Manila Airport, December 13, 2013
It’s Friday the 13th and it’s my last flight of the year. Quite spooky huh?
Based on the travel agent’s summary, this is my record flying year with 40 trips to 16 countries and 29 cities. That would mean I’m in a different country every 3 weeks and spend every 2 weeks in a different city. To be quite honest, I am officially tired. Sitting here at Manila airport catching the last flight of the year home, I couldn’t help but looking back in restropect.
What have I learned from my travel? Nothing too fancy unfortunately. After hours up in the air and a super lot of idle time to contemplate, I guess I’ve learned to speak the language of the universe. “What the?”, some would say. I know…., but that’s totally cool.
Take the top 2 most popular languages on earth, English and Mandarin, and ask me if I have used them the most this year. Definitely! Yet the most meaningful conversations I’ve had around the four corners of the world are shared through smiling eyes, subtle nods, loving hugs, and absolute silence when one’s heart whispers to another’s words of sympathy, understanding, and compassion. How can one put a name to such a language?
The universe is nameless…. If we have to put up a name for the sheer purpose of recognition, I would name it “language of the universe”. Pretty lame I know!
It’s Friday the 13th, and it’s not that spooky after all. There lives no such concept in the dictionary of the universe….