Life is filled with experiences and encounters that can alter the way we process the world every day. Everyone’s experiences are their own; never will two different people absorb the same experience the same way. The Truman show is a film that explores the boundaries of perception, and how easily people will accept the reality of the world they are presented. At an early age I began to question a lot of things, not speaking until I was 3 and a half years old it can be said my parents were worried. Growing up seemed like ages ago, when I think back on my child hood it seems almost like a blur, up until a certain point in my life where the way I viewed the world drastically changed. For me things didn’t change all at once, it was a series of events which led to my new way of thinking.
March of 2007, was my first out of country travel experience. I went to a place called Tulum in Mexico, south on the Yucatan peninsula. A place with not to many of the same privileges I had a home in New York was definitely an eye opening experience. Traveling with my mother, brother, and step father, we didn’t check into a fancy hotel, we quite literally spent 3 weeks in a bungalow 10- 15 ft, less than 50 yards from the beach. The town that we were staying in wasn’t one to popular with tourist; it seemed to be a remote spot known by a few keen travelers. We spent our days going back and forth to town, and exploring the surrounding areas. The part of Mexico we were in was known for their cenotes, beautiful lime stone caverns underground and above, filled with cool fresh water and fish and creatures I was quite aware of at the time. We saw a few of these caves in our stay; one cave in particular played a vital role in my own life changing experience. The cavern I was in was half underground and half outside, as I swam about I noticed while I was underwater light shining through the water, but when I lifted my head all I saw was a rock wall. So I went under and swam about 8 or 10 yards and rose up through the light, it was a cut of section of the cave only accessible by swimming underwater. As I sat there alone I had an epiphany concerning my reality, and just how much I didn’t know, and how much more was still out there waiting to be discovered.
The caves were just one part of my perception changing trip to the Yucatan. The icing on the cake, or more so major turning point happened much later in my trip. The trip itself I can write about for days, but I digress. On one of my last night’s I went for a walk down the beach, being almost 2 o’clock in the morning I didn’t have much company. There was no moon out that night, it was the darkest I had ever seen the world, the only light I had was from distant stars as it broke in the waves. Being an astronomy fanatic for as far back as I can remember, seeing the night sky with no ambient light, no moon to clout my vision, I was able to see the sky in a way I’ve never experienced before, I was able to see stars, clusters, cosmic dust, all with just my own eyes. I remember pulling up a chair and sitting on the beach, telling myself to take a mental picture and not to forget this. Still to this day I don’t know how long I sat there looking up. I woke up to crashing waves the same chair I had passed out on. It wasn’t until I was sitting on the plane back to the states that I started to put the pieces together, confined to my chair and my Ipod, All I remember was smiling as I reminisced about my time in Mexico, and I felt lucky being able to come back home with all my new experiences.
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