Flying Over Malawi

I’m flying over the world to a place further than my imagination can take me. I look past the glass of the little round window and below me I see an unknown earth lit up by dancing sunrays. I am gliding through the sky and with each moment that passes, the machine takes me further away from the life I know. Electric polls, streets, and rooftops are slowly disappearing from the horizon. Rivers flow between the mountains. From a distance they appear as veins streaming through earth’s flesh. I want to jump from the sky, and land somewhere between the blowing trees and flowing waters. I want to feel each moment. Goodbye Dolce Gabbana & Starbuck’s on every corner, endless lights, life living itself for me on a television screen. Living in LA I feel like an animal taken out of its natural habitat, like a pet mouse stuck in a cage, fed by its owner and given gadgets to play with to stay distracted from reality through entertainment. Life, a constant routine of responsibilities, an illusion of continuous needing, buying and consuming. I see the ego controlling the masses. I place my cheek on the window. The view is unlike anything I’ve seen before. Lost in the spectrum of warm colors are small villages surrounded by a few shades of greenery. Images of Beverly Hills mansions flash in through my mind, with their tennis courts and swimming pools.; I look down at the villages people live in and I cannot say which place on earth is better. It’s easy to look only at the bare surface of things - and quickly make judgments and assumptions. I’ve seen misery in the wealthiest of communities and joy in those less fortunate. True happiness and fulfillment comes from within and cannot be found in material things. The plane glides right above the face of Malawi. I’m nervous, curious and full of questions. I close my eyes and feel the vibrations as the airplane touches down to earth. I open my eyes and here I am, in the heart of Africa - Malawi.