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Big – Commentary Lesson

Hi, this is Kristin. Welcome back to the commentary for the conversation Big. So in the conversation, AJ and I were talking about, as one of the big things, we were speaking about space, y’know, how we have a lot of space here in the United States in most places. So I thought I would start off the commentary by talking about some other places outside of the United States where I’ve experienced big spaces.

One of those was in Africa and specifically west Africa, as well as north, so it was in Morocco and in Mali. Mali’s in west Africa, Morocco is more northern Africa. So in Morocco, Joe and I were there traveling around and we went to the desert as one of the places that we visited and we rode camels into the desert with a group, y’know, some guides and a few other travelers and spent the night in the desert.

And, y’know, there was nothing around except sand, because we were in the desert, sand dunes, actually. Dunes meaning small hills or they could even be large hills made from the sand. So that, the desert just seemed to go on and on as far as you could see. So it was very expansive. Expansive meaning very big.

And then another experience of a big or a large space, area, was in the desert in Mali. Joe and I were in Mali then, the same trip, we went…we took a boat up the Niger River to then go out…we took the boat up a few days going up the river and went to a town called Timbuktu and stayed a night or two there. And from there we went out into the desert.

And so, again, being out in the desert there was just nothing except us. We actually went out in the desert this time to go to a music festival. So out in the middle of the desert, in the middle of nowhere, was a musical stage set up where bands had come, were coming to perform. And do this festival every year. It’s called Festival of the Desert.

So, again, I can remember as we were going out to where the stage was, and we actually, we weren’t on camels this time, we were in cars, cars that could handle driving in the sand. But I can remember it just going on and on, like the desert seeming like it just, there wasn’t an end to it. It was just going on endlessly.

Also on that trip, I mentioned we took a boat ride up the Niger River and I can remember being on the boat, like I said, we were on the boat for two or three days, I don’t remember. And we would just stop each night and camp near the side of the river. But I can remember being on the boat and looking out and there just being land that just went on into the, y’know, where it looks like the sky meets the land.

So it looked like it was just endless, like it just went forever, like the desert. Because there were no houses, for most of…for a lot of the ride. I mean, sure, we did see some houses but many times when I would look out from the boat, it was just land. And sometimes I’d look up at the sky and just see birds flying, but no houses, no people. Had a very large, expansive feel to it. Remember, I said expansive means really big.

So those are…oh, and also that same trip, in the country of Mali, we…after we went up the Niger River and went into the desert, we then with a guide and a few other travelers, we decided to do some hiking in the area of where there are a particular group of people called the Dogon people. So this was like three or four days, actually we ended up doing it more so it ended up being maybe like five or six days.

We were just hiking each day and then we would spend each night with a different Dogon village. So we would actually sleep, it was so hot there, we would actually sleep on the roof of a village house. And I can remember before falling asleep many of the nights just looking up at the black sky, night sky, with the stars and how, how expansive, how huge the sky seemed.

Because again, we’re staying in these small villages so there’s not a lot of people. It’s not like being in a big city where there’s a lot of lights. So when you’re in a city or an area where there’s a lot of lights from buildings, at night it can cause what we call, what’s called light pollution, so it blocks or can block the stars or what you’re able to see at night.

But because we were out staying in these small villages far away from a city, from where there’s a lot of buildings with lights, y’know, many people, we didn’t have to worry about lights blocking the stars. So it was amazing. It was so beautiful and…

So that also makes me think, too, then of the sky and being in Thailand, going diving and taking a boat out, what’s called a liveaboard, so we would actually stay on the boat, three, four days, so that means we can go far away from land and just stay out in the ocean, stay around small islands is what we did, y’know, to go diving.

But because we’re on the boat for four days, we’re able to go further out into the ocean. So I can remember being on…I’ve done three liveaboards, I think, diving trips, and it’s so nice to be on the boat and be out in the ocean and just looking. You don’t…you might see a small island that you’re near, where you start diving.

But when, actually, before we even get to the island to be able to dive, we’re just out in the middle of nowhere in the ocean and you don’t see any land. No people except the people in the boat. You just see ocean going for miles and miles. And the same with the sky, whether it’s at night or even in the daytime, just the clouds you would see in the daytime just seem like they just go on and on forever, go for miles, like there’s no end to them.

Those are some big space experiences I’ve had in other places other than the United States that I wanted to share. So I also was…that got me thinking how I’ve realized the places in nature, places that you can get to that are far away from cities from where a lot of people are and a lot of noise and lights, y’know, if you can get somewhere in nature and get somewhere that creates this big experience, y’know, being in an area with a big…that’s big, large, expansive, it’s…it’s a wonderful thing.

I like having those experiences because if I’m having, like let’s say I…let’s say I go on a diving trip and I do a liveaboard and I go out and I’ve got something on my mind, something that’s bothering me. I’m having a lot of problems with something. I go out and I do the diving and, y’know, maybe that night on the boat I just look up at the sky and look up at the stars and there just seems like there’s no end to the sky.

It really makes me feel small because what I’m looking at is so big, it helps me to see a bigger picture in life. It makes me realize how small I am and how big this world is and it’s beyond this planet even. It’s just amazing. And when I have this realization of how small I am in relation to how big our planet is, beyond our planet even, it makes me…any problems I’m having, it makes me realize how small those are, too.

And they just don’t matter. It gives me a different perspective on life, a good, healthy perspective. It can help kind of bring me back to my true self and my problems can start to dissolve. I’ve had that happen many times. So I think that that’s, I feel, I love having that experience. I think it’s good, it’s positive.

I meant to say, too, when doing these liveaboards with the diving trip, not only, y’know, do I experience the ocean and how large it is from the surface, from the top of it, from the boat, being on the boat on top of the ocean, but I’ve also had that experience in diving, y’know, being out in the middle of the ocean far away from land.

Maybe I’m near a small island but I can just, I’ve had the experience of looking out into the ocean and it’s just blue, dark blue, and I don’t see an end. It’s kind of scary, actually, being in the ocean diving, y’know, I can be pretty deep when I’m diving and suddenly it’s like, oh my gosh, I’m out in the middle of the ocean and I can’t see where it ends, where it goes. It’s…I don’t know, again, it makes me feel really small and I

just realize the beauty in that. Like I said, it gives me a different perspective. I have a broader, a wider picture of life.

So I was wondering if, where you live, if you have any large spaces close to you. And if so, share those on the Ning site with us. And if not, have you ever been to a really large area? Y’know, somewhere far away from where people are, from where buildings, cities are, somewhere far out in nature. And if you have had that experience or if you have that near where you live and you visit an area like that, how does it make you feel?

Alright, share with us your experiences, your big, big land or water or sky experiences on the Ning site.

Alright, thanks for listening to this commentary, I’ll see you next time. Bye.