Challenge No. 17 / Who Are Your Heroes?

Someone I would want to switch lives with for one day and why...there are two people I can think of off the top of my head, they are Bruce Parry, an avid adventurer, and Huston Smith, a religious studies scholar. Both of these men are people I consider brilliant, brave, compassionate, adventurous, and philanthropical. There are many reasons I would love to switch lives with them for a day, but the main reason is to simply catch a glimpse of the vast amount of knowledge they have obtained from their experiences.

You may recognize Bruce Parry from the BBC series, Tribe, which also aired on the Discovery Channel (Going Tribal). This man is absolutely amazing. He travels all over the world, living with indigenous peoples, learning from them by participating in their daily lives, practicing their rituals, doing everything that they, themselves do. He is perfectly okay with leaving behind the luxuries of home to experience something different and more importantly, to get to know and love those of other cultures. Bruce Parry has had his nose pierced with a sharpened stick, lived among tribes who still practice cannibalism, even had his nether region inverted by the Kombai--now THAT was painful to watch! His interaction with people, and the love and respect they have for him is heartwarming. I would love to be able to experience culture to this extent. The experiences would most definitely be life changing.

Huston Smith is equally as amazing. Like Bruce has experienced various cultures and ways of life, Huston has learned, lived, and experienced religions from all over the world, such as Sufism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. The following summary of Mr. Smith can be found at: http://www.harpercollins.com/books/Tales-Wonder-Huston-Smith/?isbn=9780061154263:

Smith's life is a story of uncanny synchronicity. He was there for pivotal moments in human history such as the founding of the United Nations and the student uprising at Tiananmen Square. As he traveled the world he encountered thinkers who shaped the twentieth century. He interviewed Eleanor Roosevelt on the radio; invited Martin Luther King Jr. to speak at an all-white university before the March on Washington; shared ideas with Thomas Merton on his last plane ride before Merton's death in Bangkok; and was rescued while lost in the Serengeti by Masai warriors who took him to the compound of world-renowned anthropologists Louis and Mary Leaky.

In search of intellectual and spiritual treasures, Smith traveled to India to meet with Mother Teresa and befriended the Dalai Lama; he studied Zen at the most challenging monastery in Japan; and he hitchhiked through the desert to meet Aldous Huxley, dropped acid with Timothy Leary, and took peyote with a Native American shaman. He climbed Mount Athos, traipsed through the Holy Land, and was the first to study multiphonic chanting by monks in Tibet, which he recorded with Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead. Most important, he shared the world's religions with the West—writing two bestselling books and serving as the focus of a five-part PBS television series by Bill Moyers.

It is a deeply rooted belief of mine that we are meant to learn all we can in this life. By doing so, we grow mentally, physically, and more importantly, spiritually. I only hope to continue doing so in my own life. The experiences I have already encountered have changed my perspective in so many ways. They have given me a love for people that I never before had, and an unshakable understanding that we truly are, brothers and sisters.