doctor suggested that she be put in dance school. That girl later went on to form her own company, choreograph Broadway productions, and become a multimillionaire.
Without that right environment, without the encouragement of her talents, without the freedom to explore, without the intervention of that doctor, it’s doubtful the same success would have resulted.
Earlier today I was working from a little cafe by the pier here on Koh Tao, a place by the name of Cafe de Sol. Free wifi with good connection speed, but right on the main drag coming out from the pier so it can be a bit busy at times. And, after struggling to figure out exactly how the hell to layout a website I’m working on, I decided to go.
Somewhere.
Not sure where.
Easy enough- tossed my laptop in my messenger bag, paid, hopped on my motorbike, and headed out. To the right lay the road to where I live and the drag I’m familiar with. To the left… well, I’d only headed out that way once, and had only gone part of the way. Easy enough decision.
So, blasting on down the road I was going up a hill, only blue sky ahead. Stretched as far as the eye can see- perfection. Warm, but wind whistling by, no traffic… just riding along. I came over the crest of the hill, and displayed ahead of me was a gorgeous expanse of jungle, dotted by scuba resorts, shoreline winding to my left. The so-called ‘greenbelts’ of suburbia drifted off into the ages- only the view ahead existed.
Heading onwards I got to the main tourist village I’d never been to, except that one time I’d headed down the road. It was clogged, so I headed back. This time it was all clear, so I went on through… and, heading out from the city, the road narrowed ever so slightly, the green of the jungle became more expansive, the sky more colorful as day drifted into dusk. Small buildings dotted the sides of the road, here and there a private road to a scuba resort, occasionally another motorbike would head on back behind me. For me, it was onwards, up and down the hills, new and different surroundings, new views, reaching a crest, to the left a perfect view of the ocean.
I reached the end of the road, where it turned to a single dirt road down… somewhere. It said no motorbikes, and I felt like driving, so I turned back. Dusk now turned to evening, the sky that luminous shade of darkness, the final light before we shifted into night. As I drove back the stars came out- and they were everywhere, shining brightly all about. I got dinner at a small restaurant on the way home. And, upon finishing my meal, I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t feel like working, or going out. Didn’t really feel like talking or meeting people. Mostly, I felt like writing. Planning. Thinking. Most of all, just enjoying the beauty of the evening.
Hopping back on the bike and headed up a steep hill to the Sunset Bar- aptly named, as its perch high above the pier and various resorts lent it an all-encompassing view. The first time I walked up the short path from the parking to the bar my jaw dropped. This time, I just took it in. It was nighttime now, but there were no loudmouthed spring breakers here- just a couple talking quietly to one side a few people shooting the shit at the counter.
Getting a water I then walked to the wooden platform. on which the cushions and tables lay. noticed at the end of the platform a rock on which was a cushion, table, and hammock. Just a rock with a flat top, no railing, ahead lay all of Sairee Beach, above, the stars. Sitting back, I got out my journal, a pen, and my mp3 player. Putting on some fitting music (King Tut) I just looked out. It was hard to know what to write as a million thoughts went through my mind, all pointing to the singular fact that the moment was unrecordable. Words fail to describe the coastline, the barely visible outline of hills in the distance, the tourist village alight in the evening, the stars omnipresent, bright, looming, and everywhere.
So I thought for a moment, and everything fit together.
The day prior I’d read Chris Guillebeau’s A Brief Guide to World Domination (How to Live a Remarkable Life in a Conventional World)- short 30 page read, but packed with great ideas and great quotes. What I walked away with was the limiting nature of my current business concept, it’s lack of applicability to the world at large. We all live in a strange time- things seem to be falling apart at the hinges as the world changes at a faster and faster rate. Yet, the possibility to improve things and better the world increases apace.
Looking out, pieces fell into place. Thoughts that had been rattling about, unrefined and undefined, suddenly came into a cohesive whole. And, looking at the ramifications of that fitting together, it became clear how a simple change could enable future growth in the startup, at once more beneficial, more important, more widespread, and more profitable. It came together in an instant, but I sat writing for an hour, writing through the different possibilities.
It was the environment that led to the sudden distillation- with the beauty and peace of that overlook it’s hard not to feel inspired. And, more than that, it was looking out and knowing that I was in Thailand, on the other side of the planet from where I’d left just a month and a half prior, somewhere new, and somewhere that feels less and less foreign by the day.
On my last day in Buenos Aires my friend Priscilla put it best as we grabbed ice-cream on Corrientes Avenue with my flight mere hours away. We were talking about travel, and she talked about how when she travels, she feels like she sees the world through childlike eyes- when everything becomes new, everything becomes interesting, less taken for granted- every brick of the cobblestone street becomes fascinating, every lurch of the ancient subway an adventure. She spoke of how she felt more open to meeting people, removed from the day to day it became ok to take chances, to see what happens, to live and let live.
Ever since that day, at once the watermark and capstone of my three months in Argentina, I’ve always thought about what Pri said… it seems like travel, more than anything else, opens the doors to the environment Ken Robinson spoke of. And, tonight, lounging out on a rock looking out at the coastline of Koh Tao, the childlike eyes of travel met the perfection of nature.
