Joy at Mont Joly

maborgon — Fri, 5 Jul 2013 07:38:00 GMT

Last Year, I intentionally quit my job to do some different things aiming to get to know the world I live in better, to try to know me better.. I planned an intense 6 months trip mostly through Europe and Asia, mixing different activities. The idea was keep being active, get to be in different systems, work on my french language skills, give a part back through volunteering, and try to be in the present. Always permeated with lots of nature, arts and trekking. I spent a couple months planning the trip skeleton, but also left some room for surprises, for things I did not know before leaving. Like my best trekking day ever. During my french studies in Chambery, a city in the Rhone-Alpes region, I got the gift of making a new friend, as passionated about nature and mountains as me. He knew the region well and suggested our first trekking itinerary: a day trip to the Mont Joly view point. The area is a sky station in the winter and a nice trekking opportunity in the summer, offering 360 degrees of astonishing views in clear days. Well, I had no idea of this last part until we were there, since I refused to see any pictures.. This was indeed, the most remarcable surprise activity of the whole trip. Maybe because the day was so beautiful and energetic, or the sun was so alive and vibrant, or the Majestic Mont Blanc was by our side most of the time or due to the multitude of wild flowers in the way or still because of the opportunity of sharing all of these with others.. But Certainly, because of all of these factors combined plus the unique opportunity of being there, experiencing the sun with all the others. . At that day it was very clear that we (the humans), the Mont Blanc, the other mountains, the wild flowers, were all under the same sun. The awareness that we are all part of nature and that we all seemed to know that, took me to a very fulfilled state. All I wished was that everyone else could have a taste of that or other similar moments, that we all could feel that we are part of nature and how important that is, for nature itself and for us all.

A 'place' I have visited

maborgon — Fri, 5 Jul 2013 07:31:27 GMT

I am a great fit for this program because more than winning I care about sharing, about learning, improving and finding constructive ways of giving it back. Through my life, travels and especially photography, I aim at inspiring people to care about the planet we all live in, our nature, our people, and their own selves.
In the last 10 years, I have kept myself fit just in case an opportunity showed up and I could take it. Fortunately, due to that, I have had great opportunities to be in some energetic and culturally rich places on earth. I do still have a long way to go, though. When I was a kid or even after I graduated at university in Brazil, I never imagined where I would get. My mind and possibilities were expanding little by little as a result of preparation and of an intense inner search process. Suddenly, I saw myself doing things I could never before have imagined. And I keep going. Now, Here I am in face of the greatest opportunity of all these years and it just feels like I have been naturally preparing to take it. This scholarship takes me to a different level in my photography and travelling skills and opens a whole lot of new possibilities.