My friend Dave is an old college buddy, a cool dude and a world traveller. He’s traveled all over southern Europe and parts of northern Africa. Now he’s in South America taking in all he can. Life isn’t all about the money. Here’s his latest from Colombia.

Happy Holidays From South America

family, friends, countrymen…

Hello, how are things?

Cool?

I wanted to send a greeting while I had a quick minute on the internet.
Hope everything is going well back home and that your finding an
abundance of smiles on your face this holiday season.

Ive been traveling the past 3 months, starting in the South of Peru
and making my way all the way to Colombia…all by bus.
And due to the circumstances, Ive lost track of time, current event, and season. However, I didnt want to pass up the opportunity to say hello and hope everything is going well.

Im currently in Colombia in the valley of Cauca
Ive been traveling the past 7 days with a group of storytellers and a group of newfound friends who are part of a theater group.
Really talented clan of youths.
i have a new respect for juggling, stick twirling, monocycling, hackey sacking, and all other forms of art that involve corporal concentration.

We participated in a festival called Canciones Urgentes in the city of Sevilla.
Its been cool and a new learning experience…
Colombians have a rich culture in music and storytelling…
people around here can go hours and hours telling stories…some myths, some fables, etc. ive been on a diet of empanadas, colombian coffee, and chicken pastels everyday and having to walk up a mountain late at night to sleep in a nice wooden cabin with no water. The view in the morning has been excellent though, and its been kinda fun collecting water from the rain to drink and brush our teeth.

The event had different musical acts for 3 days as a way to collect new toys and funding for the impoverished kids of the city who wouldn´t have received anything for christmas.
We were the only theater group.
We were clowns for 3 days, red noses and all… Visiting nursing homes and foundations for special children and running around the streets animating the people of the pueblo. We had a show the would have culminated all our work but our time slot had been pushed back so much that we couldnt perforom in the end. It was a really nice story we were going to perform..

What else can I say… I have to catch a bus soon. Just some quick thoughts that I´ve put down throughout my travels:

You´ve got to live outside your comfort zone sometimes.

Eat slower. Walk slower.

Life is just a moment.

I can´t think of anything else with this loud music playing. Take care.
Love, dave

你爱的是春天
by Sándor Petőfi (1823-1849)

你爱的是春天，
我爱的是秋季，
秋季正和我相似，
春天却正象是你。

你的红红的脸：
是春天的玫瑰，
我的疲倦的眼光：
秋天太阳的光辉。

假如我向前一步，
再跨一步向前，
那时，我就站到了
冬日寒冷的门边。

可是，我假如退后一步
你又跳一步向前，
那，我们就一同住在
美丽的、热烈的夏天

i’m just trying to keep the leaves from falling…
damn, 很消極的.

Youth
by Samuel Ullman (1840–1924)

Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.

Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of 60 more than a boy of 20. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.

Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spring back to dust.

Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being’s heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing childlike appetite of what’s next and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station: so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the Infinite, so long are you young.

When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at 20, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at 80.

青春

青春不是指岁月，而是指心态。粉嫩的脸，红润的唇，矫健的膝并不是青春。青春表现在意志的坚强与懦弱。想象的丰富与苍白、情感的充沛与贫乏等方面。青春是生命深处清泉的喷涌。

青春是追求。只有当勇气盖过怯弱、进取压倒苟安之时，青春才存在。果如此，则60见之长者比20岁之少年更具青春活力。仅仅岁月的流逝并不能使他们衰老。而一旦抛弃理想和信念，则垂垂老也。

岁月只能使皮肤起皱。而一旦丧失生活的激情，则连灵魂枯老，使人生枯如死水，毫无活力。

60岁长者也好，16岁少年也罢，每个人的内心深处都渴望奇迹，都如孩子一般眨着期待的双眼，期待着下一次，期待着生活的情趣，你我灵魂深处都有一座无线电中转站——只有你我年轻，则总能听到希望的呼唤，总能发出喜悦的欢呼，总能传达勇气的讯号，总能表现出青春的活力………

一旦青春的天线倒下，你的灵魂即为玩世不恭之雪、悲观厌世之冰覆盖；即使你年方20.其实你已垂垂老也。而只要你青春的天线高高耸起，就可以随时接收到乐观的电波—–即使你年过八旬，行将就木，而你却仍然拥有青春，你仍然年轻。

青春

青春とは人生の一時期のことではなく心のあり方のことだ。
若くあるためには、創造力・強い意志・情熱・勇気が必要であり、
安・易（やすき）に就こうとする自らを戒め、冒険する心を忘れてはならない。
人間は年齢（とし）を重ねた時老いるのではない。理想をなくした時老いるのである。
歳月は人間の皮膚に皺を刻む
が情熱の消失は心に皺を作る。
悩みや疑い・不安や恐怖・失望、これらのものこそ若さを消滅させ、
雲ひとつない空のような心をだいなしにしてしまう元凶である。
六十歳になろうと十六歳であろうと人間は、驚きへの憧憬・夜空に輝く星座の
煌きにも似た事象や思想に対する敬愛・何かに挑戦する心・子供のような探究心・
人生の喜びとそれに対する興味を変わらず胸に抱くことができる。
人間は信念とともに若くあり、疑念とともに老いる。自信とともに若くあり、恐怖とともに老いる。
希望ある限り人間は若く、失望とともに老いるのである。
自然や神仏や他者から、美しさや喜び・勇気や力などを感じ取ることができる限り、
その人は若いのだ。
感性を失い、心が皮肉に被われ、嘆きや悲しみに閉ざされる時、人間は真に老いるのである。
そのような人は神様のあわれみを乞うしかない。

“Meditation burns away the illusions that keep us unhappy.”

- Franz Metcalf

《妈妈, 雨后松树上的钻石闪闪发亮..》

My Chinese teacher once told me about her daughter and how she’s got a knack for words. One day after it rained, she told her mom that the raindrops on the pine trees looked like sparkling diamonds.