Monday, April 07, 2008

An explorer's history?

Plugging out...

History, by definition, has a time and space element to it... And lots of time at a particular space, at that. In other words, to have a history, means to have spent a considerable amount of time in a certain place.

An explorer, again by definition, is someone who keeps moving on... in search of his destiny, in search for himself, for the love of the journey and for the love of discovery.

Now, if an explorer doesn't spend enough time in one place, can he have a history? Can he call anything familiar? Can he refer to any place as home? Can he call anyone family? Can he call anyone friends?

If he doesn't share history with anyone or anything, where does he get his sense of being? His sense of belonging? His past? His roots? His comfort factor? His values?
 
And since identity is rooted in the past, where does he get his sense of identity?

And if he doesn't have the past to rely on, does he rely on the future? Is it that for those who can't depend on history for their roots, the future provides the answer? Is it the unknown that provides the comfort, more than the known? Is it that the possibilities of the future gives him his sense of being? Is his sense of purpose of the future, his sense of identity?

Is his purpose, then, his identity?

Having the future as an anchor can be unsettling, but perhaps it is also liberating. It is this conflict, that possibly defines the life of an explorer. And writing history everyday as he moves into his future, is his destiny.

Plugging back in ...