Wednesday, May 10, 2006

no escape

Are you surprised, as if it were a novelty, that after such long travel and so many changes of scene you have not been able to shake off the gloom and heaviness of your mind? You need a change of soul rather than a change of climate. (Seneca, Letters to Lucilius 28.1-2)

Ah, how true that is... and how many times has it been said since Seneca? Both Alain de Botton's Art of Travel and Phil Cousineau's Art of Pilgrimage make much the same point - though it is possible to travel meaningfully and to gain from the experience, you will not do so unless you travel mindfully. A timely observation now that the holiday season is upon us, and since I am off to Corfu shortly.

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