Friday, March 14, 2008

Moving. (Prologue)

Prologue.
So, maybe some you know most of my life story, bits and pieces. It all sums up to that I've been moving around a lot. I was born in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, and 15 days after my birth I then moved to Zacatecas, Mexico. I know, I didn't do the moving really, my parents already lived in Zacatecas, but my Mom wanted to have her first child at her home town and not go through it by herself. Anyways, after a year there my Dad got a scholarship to study for his Master's Degree in Chihuahua. So guest what? we moved. Then 2 years later, my Dad got his Degree and then moved San Luis Potosi. In the next 8 years that followed, I got a precious sister and my little bro. By the end of this period in San Luis my Father had already picked up English lessons, which led to a scholarship for a Ph.D. 0_0.. yeah, a Doctorate. He picked OSU (Oregon State University) which is located in Corvallis, OR, USA to study for his next Degree. Ok, move again, new country, new culture, new house, new school, new friends, new everything save the family. This was a time where I was just going into my teen years, so I spent a lot more time chilling and playing with my friends than with family (my siblings where kids at that time man) . Ever wonder where I picked up these English skills? Well, know you know. This foreign experience gave me lots (in general) and had a great impact on my life in regards to points of view, culture, mindset, language, education, ethics, goals, values and living life itself. So after 4 years in Corvallis, it was time to go back to Mexico and we did. We moved to San Luis Potosi for a very brief period of time (1 month) because my Dad had plans. Oh yes! he had plans! He wanted to live in his home town now, Aguascalientes, Mexico -the land of the good people and a.k.a. the world's biggest cantina- so he applied for a transfer at work to move to Aguascalientes, which he got. Oh, Aguascalientes, if you come to this beautiful town you can't love it without hating it and vice-versa. I spent the next ten and a half years in Aguascalientes as I went through the last 3 years of high school and then 5 of college and the rest working.
This all adds up to one thing. I've been around, perhaps not as much as or as extreme as some other people but enough for one thing. I've been exposed to many things that are the same in essence but physically different. Like synonym words. The might mean the same thing, yet, very subtlety, they're not the same. Like trying out cars. They feel different driving, but they all help you get from one point to another. You learn the same thing but you experience it differently. This is the best way to get rid of a narrow mind. In our human nature, to make contrasts, to compare, to question, to validate.. to learn.
During the past years I've adopted several mantras that I've picked up from my friends and my own experience. One of them is that: as the person that each one of us is, we really don't change, we evolve. If this is so, then it must mean that our core remains the same. Since it's the foundation of who we are. Another mantra, we can't dwell on the past, but we must acknowledge it to build our future. Through our experience, we almost never do the same thing the same way. We don't make the same mistake twice (most of the time), thus we become more efficient. So, we do the same thing but in a different manner. Mmm, sound familiar? (hint: begining of the paragraph).
I'm not trying to be redundant, you might be thinking: "Carlos, where the hell are you going with this?". Well, this is so you get a better picture of a little piece of me. I am no guru, nor a philosopher and this text does not define me. But, as I grew, I've been acquainted to the experience of a new experience, the cultural shock, the social delusions of different regions of the world, the human spirt that lives beyond skin and language. I really love to learn, to evolve and to meet new cultures. To each its own, and each of its own is a world. I would not qualify my self as a world citizen yet, but it wouldn't be too far fetched to say that of me in the future. To me, the world is getting smaller and smaller everyday.
I'm not going to bash out and rant about my last years in Aguascalientes, which I should appreciate a lot since they were an enabler to do what I do now and made who I am. I will say that it made me restless, hesitant and sometimes resentful of they way people acted. Hey, who am I to judge? I will not pay any penitence for anyone other my own family. But back to the matter at hand, I wanted out. I wanted to experience new things again. I was always told that I was a good person, a nice guy, that I had lots of potencial (My core). It took me a while to come to terms with myself about who I was and who I wanted to be (My essence). It took me a while to realize what I could do and what I wanted to do (My instance). Some very small part of me already knew that I was going to spread my wings someday....
... and so I did. =)

Next:
Hope.
Yeah,why not?

1 comment:

Jorge A Lopez Amador said...

My dear friend, We spent 5 years of our lives in the same classroom seeing eachother daily ( except vacation time of course ) and I had no idea that you were moving from one place to another that often , well I think that we never had the chance to talk about it. Great post my man ( and looong veeery looong he he ) Take care over there , Enjoy California ! , My bests wishes from Atlanta.