Saturday, 11 October 2014

My dilemma with meeting good people.

One of the main reasons for my current journey around North America is meeting people. Not just any people, either: I'm looking to meet good people. What do I mean by "good people"?
Well, my intent is to get to know people whose values align with mine, people who are empathic, generous, open, and those who exhibit kindness towards others.

The ways in which I do this are in part intentional and in part accidental. Wherever I go, I try to connect with certain people on couchsurfing.org, and I'm starting to look into other similar networks such as mealsharing.com and meetup.com. I look for a particular type of person when I attempt these connections, and the criteria are often those I've mentioned above.
The incidental way in which I meet good people happens, well...incidentally. For example, through a job I picked up in the past week I got to meet Matt, who works at a metal shop, and he introduced me to his wife Christiana. They are a wonderful couple who have traveled and volunteered in developing countries and thus have an increased empathy and a broad outlook on life and the world, which in many ways match my own.
While looking for ways to earn money in Denver, I ended up texting with Kate, who had advertised for someone to help her move her bed to her new apartment. We ended up going for supper together at a vegan restaurant and I had a wonderful time getting to know her and her perspectives.

In theory, then, the longer I stay in one place, the more "good people" I will meet. This was the case in Edmonton, where I spent seven years. I met people from all walks of life thanks to my varied pastimes, studies, and jobs, and I came away with a diverse network of friends and acquaintances, some of whom I will keep close to my heart for the rest of my life.

Herein lies my dilemma, then: According to the theory mentioned above, if I want to meet more good people, I should stay in one place longer. At the same time, there are good people everywhere, so I could be in any city in the world and still meet good people. How do I find a balance between staying and going?

At the moment I am impelled by my drive to continue on my journey and thus to go from place to place and in each one to establish quality connections and relationships whenever possible. Each time this happens, however, it makes me wonder if one more day would bring one more meaningful connection, one more wonderful human being, into my life.

I suppose that as long as I am engaged in this perambulation, the answer to the dilemma is fairly straightforward, but as a thought exercise it is still perplexing.

Another question which arises from this discourse is whether there is a limit to "good people" in any one place. If I base this group on a certain set of criteria then logically there must be a limit to this number. Without going into an impossible mathematical calculation then, it seems that traveling in pursuit of a dispersed network of qualified individuals is the better solution, at least when it comes to the optimization of my time which, given my limited years, is a necessity.

So, with all this in mind, I prepare to spend my last day in Denver before heading west to Moab, Utah, where I hope to make a strong connection with one of my biggest inspirations, Daniel Suelo.

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