The Non-Running Themes

Most people would believe I won the lottery by being born a white male in America.  It is undeniable I have been surrounded by material wealth and comfort the vast majority of folks on our planet could only dream of. Yes, I was dealt a setback by being diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes at 26, but twenty three years later I have come to appreciate this chronic disease is merely a dynamic of my life, not a limitation.

Perhaps the more startling revelation was learning how prosperity reduced my initiative to understand the world.  I walked through the typical expectations of a middle class American, graduating college and securing a job that paid good money.  I rambled about the United States quite a bit but was never motivated to go beyond.  There were several trips “abroad”: to Ireland and Scotland where the familiarity of language and culture did little to educate me that anyone’s existence was much different from my own.

It would not be until I journeyed to visit a friend living in Dubai that I began to grasp just how big Earth is.  My buddy Mark and his wife Samia have been living in Dubai since 2001.  The allure of this alien culture, and quite frankly, the tensions of traveling to a Muslim country post 9/11, led to some serious investigation of our world.

First trip to Dubai in 2004 (though this is Abu Dhabi)

Wilfred Thesiger’s Arabian Sands is likely what opened the floodgates to my desire for learning about the globe.  Wilfred’s adventures were so recent yet so utterly unfamiliar to anything I could conceive.  My take was that the Bedouin culture I would soon visit was honorable and quite welcoming to guests.

Between Wilfred’s saga and Mark’s comfort (he was more worried about us in America than himself after 9/11 – when you consider who the target was I think he was right on) I journeyed to the Middle East in February of 2004 with little concern about my personal safety.  I was struck, however, by how many people expressed consternation and warned me to not “dress like an American”.  This journey would impress upon me that even in such a dramatically different world, the vast multitude is just like me, striving to provide for our family and ensure a solid future for our children.  It would also educate me how insulated my own culture is, easily persuaded that millions are identical to the actions of a few.  I returned with a thirst to understand more about the world and although I’ve been at the well for the last six years my thirst is anything but quenched.