The most beautiful bus stop in the world?...Najljepša autobusna stranica na svijetu?

Meaning only exists within a context. Words taken out of context lose their meaning, don't they? Is waiting for the bus something that fills you with anxiety? Well, most people would tend to agree that a bus stop as such can be a great source of irritation depending on how much time you spend on it. Imagine for a moment that you’re waiting a bus. You have been waiting for it for an half an hour. You’re getting angry. You are feeling frustrated. Perhaps you’re even swearing (not out loud I hope). Now, imagine you have been suddenly transported onto this bus stop. Yes, the one you see in this first photo. This amazingly beautiful bus stop that is located in city Starigrad’s port on Island Hvar, Croatia. How do you feel now? Do you feel better?  Ok, let’s also assume you know a way to get teleported here or something so you’re not terribly shocked at the change of destination but very relieved by it. You’re on another bus stop but now you don’t care will the bus be late or not, you don’t care because you’re on vacation and you want to take it all in and if you spend additional 30 minutes waiting for the bus, it’s all good because you have never seen this island and you’re starting to feel like it is one of those places that deserve its hype. How will you feel? Probably more relaxed because of the beauty surrounding you. Your eyes will wonder; your mind will instantly feel more at peace. For our senses have a certain effect on us. Now imagine someone else is sitting next to you. He seems very agitated and you for the life of you can’t understand what is wrong with this person. Can’t he see the beach behind, isn’t he mesmerized by the waves gently touching the shore? 'What is his problem?', you may wonder.  Well, maybe he is there looking for you, yes you the tourist in this story. Maybe the bus broke down or something and now he has to come to pick you up himself. He isn’t even sure what you look like ,  the travel agency gave him an invalid phone number and there are so many tourists everywhere, so yes he is quite stressed at the moment.

Značenje postoji samo unutar konteksta. Riječi izvađenje iz konteksta gube svoje značenje, zar ne? Je li čekanje autobusa nešto što vas ispunjava anksioznošću? Većina se ljudi zapravo slaže da autobusna stanica može biti izvor velike iritacije ovisno o tome koliko vremena provedete na njoj. Zamislite na trenutak da čekate autobus na autobusnoj postaji. Čekate ga već pola sata. Ljutite se i počinjete se osjećati frustrirano. Možda čak i psujete (ne na glas nadam se). Sada, zamislite da su vas odjednom prebaciti na ovu autobusnu postaju. Da, ovu koju vidite na mojoj prvoj fotografiji. Ovu nevjerojatno lijepu autobusnu postaju koja je smještena u Starigradskoj luci na otoku Hvaru u Hrvatskoj. Kako se osjećate? Osjećate li se bolje? Dobro, pretpostavimo i to da znate neki način teleportacije ili nešto slično, pa niste užasno šokirani naglom promjenom odredišta već osjećate olakšanje. Na drugoj ste autobusnoj stanici ,ali sada vas nije briga jer ste na odmoru pa to što autobus kasni pola sata nije neki problem, sve je u redu, jer želite sve dobro upiti,  nikad prije niste bili na ovom otoku i počinjete osjećati da je to jedno od onih mjesta koja zaslužuju razvikanost. Kako ćete se osjećati ? Sigurno opuštenije zbog ljepote  koja vas okružuje. Vaše će oči lutati, vaš će um odmah biti smireniji. Jer naša osjetila imaju određeni efekt na nas. Sada zamislite da netko drugi sjedi pored vas. Čini se jako uzrujan i vama nikako nije jasno što nije u redu s tom osobom. Zar ne vidi plažu iza? Zar nije očaran valovima koji nježno dodiruju obalu? "Koji je njegov problem?", možete se pitati.  Pa, možda je on tu jer traži vas, da vas koji ste turist u ovoj priči. Možda se autobus pokvario ili nešto tako i sada vas mora on pokupiti, a nije siguran kako izgledate, putnička agencija mu je dala nepostojeći broj, a sve je krcato turistima i sada je poprilično pod stresom.

 So, it is not really about the bus stop. Even if it is the most beautiful bus stop in the world. It is about context. Before you were (magically) transported onto this spot from which you can enjoy such a stunning view, you were stressed too. Because you felt like waiting for a bus on the same old stop is a horrible loss of time. Just like this stressed like next to you feels now (in this story I prepared for you)... As you can see it is not really about location, even if location makes us feel like we’re in paradise, you must remember that it all stars with you. The location feels that way because of the way outside factors have a way or reminding our soul of what it is capable of. For to be moved by something you need to develop capacity to be moved. It is not easy because it requires making yourself vulnerable. You must give up being a cynic, you must give up scepticisms, you must believe that there is more to being human than just following the herd. It is easy to get frighten, but if you want to develop your capacity to feel, you develop the habit to think with your own head. You must learn to question your choices; you must be open about your lack of courage in embracing what life has to offer. For life is all about context. Paradise is often just a state of mind. Because it really wasn’t about the beauty, about the marvellous nature that surrounds you, it is not about Croatia (as pretty as our country may be) or anything like that. This feel of ease you may experienced is connected with great many things and factors, one of them being about taking a break from your life. That is what we all need sometimes. To take a break from it all. It doesn’t mean you dislike your life.  I mean if the bus is late and you’re going to be late for your job, it’s normal to be stressed. It can mean you care about your job or whatever you set to accomplish that day. Feeling stressed doesn’t make you a bad person. TRUST me on this, we all feel stressed at times. Even those of us that seem to always have it together (WE DON’T!). 

