I have always believed that the greatest aspect of travel is its ability to fundamentally change a person’s perspective. While the experience itself can be uncomfortable and stressful, it’s an experience I personally relish. When on a train that appears to be going the wrong way, or lost in a country and don’t speak the language, (and while I may not be able to see it at the time) in retrospect, the experience has always changed me and my perception of the world for the better.
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| I was a “wedding flasher” at the flash mob rewedding I attended in San Francisco. Here, I am showing Kelly my truth. Photo by the handsome, amazing and talented Jim Stone. |
Today, however, my shift in perspective isn’t attributed to a travel experience, but a dearly-loved travel companion named Kelly. That’s because she chose today, after 20 years of relative silence, to share her HIV+ status.
I am, and have always been proud to be counted among Kelly’s friends. She’s the kind of person who truly sucks the marrow of life. She has been a wise teacher to me and has encouraged me to grow as a person, to shake off old matters that weigh down my rollerbag and hold me back from reaching my next destinations, both figuratively and literally. How liberating it is to see her give the same gift to herself.
More, what a great lesson this is for all of us, to set free the secrets we’ve been nurturing in silence. If you believe, as I do, that getting rid of the bad makes more room for the good, what a life-affirming choice it is to set yourself free of the secrets that imprison you.
Without secrets weighing you down, just imagine how much easier it will be to travel the road ahead.
Today’s life lesson is brought to us by one of my favorite travel companions. Together, we’ve seen the Grand Canyon, portions of Alaska and California, and now the greatest destination of all, truth.
- Learning to Paint in Paradise, California
- The Gender Bender Rewedding of Radical and Sparkle
- Traveling in a Transparent World
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Rollerbag Goddess Global Communications 