My Tenth Subscriber

Yesterday I got my tenth subscriber. I really love investigating my subscribers blogs and discovering who wants to listen to what I have to say but my tenth subscriber  particularly thrilled me, as his blog took me into a whole new world. The Singaporean Army. It  had reminded me of the journey I had sought to embark upon at his age. Here he writes about his struggles learning to sing

When I was eighteen I had believed that I had nothing to write about. I profoundly admire any young person who finds the courage to speak to the world in this way. It was one of the reasons I had begun to travel the world. The main reason I had begun my travels however, had been to see things for myself. I grew up in Cold War Europe. In those days we did not have internet to investigate our world but we did have shortwave radio and I had absolutely loved it. I used to tune in enthusiastically to Radio Moscow and Radio Tirana and other such Eastern European channels. At the time I had found it both interesting and amusing, as it was clearly propaganda, even to my untrained ears.

This had taught me a healthy skepticism towards things I heard or read. Even now when I read things at the back of my mind, I remember these early encounters with blatant propaganda and my first thought when I read anything is,

“What are they trying to make me believe?”

Since then I have indeed been fortunate enough to see the world for myself.  I have touched every continent except the Arctic and Antarctic (they are still on my list) and I have been able to formulate my own views. Yes, seeking truth has taken me down some dark and very uncomfortable alleyways but in the end, is that not what life is about?

Living in our own comfort zone, hearing only what we want to hear, is I believe, extremely unhealthy. For me life is about learning and growing and I want to thank the young man whose blog I read yesterday for having had the courage to share his story, for renewing my inspiration and teaching me something new and unexpected.