Not all those who wander...

...are lost. Actually the quote is a bit longer and it goes like this:

 

“All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king.”

 

and it was originally written by J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of The Rings".

What could I say more, the guy could not be more accurate. At the same, I think the reciprocal is valid just the same, that is "Not all those who are lost, wander".

During my travels I have encountered several lost people, young and old, tall and short, blond and brown hair, etc..

Another smart guy and artist (writer, director and producer, who directed a few movies like Romeo and Juliet, Strictly ballroom, Moulin Rouge, Australia, The Great Gatsby and Elvis recently) said something in the words of:

"The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't."

Well I guess that makes a pretty interesting fellow. I mean, I kinda know what I want, I kinda know what I need to do to get what I want, it is just... life is more fun when you don't live it by the book, with a 5 year plan. Or maybe I just lack discipline. Or maybe I am too self sufficient.

Thing is also you should be careful what you wish for, for it might happen. And that I can speak from experience. Some of the things that I wished for, happened to me, sooner or later. Not all of them had the expected satisfaction, or maybe because I wished them to much.

So for now I try to limit my wishes and desires and just stick living day by day. Don't know if it is the best there can be, but for me it works.

John Lennon: "Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans". So I stopped making plans. I just fulfill them :-).

Now coming back to wandering. I never pictured myself as a traveler. Not because of the financial restrictions, social conventions, parental expectations, etc.. However, apparently I ended up being one. Which is not too bad I might say. And the funny thing about traveling is that it is just like life: a virus. Once you get traveling and living, it is impossible to stop.

Me for one I know that I will travel as long as I will be able to do so and also most probably I will not die in "my bed". Preferably somewhere close to the sea. Cause another addiction of mine is the ocean.

Since it is confession time, I must admit I am a highly addictive man: I started smoking when I was 10, later took up beering, playing cards, billiards, cycling, hiking, music, pussy chasing (not as much as I should have, ua, ua, ua), motorcycling, and now I got addicted to gardening. In my small studio, I managed to get around 100 cactuses and ficuses and sycas and olives and who know what else, oh yes one big phoenix canariensis.

And thus the explanation of my nick name: Hobo Jono. Hobo means vagabond. Just like Bond. Vaga Bond. Well, I believe most of us are just vagabond passing thru life. There are 2 types of vagabonds: those who know they are vagabonds, and the other. :-). So at least I know what I am.

And the second big question of life, that people try to find the answer to: where do I come from. "I've come from nowhere, and I'm not shy to go back.“ (Jason Statham). I think this is a pretty decent answer.

Whereas for the third big question, where am I going to? Well here it is even more simple. We all go to stardust or whatever, and probably that is not the end. One movie I really like is Lucy (2014), and there is a scene during a high-speed car chase through Paris with Lucy driving, when Pierre Del Rio says: [During the car ride ]  I'd rather be late than dead, to which Lucy replies: We never really die.

This I find a very optimistic view on life and death. After all who is to tell what is after, if there is anything or not? At least I don't fancy the idea of heaven and hell, I believe this is what we make during our life on Earth.

So now that all the big three questions have been answered, there is still a forth one: what do you live for? What is your faith in other words? Or addiction if you prefer?

For me it is pretty simple, as I mentioned before I have lots of faiths and addictions, but probably the most important is music.

My mom lead me (and my other two older brothers) to music when I was kid and I literally hated it, having to study 2-3 hours a day, when all the other kids were playing football and other games in the playground from the back of my block.

I have studied music for 8 years (violin and piano) and afterwards I went to a normal high school (although it is hard to say what is normal). And ever since that time, I always felt I had to catch up with the rest of my peers.

Because during the gymnasium, I must say that my formal education did not progress at all, it actually regressed. And so it kept going for a while, trying to catch up.

After a while I gave up and realized there is no point in catching up. I had other skills there were worth pursuing and I have rediscovered music, more specifically guitar.

Now I know that I will never be a great musician. But I am a happy musician opposed to being a sad corporate ant, which was what I thought I was supposed to be.

And about supposition: fuck suppositions. And assumptions.

The mother of all fuck-ups is assumption. And its father is presumption. And its offspring is misjudgement.

This is one thing I learned in my travels and still keep learning. There is no must, this is just a human convention for a certain time, in a certain place. Other than that, when you judge and evaluate and asses different things according to our internal system of values, that is pure and simple stupid and imature. It is like judging a fish by its ability to climb a tree.

Me personally I have been just like most people are subject of many misconceptions and misjudgements. Initially it pissed me off. Now, I don't even give a piss about it. However, it is not easy to piss against the wind, when the whole world is pissing towards it, you will get pretty wet and stinky, that is for sure.

But... it is a matter of choice. I for one, don't enjoy pissing against the wind, but do not mind either if I get a few splashes because I don't bend and . Here I had a very good mentor and trainer in the person of my elder brother who tried to break me from a young age, and in a way he managed to do so. However, I also managed to grow from under him and escaped his brotherhood "love and affection".

Here it is another funny thing: some of the people that hurt me the most in this life, did it out of love. For them probably, cause for me that sure was not the case.

My big brother... he is not worth being mentioned more than it has been already, so, may he live and rest in peace, not my problem anymore.

Rather it would be much more nice to speak about a person that influenced me in a good way.

 

 

 

 

 

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