The A Team goes for Plan B

The World in colour

I am the A Team. Singularly. When Plan A doesn't work, I invent Plan B. When Plan B doesn't work I look to Plan C and so on and so forth. Plan A was to become an airhostess and travel the world with British Airways - (read my first post to see why). Plan B was to power through drama school and become an actress (I applied to audition for Hermione on Harry Potter - read 'My own little Hogwarts' to see why).  Plan C was to be a teacher, but then I decided I really just didn't want to be. 

I've gone through most career options and zipped through the Alphabet with assorted 'Plans' and reckon I'm back at about Plan B, for the second time around.  Plan B) ii) is to go and see the world. Or at the least leave England which I haven't done in almost 18 months. 

I'm staring at the recently acquired map of the world taking up the entire far wall of my room and it's colourful. Not just because I've graffitied it with my 'already visited' and 'aim to visit' colour-coded stickers, but because the map itself is...colourful. 

Canada for example is Green. I'm not sure why Canada is green, perhaps they have a lot of grass there. Spain is a pale shade of Pink. I'm fairly sure there's no pink in the Spanish flag. The sea is Blue- well, that at least is reassuring. I look at the world map and it's multicoloured, it's diverse, it shows variety which is exactly what the map itself represents; an individuality about its population, a uniqueness about each place.  

When I lived in the USA, my sister and I wrote out a list of all 50 states and we kept it in the car.  Whenever we travelled, and we usually did so on a rather epic scale, we contented ourselves to peer out of the window and scrutinize every car registration plate in order to find one from each state.  They were all different; Alabama (our state) said 'Heart of Dixie' and had pink flowers and blue writing.  I don't remember the others so well. But it was fundamentally a task of completion, a small substitution for actually visiting EVERY state.  We completed it during our final few months, with Alaska being the final, devilishly elusive state.  (Apparently no-one on the Interstate was ever from Alaska.) 

My point is (I have slightly digressed here) that seeing the world is for me the ultimate goal of completion. To see what exists to be seen and to be lived; not to take our planet for granted but to recognize that it provides a spectrum of differences, although fundamentally united by similarities.  It would take a lifetime to go everywhere, but we can all aim high.  I will probably not see the entire world, but I shall endeavour to get a glimpse of it if I can. 

Japan in our thoughts

I've got to admit, before today I was completely in the dark about the tragedies that have been tearing through Japan's coastal regions over the last few days.  I was elsewhere doing irrelevant things and hadn't bothered to watch the news.  Today I read on the BBC that the consequences of the earthquake and tsunami will result in a loss of life that has not be reached since Japan's WWII involvement and the death toll  is predicted to reach 10,000 in single areas alone.  It was just over six years ago that the countries fringing the Indian Ocean were hit by a series of earthquakes, which produced tidal waves of enormous capability and shocked and horrified the world.  It's an unimaginable case of dejavu, with footage once again showing people fleeing from rapidly approaching walls of water, cars desperately trying to outdrive the full force of the ocean and everything from buildings, boats and vehicles being swept along as the water literally surged inland.  

From my computer, it was surreal to acknowledge the people in cars as actual people, that the heartbreak and loss of life that literally unfolded before my eyes was every bit genuine footage.  In an attempt to pass the blame, I feel angry at the film industry for the part it plays in immunizing society from the shock of real disasters and for the momentary disbelief that I felt when I watched the footage.  It is a horrible horrible thing that has happened to Japan and the only consolation we can take is that some were able to evacuate the area beforehand.  To those left behind, hopefully aid will come in abundance from any countries or individuals that are able to give.  I hope we can all keep praying for those that are suffering, who have lost homes and families and have the mammoth task and responsibility of rebuilding their lives. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12725485
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698