So many times, as humans, we have expectations. Expectations for what our day will be like, how our outfit will lay, the quality of our dinner, the love from our family, or who God is. Then we have more specific expectations that we usually name “goals.” For example, we will say, “I want to lose so much weight by this day.” Or we may say, “By this year, I want to have achieved a certain salary.” We must have goals and expectations to thrive and flourish, without them we would become stagnant. However, by having them, we dive a little deeper into what Plato calls “The Cave.” We become so blinded by these ideas that we have that it becomes impossible to see anything else and we force these ideals to become truths.
This trip has definitely been like that for me. I had no idea what to expect from Italy or from this learning experience. Since, I didn't know what to expect, I made some fairly unfair predictions and set unrealistic goals. Thus, I was brought out of some of my cave, some of them were good to be brought out of, others not so much. For example, I was ecstatic to learn that many Italians can speak at least some English, when I expected them to not be able to do so. However, I was a little disappointed when I was not welcomed with open arms, especially by the Italian women. I thought that I would have plenty of time to grow spiritually and menatally, but on the contrary, I don't have time to get decent sleep. Instead, I am getting to know some amazing people and coming out of the cave that I had placed them in before I even knew them.
Within the first week, I was being dragged out of so many of my caves, that I learned to automatically expect that my conceptions were wrong. The systematic desensitization provided a cushion to prevent culture shock, which turned out to be a great thing. Being thrown into this new environment was so different that I stopped expecting and just went with the flow. I became a pliable piece of clay, allowing change to come freely instead of fighting against it. I think this is what Plato ultimately wants us to achieve, he wants us to not only come out of the cave, but continue to grow and change, to come out of caves everyday. Plato says that once one allows oneself to see the light, once one has big revelation, one never wants to go back. The new eyes should only provide a hunger for more truth and the desire to share the light with others that are still in their caves: “Would he not feel as Homer says, and heartily desire rather to be serf of some landless man on earth and to endure anything in the world, rather than to opine as they did and to live in that way [in the cave]?” (Plato “Allegory of the Cave” from The Republic).
By now, I can hardly remember what I expected from this trip or what I wished to achieve. But I am pretty sure that God had something totally different in mind for me. I am getting to see life in a way that I have never have before. By the time I come home, for six weeks, I won't have: driven a car, had consistent internet, watched TV (at least in English), sent a text message, been on the phone for over 2 minutes, eaten anything microwaved, had air conditioning in my home, used a dryer, been part of a majority, shopped at Wal-Mart, used a US dollar, or hugged my family. Some of these things are great, some are not so much. I thought that being away from these things would turn my focus more towards myself, but instead it has been turned towards others. I am learning so much about myself and what I want to be, by learning about some of the amazing people that I am surrounded by. I couldn't be more happy to be ripped out of my caves and to not achieve what I hoped to. It is probably the best kind of wrong that exists in the world.
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