I would like to go on a journey starting today that will show you how I see life. In one day I can explain this concept, yet in many years you would see, hear, feel, and get a good sense of "life" through my eyes. Israel is just a glimpse of how my world makes sense. I might detour you on some side journeys as well such as Russia, Turkey, or even Egypt. As far as beginning this journey I will actually slap you in the face with my personal quote which will explain absolutely everything, in just 4 simple sentences.
"Consider the Time... The past, present, and future.
Consider the East and West... The family as well as the friends.
Consider the Experience... Not the theory.
And Above all... Consider your Life."
The Theory: It is what your told, what you read, what others have seen through the stories or tales of others. It is the maps, the images, icons, the sayings. They can be factual, or imaginative.
The Expectations: This is your idea, your feeling of what life is or what it might be. You in turn will portray an image of life in your mind through what others have said or shown you. This could be true, or false, it could be bad or even good, it could be infallible, or maybe flawed.
The Experience: Your life as you push it, as you see, hear, feel, and think by doing it, everything, anything, just act. Try it out, test it out, enjoy it, or learn from it. Its your first hand, first person narrative, that is giving you your "truth" in life.
To explain this in an example I will throw in a toss up of my "Russian holiday", but more importantly my first theory, expectation, and finally experience of my arrival in Israel will be told, all through the course of maybe 12 hours. Now keep in mind, now that I am telling you these stories and tales as this summer progresses, and the plot unfolds, This now becomes part of your theory. Hopefully it will help you to formulate better expectations, sensible, knowledgeable, even playful expectations. But in the end it is your Experience. You have to be the one to get out, and follow the Italian saying of "l'esperienza, non la teoria" (the experience not the theory). My life has many chapters, now start yours and base it off a true story, your story, not what people, papers, books, movies, historians, professors, parents, religion, politics, trends, anything else that want to make up your life.
Welcome to my summer study abroad program, Jerusalem 2010, Catholic University of America.
-Joshua/Josh/Miami
