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"Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup. 
They slither while they pass, they slip away across the universe. 
Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my opened mind, 
possessing and caressing me. 

Nothing's going to change my world 
Nothing's going to change my world 
Nothing's going to change my world
 
Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes. 
They call me on and on across the universe. 
Thoughts meander like the restless wind inside a letterbox. 
They tumble blinding as they make their way across the universe." 

– Fiona Apple, "Across the Universe"

Mr. Toad's Wild and Naked Ride

Tctraynor
2005-11-04 21:34:56

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let's go get a fair few pints of Kilkenny and a plate of hot chips. Cheers, mate, and look out for rabbits. Rock on, Tony, you are the champion and a good mate.

The Striptease Revisited

I haven't updated my Striptease articles lately because I realized that it isn't the clothes that make the Buddha, but rather his attachments to possessions and events. Strip anything defined and be free! But the clothes are a good start and symbolic for something more. As of now, with 2 weeks left, I have 2 sweatpants, one pair of shorts, 2 socks, 3 pair of underwear, 1 pair of shoes (that are killing me!), 3 shirts, 1 hooded sweatshirt and one windcheater. I am almost naked, I am the Toad, I am the Buddha – koo-koo-koo-ka-choo.

The clothes have been easy to strip. However, I'm still very much attached to Australia.

Stories I Tell

Don't give me answers or I would refuse.

'Yes' is an answer for which I have no use.

I wasn't looking for heaven or hell,

Just someone to listen the stories I tell.

What is a blessing and what is a dream?

Caught between portraits and none's what it seems.

And why is it people expect there is a change

When I feel a part of something I can't see.

I feel the same.

– Toad the Wet Sprocket, "Stories I Tell"

I had the question posed to me during my interview: "How has traveling in Australia changed you?" I have been giving that some thought for a while, so I had an answer at-hand. The answer is, it hasn't. Except for a few bad haircuts, on the inside I feel the same. I was really hoping for an epiphany when I first arrived in Australia; some change that would give me a clear direction.

I do have a better understanding of what it means to be Todd. I guess you can call that an epiphany. But I always correlate "epiphany" with change, and I haven't changed. I am still the same guy who has been signing his name Todd to these travelogues for the past 5 months. Scribo ergo sum: I write therefore I am.

I think I cam sum up my new understanding of what it means to be Todd with the following short list:

* Never judge people.

I assumed I would have very little in common with The Great Unwashed. I was wrong. When I stopped looking at our differences and rather concentrated on our commonalities, I understood. We are all the same. What it means to be human is the same in America, England, Zimbabwe or Afghanistan. Thank you, Tony, Tristan, Lou and Adam. You guys rock!

* Don't define anything.

I am not my passport, my addictions, my moods, my occupation, my clothes, etc. We are all Buddhas.

* Be present.

I am learning to take whatever life gives me. I am trying not to wish for something that is past or something yet to come. The gloriousness of the present is missed if my ego is elsewhere. The present is all we ever had or will ever have. Enjoy the hell out of it! Because it is over way too soon. The journey means everything to me.

Thanks to all the people I have met along the way (especially thanks to Jon and Carina and all the people who e-mailed me along my journey), thanks to all the animals (especially all those Bills) and thanks to the one-of-a-kind Australian scenery. It was a great ride. And thank you for listening to the stories I tell.

I might be the same person, but you all have widened and enhanced my world.

And now, I take my bow and make my way with contented reflectiveness across the universe.