Wherever you go there you are

As someone who has spent quite a lot of time in South-East Asia I’ve come across my fair share of people who have headed East both to find themselves and escape themselves.

The phrase wherever you go there you are informs us that we can’t escape our problems simply by relocating. I’m sure there is some truth in this, but I think it underestimates the impact of environment on our being. If someone simply moves to a new location and nothing else changes (ceterus parabus as we used say in A-level economics), then I imagine that all their old problems will remain.

But for someone who is working on themselves I believe that a change of environment/location can be the biggest catalyst in bringing about sustained progress. The tethers that always pulled you back don’t exist in the new location. There’s a freedom, an energy, an impetus that enables you to finally break through and become the new you.