Personal Growth through World Culture, Time Travel and Flights of Fancy

Our lives are made up of both inner and outer worlds , and our education and progress--as individuals and as a society--is built upon the accomplishments of those that came before us.

SO, learning more about ourselves is a reflection of how much we learn about others--especially their beliefs and how they express them.

World Travel is an amazing way to shake off the repetition of our daily lives and go beyond what we know about ourselves and the world. And in doing so, we enrich our lives.

In learning about other cultures in the world, we can feel connected by the similarities--and the differences help us to examine and refine our own beliefs.

Their cultures are built upon their histories, so a bit of time travel helps us to understand how they became who they are, and how we became who we are.

World heritage sites preserve the remnants of history, traditional world cultures keep history alive, and even going into nature takes us back to a time before development (very useful in reminding us how to live sustainably.)

And taking flights of fancy is how everything connects. Imagine yourself in a different time, or immerse yourself in the art and culture of another community or your own.

Flights of fancy can take us anywhere-- into our own imaginations, or someone else’s. A fictional tale can be set in a real location, and then alternate history and speculative fiction (a favorite of Steampunks everywhere), may branch off into a world that might have been.

Some actual histories have been mystified, and folktales and myths repackaged for modern consumption, making superheroes and heroines for our inspiration and enjoyment.

Any of it can be brought to life in the theater of the mind, on the silver or LCD screen, or in historical re-enactments, Renaissance Faires or role playing and cosplay at conventions.

There are so many ways to explore the world!

Through the written word or music, as well as countless forms of creative expression that speak in languages of their own.

Some things in the real world boggle the mind; others seem too good to be true. In the end, everyone’s experience will vary, since it depends as much on your inner state of being as it does upon the state of the corner of the world when you find it.

It’s all connected – our inner world and outer world, the past and the future.

Another term to describe all of the above is The Hero’s Journey . Joseph Campbell came up with this structure when he compared mythology and folk tales from throughout history and all over the world.

What these similarities tell us is that we’re all on the adventure of a lifetime , and regardless of where our journey may take us, we all pass through the same stages of growth.

Of course, whether we choose to embrace the adventure or struggle against it is up to us!