Yulia Shepel
Dr. L Chen
English 102, A10
15 October 2018
Learning from the World with Catalina Morales
For Catalina Morales, writing is a method of connection with herself, as well as of sharing what she’s learned around the world. Writing played a major role in her rediscovery and re-establishment of herself when she moved to Canada in 2013. Catalina grew up in Colombia, and often blends her English with her Spanish when writing. As seen on her blog, some of her ideas are in English and some are in Spanish, sometimes even a mix of the two. For Catalina, her travel has been a great influencer in the perspective of her writings, mainly sending positive, inspirational, and perceptive messages. Most frequently she expresses this via her blog. Her travels include foreign lands such as Germany, Cuba, Netherlands, Mexico, USA, Belgium, and Argentina. Seeing life in these places has influenced the way she sees the world, and the messages she presents in her writing. Here are some questions about Catalina’s inspiration in writing and the influences of her travels:
What made you decide to start writing and how does it affect your spiritual life?
“Writing has become my spiritual life. I did not decide to start writing; it was something that just happened. It was a way of expression that it just started flowing. It wasn’t long before I discovered myself sitting down for hours with just a pen and paper, or in front of the computer without even eating… It was then when I realize that writing was taking me to another place, and I loved that place.”
In what way did your life path, experiences, and travel influence you?
“Every single trip opens my perspective of the world and humankind more and more. When you travel, you discover not only territories but cultures and traditions, systems of beliefs, priorities, tastes, sounds…
Thanks to my traveling I am more confident that we are all connected, that the concept of migrations and global citizens is not new. Our entire world is a mixture of all of us. “
How do you see the world because of this? In a positive way?
“Yes, I think my attraction to traveling and my willingness to hit the road has allowed me to see the world and humankind with better and more positive eyes.
When I say that we are all connected, I am not talking about genetics and history. I am not talking about a DNA test to discover is composed by an ethnic mix and that we all have distant relatives; or that the great migration eventually led a small group of Africans to occupy even the farthest reach of the Earth. No, what I mean is that thanks to all that, thanks to the hyper connexion the world currently offers and our intrinsic curiosity, we ALL have something in common. We only need to open our minds and hearts to see the multiple threads available to bond with someone.
Would you say it’s enlightening to see that even with the political issues happening; kindness among nations can still be found?
You see, is easy to see how low we have fallen as a race… is no secret that we are at war, that we are getting indolent, that our gregariousness is disappearing and we apparently segregate by default, that we have lost so much focus that we keep giving power to what we hate instead of what we love. However, if go beyond the news and headlines, if you disconnect and go out to connect with flesh and bone people, if you expose yourself to the real world (Not the one we watch through our phones, laptops, and TVs). You will see how there is love in every street, how kindness still rules, how people smile back just because you were willing to start smiling at them, how people give without anything in return, how birds sing just for pleasure and ducks fly with ease.
I could say that traveling and seeing the world beyond my individuality radio allowed me to see that “I” is a collective. Each person is co-creating in this human experience, and that connects us all.”
It’s amazing how our experiences truly shape our outlook on life. I found it very interesting when Catalina shared the idea of a seemingly divided world, being not so divided after all. I personally haven’t had the opportunity to travel to so many fascinating places, but it excites me to hear that all people are just that – people. Even with physical barriers and language barriers we are all connected as being human. And still, amidst the recurring chaos that we hear of in social media happening around the world – the people are still the same, and the same little joys that please us, such as hearing a bird sing, brings the same joy to people around the world. Sometimes we get so caught up in the bigger issues, or our own problems, that we forget to realize that everyone is going through similar things. If we were to just take a step back and allow ourselves to relate to and understand the people around us, those issues would not seem so big after all.