The Journey
You pass through places
And places pass through you
But you carry ‘em with you
On the souls of your travelin’ shoes ~ The Be Good Tanyas
Once upon a time, there was a girl. She was born in the Philippines and never knew her biological father. The girl’s mom found an American husband through primitive forms of internet dating (AKA, pen-pal services, aka mail order brides?) and the girl was whisked away to the Pacific Northwest. Unlike it’s west coast southern neighbor, California, the Pac NW offered very little Asian diversity and she was faced with being the ugly duckling of a crowd full of grade school peers that teased her for her funny accent. This girl grew up forgetting her native language and knowing only English like a native speaker would. She lost her accent by middle school.
Fast forward to college where the girl met the love of her life. The girl turned out to be a beautiful swan after all (cheese). They thought it would be Forever and moved in together to do the modern cohabitation thing. They bought a house. They bought a dog. They even put up a fence (though, it wasn’t white). They had stable jobs. The girl felt suffocated and realized the American Dream wasn’t her dream. After five years of dating, girl dumps boy. Girl realizes she doesn’t know who she is, nor her full potential. Girl sets out to find out, while “going back to the Philippines” was the first thing that popped into mind when she dumped boy and wondered “what the hell is next??”
A year and half in the making, girl finally moves to Asia, and visits India for three weeks to volunteer at a slum school program. Her corporate desk job fires her before she planned to quit in preparation for her travels. She silently (mentally) effs the man, and vows never to work a 9 to 5 again, and maybe this year (plus?) respite will help her figure out the next step as a freelancer/asskicker/location independent/solopreneur. Her India trip plans precede her move to the Philippines to be more accountable and make the Philippines less of a dream and more of a reality that she’ll follow through with. She’s a thinker, not a doer but she’s actually doing this thing. She’s so used to following other people’s plans, and molding herself to what other people want of her that this new phase of her life is mind blowing. No return ticket, no formalized travel plans. Just a dreamer, and a wish. To learn her language. To become fluent. To find her truth.
Two months in her homeland, girl finds a (free!) opportunity to stay at a Chan (Zen) Buddhist monastery for four months. Learning the Buddhist way of life, Mandarin Chinese, and practicing meditation. The rest? Who knows where the wind will blow her.
This is her story.
You can call her Janet.
Part travel blog, part personal growth/development, part non-conformity and rejecting status-quo. Follow me as I go on a four month long Zen Buddhist retreat to live a simplistic, monastic way of life, study Zen, and learn Mandarin Chinese! Follow me as I figure out what the hell comes next, and find the value of Impermanence. The story has yet to be written! And having a plan just isn’t my style.