Tako da se zapravo uopće ne radi o autobusnoj stanici.. Čak i ako je to najljepša autobusna stranica na svijetu. Radi se o kontekstu. Prije nego što su vas čarobno prebacili na ovu stranicu s koje možete uživati u tako čarobnom pogledu i vi ste bili pod stresom. Kao i čovjek koji (u priči koju sam pripremila) sjedi do vas. Kao što vidite, uopće se ne radi o mjestu, čak i ako je mjesto takvo da se čini kao raj, morate se sjetiti da sve kreće od vas. Čini se takvim zbog načina na koji vanjski faktori imaju sposobnost da nas posjete na ono na što je naša duša sposobna. Jer da biste bili dirnuti, morate razvijati sposobnost za to, morate razvijati osjetljivost. Nije to lako jer sebe morate učiniti ranjivom i ranjivim. Morate prestati biti cinik, morate se odreći skepticizma, morate vjerovati da  biti ljudsko biće nudi više od praćenja krda. Lako se je prepasti, no želite li razviti svoju sposobnost za osjećanjem, morate razviti naviku mišljenja svojom glavom. Morate se naučiti propitivati svoje izbore; morate biti otvoreni o vašem manjku hrabrosti da iskoristite sve ono što život nudi. Jer u životu kontekst je jako bitan. Raj je često samo stanje svijesti. Naime, ovdje se zapravo nije  ni radilo o ljepoti, o ovoj prekrasnoj prirodi koja vas je okruživala, o Hrvatskoj (pa koliko lijepa bila ova naša zemlja) ili o bilo čemu sličnom. Onaj osjećaj olakšanja koji ste možda osjetili je povezan s puno faktora i čimbenika, jedan od njih je i uzimanje odmora od svega. Svima nam to treba nekad. Odmoriti se od svega. To  ne znači da ne volite svoj život. Mislim, ako autobus kasni i ako ćete vi zbog toga kasniti na posao, normalno je biti pod stresom. Niste loša osoba ako ste pod stresom. VJERUJTE mi, što se tiče toga, svi smo mi ponekad pod stresom. Čak i one/oni od nas za koje se čini da imamo sve pod kontrolom (NEMAMO!).

Nevertheless, while it is normal to be affected by daily struggles, we shouldn’t let these struggles take over in a sense they make us believe that is all there is to life…a desperate struggle. For it is not. Life is, for better or worse, infinitely complexed. Feeling stressed and annoyed while waiting for a bus is human. But what if life is like waiting for a bus at a bus stop? What if every moment is really precious?What if we are not supposed to wait for the bus with agitation?  Not that it is a great tradegy if you there lose your cool, it can happen to anyone and it is is bound to happen so.... However, I have just demonstrated  (with my little story )how our feelings can drastically change with a change of perspective. For example, why should waiting on our old same old bus stop  be a synonym for something boring? What if we're taking it all wrong? What if boring is a state of mind? What if what we are really supposed to do is fall in love with a bus stop, that is, with life (for bus stop can be used as ametaphor for life and it is used by those who believe that death is just another stop)? It is all about context…and you know what? Sometimes we can put things in the right context. We don’t just have to passively wait for things to be put in the context. We can be happy at the same old bus stop waiting for the same old bus that is always late.  It really isn’t about the bus, or the bus being late or the bus stop being at the same old place we've grown tired of or about anything of the sort. It is about us. It is about power that lies within is if we dare to grab it. Power to put things into context. The most beautiful bus stop in the world isn't located on island Hvar. It is within you. It can be anywhere.

Svejedno, dok je normalno da nas pogađaju dnevne borbe, ne bismo smjeli dopustit da te borbe preuzmu u smislu da nas uvjere da je to sve što postoji u životu---očajna borba. Jer doista nije ako. Život je, pa bilo to dobro ili ne, beskrajno kompleksan.Osjećati se pod stresom ili uzrujanim dok čekamo autobus je ljudski. No, što ako je život poput čekanja autobusa na autobusnoj postaji? Što ako je svaki trenutak stvarno dragocjen? Što ako zapravo ne bismo trebali čekati autobus nervozni? Ne da je kraj svijeta ako izgubimo živce, to se svakome može dogoditi i mora se dogoditi kad tad ...Ipak upravo sam vam (sa svojom malom pričom) pokazala kako se naši osjećaji mogu drastično promijeniti s promjenom perspektive. Na primjer, zašto bi čekanje  autobusa na stanici moralo biti sinonim za dosadu? Što ako sve krivo shvaćamo? Što ako je dosadno samo stanje svijesti? Što ako se zapravo trebamo zaljubiti u autobusnu postaju, u sam život (jer autobusna stanica se može koristiti kao metafora za život i koriste je oni koji vjeruju da je smrt samo nova postaja)? Na kraju je sve pitanje konteksta...i znate li što? Ponekad možemo staviti stvari u pravi kontekst i mi sami te ne moramo pasivno čekati da se stvari same poslože. Možemo biti sretni na staroj autobusnoj postaji čekajući autobus koji stalno kasni. Ne radi se zapravo o autobusu, ili autobusu koji kasni ili autobusnoj stanici koja je na istom mjestu i koja nam je dosadila ili o bilo čemu se sličnom. Radi se zapravo o nama. O moći koja leži u nama usudimo li je se uhvatiti. Moći da stavimo stvari u kontekst. Najljepša autobusna stanica na svijetu nije smještena na otoku Hvaru. Ona je unutar nas. Ona može biti bilo gdje.