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walking the forum is walking the ruts of ancient traffic - a core of history, a vortex of energy, a keystone of my structured world. it's not the cradle of humanity, but of civility. ancient rome planted the seeds of my current expectations. but being in the forum doesn't simply sink you with its gravitas of extensive timeline of historic societal activity. you lounge on forum rubble like everyone else, like it seems to have been done always. thinking about being in the forum creates a context for home, making home incredibly distant. home has nothing to show for any resident ancient civilization. does that make home historically irrelevant? maybe it just means my home's ancient population, civilized and resident or not, practiced living in harmony with its surroundings, not manipulating the terra for the sake of ego. ego, because what else makes man want to strive for grandiose feats?
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sometimes grandiose things are created in small spaces. just because it isn't a large building with a marble facade doesn't mean it won't change the world. in the theme of european architecture, take for example the german wartburg castle. cute little place that has a modest room where martin luther translated the bible from latin to german. a translation that took the power of a religion's most sacred text from the religion's practitioners and handed it directly to the congregation. took the power from the leaders and gave it to the people. power to the people. ol' martin luther, what a revolutionary badass. an extraordinary turing point in western society, lacking glamor entirely. it's something we can all aspire to.
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traveling makes the traveler decide what feels familiar and what feels foreign. the more one can feel familiar with their surroundings wherever, the better.
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difference between china and india -- china is automated, predestined, restricted, whereas india is organic, all natural, spontaneous. india feels like love already.
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