I have written 5,300 words and published them today, effortlessly. On a topic which is brand new to me, but dear to my heart, which is the evoking of lifestyle changes on a planetary context, with the whole world brought into view. Ironically, my software and all our digital communications traverse the world in milliseconds to be sure, but this is a largely abstracted miracle, and lost on most people. To actually engage the world, I must do business throughout the world, share meals at a table with strangers beyond the horizon, go places that may scare me, spend time and money traveling while I can, spend my time in worthwhile pursuit of the unknown and share the joys of it in writing, with others who may just need a little permission slip to step out of their comfort zones. Having passed through this strange time of restricted travel, isolated work and social environments, and the current economic climate, it has been impressed upon me that the freedoms we enjoy, and others have died for on our behalf, need to be exercised whenever possible, or they be found to have evaporated one day when we finally find ourselves with the courage to act on the desire to experience them. A famous United States service member of the Green Berets once imparted to me an emotional state in a story that I will always remember. He described jumping out of a foxhole with bullets whizzing by his head, right in the midst of enemy fire, and with little protection except the hope that God was on his side that day. I asked him how he had the courage to do that. He declared that courage does not exist beforehand. It only comes afterward, when you have already stood up and faced the onslaught and survived. There is no courage, just action. If that conviction can be demonstrated in the name of the freedoms that we claim to value, then the freedom of owning property, pursuing liberty and happiness, and the freedom of free movement and travel, NEED to be exercised more. Wars for peace were not fought so we could stay home and shelter in place, afraid to go out of our comfort zones. Almost the whole world has GPS and 4G service now! Let’s stop wasting our resources on advertising, plastic products, and consumption. Let’s stop eating out at boring restaurants, ingesting mediocre meals, and paying for mindless entertainment. Join us in exploring the world together and ask the question “what am I doing?”, in a more meaningful way. The world is inviting us to visit, and the world economy needs engagement and revitalization more than ever! Let’s do ourselves a favor and see something new in 2023, to discover something new about ourselves. See you there.