Monday, August 2, 2010

Dreams do come true!

Fall semester of my (true) Freshman year I took History 201 at 9am and
Philosophy 105 at 11am on MWF, so between classes I had a magnificent
hour to wander around and daydream... I mean, do homework... It was
the highlight of the day (I've always been a bit of a dreamer).
Without fail I would go to the Kennedy center at the Y and walk
around--at that time there were two sets of pictures up. One set was a
collection of student photos of small villages and people from all
around. It was fun to see the people in their environment, but the
other set was captivating.

There were photos from all over the world, of beautiful sights and far
off places. By this time I had only been to China, Mexico, and
England--I still had quite a ways to go in terms of life adventures.
There was so much I wanted to do, so much I wanted to see, a whole
world to conquer!

There were pictures of the pyramids in Egypt, sheep in rural England,
fjords in Norway, mountaintops in New Zealand, and the Taj Mahal in
India. Looking at those pictures every day for 4 months, I promised
myself that someday I would visit every one of them.

Fast forward eight years, to a scuffy, sweating, grinning me walking
through Agra, India to see the Taj. Hearing the tale of the
Maharajah's beloved wife who died, and seeing the magnificence filled
my heart with wonder.

With all the places I have been (23 countries and counting), this was
the first of the ones on the wall in the Kennedy Center.

It was surreal--as much a part of my life and dreams and life plan as
going to grad school or owning my own house. A communion with
eternity, wonder and amazement at the beauty of the earth and the
industry and accomplishment of man.

Dreams do come true!

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