The easiest way to know the world and to know Mississippi is thru journey.

Earlier this yr, I sat in a darkened movie show on the island of Bali within the nation of Indonesia. I used to be watching the Oscar nominated film “Elvis.” A boy from Mississippi, midway around the globe, watching a film a few boy from Mississippi who modified the world. On the finish of the movie the Indonesian viewers did one thing that isn’t frequent in America, the viewers stood and cheered. By watching the movie, did that largely Hindu viewers come to know one thing about a spot like Mississippi?

William Faulkner is reported to have stated, “To know the world, you could first perceive a spot like Mississippi.” Certainly, Mississippi is a state of nice magnificence and expertise, steeped in historical past and tradition. Wealthy and poor, black and white, rural and concrete, all come collectively to name Mississippi “house”.

Mississippi can be a state of nice range and contrasts. Training ranges and literacy charges are under the nationwide common, but Mississippi produces an abundance of nice writers and students. Poverty charges are excessive and well being care is substandard, but Mississippi produces among the world’s best athletes.

So, if one can perceive Mississippi, a spot of such complexity and surprise, of range and contrasts, then one may actually have the ability to perceive the world. However, one other query stays, how does the world perceive a spot like Mississippi?

The world has gotten to find out about Mississippi by means of our story tellers and writers, our actors and athletes, our singers and songwriters, our legislators and ambassadors. When the world hears Elvis Presley, B.B. King, Jimmy Buffett, Religion Hill, Charley Pleasure or Tammy Wynette they hear Mississippi. When the world reads a ebook by Walker Percy, Eudora Welty, Richard Wright, Margaret Walker, Willie Morris, or John Grisham, they’re studying about Mississippi. When the world experiences a Tennessee Williams play or a efficiency by Morgan Freeman, James Earl Jones, or Oprah Winfrey, they expertise a little bit of Mississippi.

Nevertheless, one of the best ways for the world to know Mississippi, and for Mississippians to know the world is far more private. The easiest way for individuals to know one another is after we meet one another, after we share experiences, and after we find out about one another. 

In brief, one of the best ways to know the world and to know Mississippi is thru journey. Whether or not or not it’s vacationers visiting Mississippi or Mississippians touring the world, we find out about one another and we come to know one another after we journey. Once I traveled to Bali, I realized issues that I by no means may have realized in Mississippi.

However, by touring to Bali, I feel that the Indonesians who met me additionally realized somewhat about Mississippi. I advised tales of house, of meals, of music, and about on a regular basis life. I shared meals, attended ceremonies, visited properties, shopped, performed tennis, and listened to music. I realized concerning the individuals of Bali, and the individuals of Bali realized about me.

I used to be born and raised on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, I used to be educated in Oxford, and I lived and labored in Madison and Jackson. My political profession and my jobs have taken me to each nook of Mississippi. I’ve traveled the main highways, town streets, and the nation roads. I do know Mississippi.

I’ve additionally been to almost each state in the US and I’ve traveled to over fifty nations around the globe. Whether or not its Biloxi or Batesville, Boston or Baton Rouge, Bali, the Bahamas, or Botswana I’ve been there. 

My experiences have given me tales to inform, tricks to share, and hopefully, inspiration to unfold. Whether or not it’s suggestions for the perfect burgers in Bay Saint Louis, boots and backpacks for Badlands Nationwide Park, or boating in Burano, Italy, I’ve expertise, data, and recommendation.

My objective is to encourage my fellow Mississippians to journey extra, and to provide others a cause to return to Mississippi. Journey is how we perceive the world, and it’s how the world understands us. Journey lets us meet individuals we might not usually meet in our every day lives of labor, house, church, and college. Journey reveals us that we’re extra alike than we’re completely different.

Mark Twain stated that “journey is deadly to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and plenty of of our individuals want it sorely on these accounts. Broad, healthful, charitable views of males and issues can’t be acquired by vegetating in a single little nook of the earth all one’s lifetime.”

As a smart man as soon as stated, “journey leaves you speechless, after which turns you right into a storyteller.”  Having traveled Mississippi, America, and the world, I now have tales to inform. I want to invite you to return alongside on my journeys and I want to let you know my tales. In spite of everything, to know the world, you could first perceive a spot like Mississippi.