"It's Kind of Fun to do the Impossible"

I’ll never forget the day I realized the earth is round. Of course, this is not to be confused with the day I was told the earth is round. I was only about six when that happened, and it really was nothing extraordinary. But the day I saw for myself that this earth we stand on is round, well, nothing was the same after that. I suppose I should explain. I’ve spent nineteen years on this lovely little planet we humans call home. I’ve laid witness to hills and valleys that block up the view of a beautiful sunset and I’ve shielded my eyes from the same sun while perched on an airboat in the midst of an eternally stretching Everglades. I’ve battled time in a hospital bed and marveled at that same concept as I stood next to a massive tree that was only a sapling a decade ago. But for some reason, these things didn’t illuminate the truth of the world to me. I was in the world, but not a part of it.
Not until last year at least.
In the summer of 2013, I was blessed beyond belief to spend two weeks exploring the small villages outside of Venice, Italy. I ate food I still long for in my dreams, flirted with adventure on a grand scale, and met people I could never have dreamed up even if I tried.
Here’s the thing. I’d always seen the world as this long, stretching, flat thing. People are spread so far apart and that’s why we’re all so different. What I failed to realize was that the world is round. It is so, so, round! Humans are not separate entities; we are reflections of each other. I saw my baby brother in the faces of each Italian seven year old. I saw my mother in every smiling woman and my father in every strong, self-assured worker. The world is round and so are humans. We are all here together roaming the earth and loving each other. That’s what made me see the world as this enormous, incandescent, melancholy, sphere. What I expected to be a brief dalliance with travel has turned into a life long pursuit of each round and wonderful human experience that exists on this earth. I want to share it with everyone. Grazie, Italia. You’ve shown me the earth.
And it is round.