I was driving today with my bichon in the passenger seat to drop off Sherlock Holmes which I had rented from a redbox. On the way, I saw a man, in somewhat dirty gray jeans and loose gray jacket over a t-shirt. He wore a cap over long grey hair and beard and he looked to be about 60 or older. He was holding a sign that said “Hungry diabetic. Anything helps.” He was standing in the corner of an intersection when I passed him. Returning home I was looking at him again as I was waiting at a red light. A couple drivers turning the corner opened their windows and handed him some money, and a thought hit me that I could drive down the street and get him a meal from somewhere. I was still thinking about it when I turned the corner and started driving down the street. But since I had not yet fully made up my mind and I hadn’t switched over to the right lane, I drove on past the places I could have gotten something. And I thought to myself, am I really that terrible that out of a minor inconvenience I wouldn’t stop to perhaps do an act of kindness that could potentially have meant a lot to that man? Of course I didn’t know the circumstances exactly, but what does it matter. What do I really know about it? Sometimes I never question that I am, for the most part, a very kind person. But it is not always fulfilling the acts placed upon you that makes you that person. Sometimes you need to create that act from a simple sense of initiative and empathy. For me, something like this is not something I easily forget.

Do you ever get those moments where you come across something on the internet, or you read something inspiring in the paper or in a novel, or you go experience something tangible, and find you have butterflies in your stomach and all you want to do at the moment is start skipping at the highest of heights and smile silly? Immediately afterwards the speech which just a minute ago was drawled out and monotonous becomes a strangely beautiful montage of jubilant syllables and words and singing. And it strangely requires more effort than usual to sit down without bouncing your knees and flapping your arms like a five-year old who has just be told he can indeed delve into his birthday presents that have been tempting him all day.

That was me just a moment ago.

During the past couple of days I’ve been sort of virtually traveling Spain, finding myself for the most part in the south, around Sevilla, Málaga and Granada. I’ve spoken to people who have been to Sevilla, Málaga, and Toledo. I found an extreme language immersion program in northern Oviedo, plus a couple of other programs. And then I stumbled across some wise readings from the bloggers of MatadorU, a “New Media School for Travelers.”

BAM! moment of truth 

For an anthropology/Spanish double major interested in areas within marketing and communications this seemed to fit somewhat better than the Lady Gaga’s orbit headwear on the Ellen DeGeneres show. For someone who doesn’t exactly have a clear goal ahead but is willing to take whatever opportunities that present themselves that may in fact be a step in the right direction, this sounds somewhat hopeful. A travel writer! Of course this may just be momentary wishful thinking. Maybe even an irrational goal. But it’s got me thinking nonetheless.