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The Perfect Day
From the moment I stepped off the plane in Cambodia I felt as if I was at home. The people were beyond friendly, the food was amazing, everyone would flash us huge grins and smiles, even the drunks fighting out on the street at 2am fought lovingly- I didn’t want to leave. And while the locations of the walls we had to paint on were planned in advance (we were given instructions that the only images that would not be tolerated were skulls or images of death, which we respected, even though half the artists in the group love painting skulls), we had no plans what was going to be painted until we got there. I’ve worked as an investigative journalist with the Emmy award winning VICE / HBO team, where we rigorously fact check all our stories to uncover the truth. However, this trip to Cambodia was not a news trip, we were there strictly to spread the message of love, light, beauty, joy, free expression and creativity. I didn't realize how many millions of musicians, artists, writers and creative people had been murdered in the Cambodian genocide, so I wanted to bring the best artists in the world to Cambodia, a country that has virtually no murals or street art. Our goal, working through the #IglooHong Foundation, was simple: to spread some light, joy and beauty to a country with such a dark past.
I will admit, I try to stay purposefully ignorant about the history, politics, and current events of most places I visit. Ever since I started hitchhiking all over the planet in my teens, I would rather get an oral history from the people I met travelling instead of reading about it on my phone or in a book- it's infinitely more interesting to me that way. It’s been a lifelong journey and fight to stay present, to live in the moment without holding onto old grievances, revenge, or getting stuck replaying histories I cannot change. It never made sense to me that a 20-year-old kid should be burdened with a past created by their grandparents. I’m looking to shape and share the love now, in the moment, instead of trying to find a reason to repeat a cycle of anger, hate and trauma. To not live in fear. To live in the now and the present. We all have a past, sure, but can’t we look beyond that and see the today that surrounds us without judgment? It’s asking these questions and thinking this way that has allowed me to take stunning vacations on the Gaza Strip, with beautiful beaches all to myself and only calamari strips and licorice wine to keep me company. Ignorance is bliss, but so is staying present. It’s about freeing your vision to allow you to see the beauty in the imperfections around you, and every once in awhile those imperfections culminate into a perfect day.
(Continued HERE)