Enlightenment. Unattainable? Perhaps. A word in which a single definition is impossible. Is eight years of higher education and a PhD required in order to consider oneself enlightened, or is this clarification of the mind found elsewhere. Personally, I have yet to find, or even come to terms with what the true meaning is of this elusive concept, of which I so greatly desire. Someone once said “The more I travel, the less I know,” which is similar to the idea that the more one learns, the less one knows. I, like most people who heard these expressions for the first time, was a little puzzled. But when I heard this quote a few years later, it finally struck me as being completely logical. Because the more a person sees, the more that person realizes is out there to be discovered, and as one continues to learn, the more one comes across unopened doors that they desire to open. Is it possible to see and know everything? Of course not. If it was, then there would be nothing to live for. Knowing that every day brings the opportunity of seeing or learning something new is what makes living worthwhile. It is my personal goal to see and learn as much in my lifetime as humanly possible.

One person whom I believe has a leg up on me is Matt Harding. I first learned of Matt only a few weeks ago, which apparently I've been out of the loop because well over 75 million people around the world have watched his YouTube video. Matt is a video game designer from Connecticut. He quit the video game business during the production of the video game Destroy all Humans, and began to travel the world. With absolutely no intention of becoming a world-renown Internet celebrity, Matt videotaped himself in Vietnam performing his signature dance. He posted the video on his website for his family to enjoy, and later in 2005, composed a video of 15 different scenes. The video was passed by email until it became viral, and so ensued the beginning of Matt's fame. He created two more videos, the last one being in 2008. He has created a website, www.wherethehellismatt.com, which has additional information, and videos. The coolest thing about the site, is that it allows you to see where Matt is going to be, so you can join him in his video when he's in your home town, and give your best shot at mirroring his unique dance. You can also write to Matt, and ask him to come to your city. He then checks to see which city has the most petitions, and goes there. Matt has also written an entertaining book documenting his travels around the world, containing tons of pictures that nearly makes it impossible not to envy Matt for the beautiful people and places he has seen.

If you enjoy the beautiful voice of the singer in the 2008 video, you can buy the song at www.amazon.com. The album is called Praan. The lyrics are based on a moving Indian poem written by a Nobel-Prize-winning-Indian author named Rabindranath Tagore. Although not a word-for-word translation, the songs lyrics are more than fitting. I will let them speak for themselves.

I will not easily forget
The life that stirs in my soul
Hidden amidst Death
That infinite Life

I hear you in the thunder
A simple tune
A tune to which I will arise (3x)

And in that storm of happiness
As your music plays in your mind
The whole wide world
Dances to your rhythm

I hear you in the thunder
A simple tune
A tune to which I will arise (3x

For those who have not seen his videos, they show multiple clips of Matt in over 62 countries performing his simple, yet hard to imitate, dance. In his first videos, Matt simply dances in front of multiple stunning landscapes, and notable landmarks. But as the videos went on, Matt realized that he was leaving out the most beautiful part of the places he visited, the people. With the combination of the beautiful background music, Matt's goofy looking dance, and the hundreds of strangers around the world joining together to enjoy a common activity, it's almost impossible not to smile while watching this video. If it fails to make you smile, I doubt it will faultier in making you think. So many parts of the world are at war with each other, and everyone is always ready to pass judgment on this race or that religion, without looking at the many ways in which we are all very much alike, both in our strengths and in our many flaws. At the very least this video should remind you just how small and inconvenient you are in this beautiful world in which we all live. You may have noticed my overuse of the word beautiful through out this blog, but that's exactly what this video is, beautiful.