over the ocean

Sunday afternoon I said goodbye to a friend who was about to head out to Europe to pursue a carreer in international law. This morning I said bye to a friend leaving to start med school. Right now I am somewhere over the Atlantic, about to teach English to some kids in Morocco. It is an odd sight, but special and very fitting to see dreamers chase after dreams.

This little adventure of ours started with a thought, or a feeling, to fly some Pulse students overseas to serve somewhere different and far. Then Tim said to me, "I want to go to Africa, but not to Kenya. Everyone goes to Kenya." So I looked up at my old map of Africa and said, "Morocco?" Nearly six months later six of us are headed there.

This is the wage of dreamers. Without dreams, people would not cross oceans to change the world, teachers would not inspire, and heroes would turn away from adversity. You might see it as irresponsible, but this sad, dying world cannot change if you don't dream of change, and be abandoned to those dreams. It is painful to say goodbye to certain comforts, like friends, or carreer plans, or a nice car, but there is a treasure that everyone can share.

jdh