Tribe of Tribes…

My four month stint traveling through Latin America is coming to an end and like other things in my life towards the end I like to reflect. I thought about what my life was like before hand and how has it changed since being on this trip. For starters, I haven’t had a roommate since graduating college, so I would have to get used to that dynamic. To my honest surprise I actually miss having roommates. People you connect with just lounging around talking about random memes, etc. I’m aware people in life have horror stories about having roommates, but luckily for me I haven’t had any issues. Good people are good people (just wanted to throw that in). Next thinking about my work environment, going from working from the office everyday and seeing my coworkers to working out of the country and showing having my camera on whenever doing a Google Hangout so people don’t forget my face. From my personal perspective that’s been a well. I get to do something that I love, solving problems with technology, while also being able to travel the world.

While I would have loved to live in a time where tribes did great things like building some of the greatest man made wonders (Pyramids of Giza, the Sphinx, Hanging Gardens) you were subjected to all things of that tribe. With me being too much of a free spirit I think I would’ve rathered face exile than to follow ideologies that I either weren’t fond of or quite simply disagreed with. Fast forward to the present and I see that I like the ability to jump in and out of my travel tribe whenever I need to or feel like I want time to myself. In the general sense it is a great time to be alive. Sure, it’s a great time because of all of the advancements in technology, health, etc… but I think more importantly we’re in a time where being an individual is celebrated instead of berated well at least that’s what I’d like to think. Agents of the Matrix still exist and I don’t think that will ever change and why would it? I’m a person that doesn’t need anyone else to think the way I do, like the things I like, or believe in the things I believe in. I am perfectly content of being on a team of one. That might not be the case for other people, which is ok, we’re not all the same and I don’t believe that we should be clones of each other.

I like to live my life free from expectations that do not serve me in a positive manner. Being apart of a tribe by definition comes with rules and expectations of that tribe. People will try to enforce (police) those expectations in the form of pulling you aside to tell you how you’ve in some way violated the “rules” of that tribe. With that you have a choice to make. You can succumb to the pressure if you view it that way or say… f*** the tribe I’m good. They might be two extremes and since I might be more buddhist than anything else, I’ll try to follow the middle way and find a balance of both. Life is easy and we as people make it complicated. Simply put do what makes you happy without intentionally screwing people over. Don’t allow social pressures to dictate how you feel or what you want out of life. Last but not least choose your tribe wisely.