In the past, I've visited remote places - North Korea, Ethiopia, Easter Island - partly as a way to visit remote states of mind: remote parts of myself that I wouldn't ordinarily explore.
Interpretation
Exploring remote places can lead to self-discovery and introspection.
In this quote, Pico Iyer suggests that traveling to distant and often isolated locations is not merely about the physical journey but also serves as a catalyst for exploring inner landscapes of one's psyche. By stepping away from familiar environments, he implies that individuals can confront and understand parts of themselves that they usually avoid, unlocking personal growth and deeper understanding.
In practice
During a motivational talk about self-exploration and transformation, one might quote Pico Iyer to emphasize the importance of stepping out of comfort zones.
Quitting, for me, means not giving up, but moving on; changing direction not because something doesn’t agree with you, but because you don’t agree with something. It’s not a complaint, in other words, but a positive choice, and not a stop in one’s journey, but a step in a better direction. Quitting-whether a job or a habit-means taking a turn so as to be sure you’re still moving in the direction of your dreams.
I think one reason, obviously, that I spend so much time in one place is that I've been lucky enough to travel a lot, and now there are other different, invisible trains that are more interesting to me.
I've never meditated in my life. I don't practice yoga nor any religion. I'm a tourist on the realm of stillness.
We travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate.
I'm no Buddhist monk, and I can't say I'm in love with renunciation in itself, or traveling an hour or more to print out an article I've written, or missing out on the N.B.A. Finals. But at some point, I decided that, for me at least, happiness arose out of all I didn't want or need, not all I did.
The one thing perhaps that technology hasn't always given us is a sense of how to make the wisest use of technology.
If God has made your cup sweet, drink it with grace; if He has made it bitter, drink it in communion with Him.
You know Balbec so well - do you have friends in the area?' I have friends wherever there are companies of trees, wounded but not vanquished, which huddle together with touching obstinacy to implore an inclement and pitiless sky.' That is not what I meant,' interrupted my father, as obstinate as the trees and as pitiless as the sky.
Censorship ends in logical completeness when nobody is allowed to read any books except the books that nobody reads.
What delights us in visible beauty is the invisible.
For no man can forbid the spark nor tell whence it may come.
The weather varies between heavy fog and pale sunshine; My thoughts follow the exact same process.
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