Different Persepectives

When I was 8, I remember running and pressing my face against the glass of the window in the zoo. Covering my hand over my head, so I could peer into the world on the other side. Nothing else existed, just small little me and this gentle, powerful, lowland gorilla sitting amongst the straw picking at something in its hands. I thought our eyes met briefly, but I was just passing through his world, nothing was said, I’d be moving on soon and he had more important things to think about.

That type of wonder and connection we have with the world as a child, that wide mouth open amazement type of awe, doesn’t happen as much these days. An unexpected journey however, can sometimes take us back and help us rediscover that inner child. So it was in Indonesia where I found myself with my head resting against a window again, this time on a bus.

I had the option to fly from Jakarta to Bali but decided that travelling 800km across the island of Java by public bus instead of plane might be a good idea.

And here I was, sitting on a bus waiting for the adventure to begin. I waited for the woman with the two cages full of squawking chickens, feathers flying, walking awkwardly down the narrow aisle to show me a crooked smile. She didn’t notice me. I waited for the two polite looking schoolboys, dressed neatly in crisp white shirts and grey knee length shorts complete with long black socks and leather backpacks to give me a cheeky laugh. They were too caught up jostling each other to the back of the bus to care. I waited for the businessman talking into his phone, to take the empty seat next to me on an already over crowded bus. He walked past and sat next to the woman with the chickens. For next six hours, no one looked at me, no one talked to me and my journey to understand what ‘travelling’ was all about took an inward turn.

These days, it's easy to get caught up in our own world. We have a belief that life revolves around us, around our own important schedule; the schedule of going somewhere. In travelling, much like our journey through life we all too often forget to sit back and just observe, to watch. To take a long deep breath to feel the body relax, stop, surrender and allow the sights, sounds and smells to truly sink in.

For the first time, I saw life as no different to my own back home. I sank back into my seat, lent against the glass and realized I was just passing through. All I had to do was watch the awe and wonder of the world just outside my window.