International Travel
I have often sought growth by leaving my comfort zones, internally and externally. International travel has been especially powerful for me, loosening the grip of cultural conditioning and experientially exposing me to other ways of being in and understanding our world.
My travels have focused on cultural immersion experiences. Whether in Central or South America, Africa, India or Europe, I have tried to steep myself in "real-life": working in residential settings, collaborating with service organizations, living with families, and exploring the culture through music and rhythm. For almost a year during 2012-2013, I embarked on an Off the Grid adventure mainly in Africa and India. I am forever changed by my time away, and I continue to integrate the learning and growth I experienced into my clinical work, my writing and my life!
Traveling has often encouraged in me a greater sense of openness, trust, receptivity, intuition, and aliveness. When abroad, impressions are registered and processed in striking color. Unexpected insights emerge in unexpected ways. I experience a sense of connection with the larger flow of life that exists within and around us.
I have come to believe that incredible healing and growth occur when we expose ourselves to difference -- to what initially seems completely unfamiliar -- with an open heart and genuine curiosity. We begin to know ourselves more authentically while we learn to truly regard another. Gradually, an embodied awareness of the universality of human experience takes hold along with a profound sense of interconnectedness.
Embarking on a journey of inner discovery is not so unlike outer travel. If we can approach ourselves and our inner worlds with the same regard, compassion and curiosity as we do unfamiliar others, we stand an excellent chance of emerging more self-aware, grounded, alive, connected and free!
My travels have focused on cultural immersion experiences. Whether in Central or South America, Africa, India or Europe, I have tried to steep myself in "real-life": working in residential settings, collaborating with service organizations, living with families, and exploring the culture through music and rhythm. For almost a year during 2012-2013, I embarked on an Off the Grid adventure mainly in Africa and India. I am forever changed by my time away, and I continue to integrate the learning and growth I experienced into my clinical work, my writing and my life!
Traveling has often encouraged in me a greater sense of openness, trust, receptivity, intuition, and aliveness. When abroad, impressions are registered and processed in striking color. Unexpected insights emerge in unexpected ways. I experience a sense of connection with the larger flow of life that exists within and around us.
I have come to believe that incredible healing and growth occur when we expose ourselves to difference -- to what initially seems completely unfamiliar -- with an open heart and genuine curiosity. We begin to know ourselves more authentically while we learn to truly regard another. Gradually, an embodied awareness of the universality of human experience takes hold along with a profound sense of interconnectedness.
Embarking on a journey of inner discovery is not so unlike outer travel. If we can approach ourselves and our inner worlds with the same regard, compassion and curiosity as we do unfamiliar others, we stand an excellent chance of emerging more self-aware, grounded, alive, connected and free!
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