5:47 p.m. | 2002-09-20 It�s A Small World, But I�ve Only Seen A Little Of It. Sometimes it makes me a little sad knowing that I only have one shot at life and there�s so much I�ll never see or experience. I love people and societies; they fascinate me. I want to see as much of the world as possible before I die, but I�m going to miss so much. There aren�t that many continents on our planet, yet I�ve only been to two. There are many, many countries in our nation, yet I�ve only been to eight. There are fifty states in the U.S., yet I�ve only lived in five and have only been to about fifteen or so. There are so many cities/towns in my state, yet I�ve only visited a small portion of those. There are several different cities within the metropolitan area in which I live, yet I haven�t been to all of them. There are different communities within the city I live, yet I�ve not been to a few. There are many different sections of my own neighborhood, yet I�ve not explored them all. There are perfectly valid reasons why I haven�t seen more of our world. I need to work, I don�t have limitless amounts of money and my spare time is sparse, however, it saddens me to think of how much I�m going miss out on in my lifetime. I mean, life is all about the people when you think about it. How people live, traditions, cultures, ceremonies, rites of passage, how they interact with and connect with the rest of the world� past, present, future. And, I can�t leave out the many diverse and interesting ecological environments in which we dwell. Plus the animals� can�t leave out the animals. I mean, there is just so much out there. I have visited many different places via books or internet sites, second-hand accounts, etc. But that�s not the same as really being there and experiencing everything firsthand. Exploring how societies function in different settings. It�s mind-boggling to me. One of the great things about living in America is that so many different cultures are brought to us by the people who come here to visit or live. We are a diverse country, albeit more diverse in some areas than others. But still, these people bring their ceremonies, traditions, languages, food, etc. to us and share them. It�s too bad that sometimes we just focus on assimilating everyone quickly instead of taking a lesson here and there. But, some form of assimilation is necessary at some point and that's what makes a person an American. That's one good thing about the internet. It allows us to see just how small our world is and, at the same time, just how big it is. It allows us to connect with people we would never meet up with otherwise. It brings the rest of the world right into our homes and our hearts. I know that I will never see everything there is to see in our world, but that�s not going to stop me from seeing what I can. your thoughts? seed flower