People are Chameleons

A business man learns to walk a little faster in NYC, an immigrant learns to layer up during the cold northern winters and a child learns to speak a new language in a foreign country. These are adaptations humans undergo to fit better to their new environment; survival of the fittest says only those who can adapt will survive and therefore it's a natural concept.

Being out of your comfort zone teaches you little things about who you are. We are influenced by our surroundings and more than often changed by them, just as a chameleon. I was taught to always be myself, no matter where or with who. But what if this change brings out the better you? Is that changing who you are?

During El Camino I met great people, as if I haven't said it enough. And to be great in one place should mean you're great in all places! Or so I thought. I recently met up with an "old friend" from El Camino and I was extremely disappointed. How could someone that was so positive, happy and open to life be so rotten spoiled and pessimistic? Just 5 days had passed. The important life lessons he taught me, I couldn't find anywhere in this stranger I saw in front of me.

We all learn from one another; good and bad. This rapid negative change opened my eyes to the way I act when I am put in different situations. I say this because after one day with this friend, I began to notice who he really was outside of El Camino. It wasn't that he changed in those 5 days, it's that he was like that all along and the camino brought out another person in him. A great person. Once he stepped back into his normal life he was back to the old guy.

Adapting is necessary and sometimes a healthy environment such as El Camino can help you be the best you can be. I think the most upsetting part of this story is that he could have gone back home to continue being an amazing, inspiring person but didn't see it and was soon shaped back into the guy society had formed before El Camino.

This picture, total coincidence, was taken today in El Parque Guell, Barcelona. It's a beautiful park full of art by my new favourite artist and architect, Antoni Gaudí.