How a caterpillar-obsessed professor changed my life and made me become a nomad
Having intensely motivating fuel for life is essential
While working on my final paper, I went to my college library to read old final papers. I needed more ideas, and no topic excited me. Until I found one that changed my life. It was a profile about a USP researcher, one of the world's leading experts on caterpillars.
The text narrated how the professor's life revolved around caterpillars. He fell in love with the animal in childhood and dedicated his entire academic life to the subject. Symposia, conferences, field trips—caterpillars moved him. I deeply hope that this guy's wife is also a caterpillar expert.
And then I realized that I didn't know what my caterpillar was. Everything I thought motivated me didn't truly move me. It was a shock. Since then, my life has been an eternal search for a caterpillar.
I started to consider what my caterpillars would be. When I was younger, my passion for soccer played that role. On Monday, I was already thinking about the Corinthians match on Wednesday and, on Thursday, the Sunday game.
A little older, in high school, my caterpillar was getting into USP and living in São Paulo. When I arrived in São Paulo and studied at USP, I had no more caterpillars to search.
My first years in São Paulo were like those of a typical small-town boy enchanted by the big city. After a while, the genuine excitement fades away.
Journalism was never a true caterpillar for me. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein have journalism as their caterpillar. I am just another boy who really liked "reading and writing" and, lacking caterpillars in other areas, ventured into journalism.
In 2013, completely lost, I even drafted the Caterpillar Project, where I would tell the story of what moves people. I never got it off the ground, so maybe the Caterpillar Project is not my caterpillar either.
The nomadic life is another step toward the caterpillars of my life. In 60 days, I left a stable job, a long-term relationship, and a fixed home searching for meaning. Being constantly on the move, in different cities, with different routines, meeting different people, and living stories I wouldn't experience in my non-nomadic life is what currently moves me.
We don't need to have a caterpillar like the professor's. We can change our caterpillars throughout life or have several small caterpillars. But having intensely motivating fuel for life is essential. Recognizing them is vital.
And you, what is your caterpillar?
No Direction Home recommends:
To listen.
To follow on Instagram: the guy who found their caterpillar by traveling the world.
To watch: C'mon, C'mon, a movie with inspiring quotes from children.