After being on this trip for a little over two months now, I have begun to realize a new definition of the things that I need to have and the things I want to have. Back in the United States a lot of times I think we convince ourselves’s that certain things are more necessary for joy and satisfaction than they actually are. I took so many more things for granted than I even realized and now not having them has forced a new perspective of the things that actually matter. I brought very little stuff on the race, as did everyone, and I would not say that I am lacking in any way whatsoever. Everything I have with me can fit in one big backpack and thats it, and to be honest it almost makes life that much simpler. There is not very much stuff to keep track of and no ones cares if you where the same four pare of cloths all the time. I think in US we often wrap up our identity in the stuff that we have rather than who we actually are as a person. Thats why people care so much about cars, houses, cloths, ect… Stepping out of that society and that mindset has allowed for me especially and I imagine the rest of the squad to take more of a look at what actually matters, and that being who we are as people internally apart from everything else, and how that effects the relationships around us. The biggest thing I have discovered in myself through all of this, is how much I actually value community and being around people; laughing, noise, pouring into each other, and getting to know each other on a level that doesn’t happen very ofter at home. Being in this continual pressure cooker of community has revealed to me more of who I am, the things I love about myself, and also the things I want to change about myself. My take away so far is that I love community and being around people far more than I thought, and it is so much more valuable than everything else I own or could own.
