:: Electric Psychedelic Pussycat Swinger's Club ::

:: Tuesday, April 06, 2004 ::

symbolism

symbolism (sim-bel-li-zem)
noun1
1 : the art or practice of using symbols especially by investing things with a symbolic meaning or by expressing the invisible or intangible by means of visible or sensuous representations

2 : a system of symbols or representations

One of my favourite classes in high school was AP Art History. Among many other things, we learned of how artists use symbols to convey messages to the viewer. And as any student of basic art history knows, Van Eyck's portrait of The Arnolfini Wedding is the cornucopia of symbolism during the Renaissance. From what I remember, and can verify via Google, the dog in the portrait symbolizes faithfulness; the fruit on the ledge - fertility; and the removed shoes symbolize the sanctity of the marriage. So why the sudden crash course in art history?

I will soon be receiving a free ticket to anywhere in the world American Airlines flies. I don't think I can fully comprehend it yet, but it's true. What this little slip of paper symbolizes to me is nothing more than my true passion in life - traveling. In this little slip of paper, I can spend countless nights dreaming of crossing The Sahara atop a camel, or hiking through the Andes on my way to deepest, darkest Peru. I can play Tune-in Tokyo while actually in Tokyo, or rock the Casbah in Morocco (even though The Shareef don't like it!). Where will I go? What will I do? The never-ending possibilities seem more exhilerating at this point than actually going.

Man, I am excited. I never had the opportunity to travel much as a child since my parents worked seven days a week. I've taken many a road trip in the U.S., including my spontaneous trip alone out to New York for the first time back in '99. But excluding Mexico, the only other country I had been to was Korea - and that was when I was only seven! It seemed I'd never get to see the world, especially when my college graduation money had to be used to repair my car in a freak accident the week before commencement (never drive 70mph over water). But the day finally came in the summer of '02, when I took off by myself to Europe for two months of backpacking, spending time in eight different countries: England, France, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Germany, The Czech Republic, and The Netherlands. The experience forever changed my view of the world and my place within it. I've never felt so alive in my entire life.

I want to feel alive, again.

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