Carlo Alcos, Interview #128

Name: Carlo Alcos

Where you live: Nelson, British Columbia, Canada

What you do as a vocation or avocation?  

Freelance writer, Editor of Brave New Traveler

Your two favorite books: Ishmael by Daniel Quinn - it was the book that planted the seed that started me on a spiritual journey, way before I even knew what "spirituality" was. It was the idea that things could be a lot different than they are, whereas before I kind of just took it for granted that things have to be this way and couldn't imagine anything else. And High Fidelity by Nick Hornby - I'm a romantic and I love music. This is the perfect combo.

Your two favorite songs: At the moment, Say, Hey (I Love You) by Michael Franti and Wordless Chorus by My Morning Jacket.

Why you are interested in spirituality? Because I think it's imperative to be. It's how we connect with the bigger picture, how we come to understand that everything is connected, and it just feels good. It feels like the right thing to do, the right way to live, not even so much in an intellectual way...it just feels right, in the heart. It allows me to openly be how I am, and to be loving and compassionate to others. It's how I want to live my life right now.


Your favorite quote: I'm currently reading Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl, so I'll pick one from there: "The attempt to develop a sense of humor and to see things in a humorous light is some kind of a trick learned while mastering the art of living."


Your favorite web sites: To be perfectly honest, I enjoy reading articles from a wide range of sites, so don't particularly have any "favorites". They usually cross my attention through Facebook or Twitter, or through my colleagues at Matador. I spend so much time online for "work" that I try to get my eyes off the screen whenever I can.


Your hero? I draw inspiration from anyone who dares to do what they really want to do in life, and do so with consideration for all beings, and who just genuinely love living.
 
A spiritual lesson you hope to learn? Learning lessons always surprise me because they're never the lesson I think I am learning or am supposed to learn. It's only ever in retrospect that I've come to realize that, hey, that was meant to happen because I learned this.


A place in the world where you feel spiritually "connected?" Where I'm living right now: Nelson, BC. I initially came for three months, then decided to stay for the winter. Then decided to stay for the summer. Now I'm seriously considering staying for the next winter too. It's a place that draws you in and keeps you here. There is something very special about this place, a small town of around 10,000 people, snuggled in a valley, surrounded by mountains, on the shore of a big lake. The community is amazing, I've never met so many people who are so readily willing to open up and share themselves in a really vulnerable way. Nelson is the kind of place where people still smile and say hi when you pass them on the street.

  I edit and write at Brave New Traveler

     I also co-founded and write articles about relationships 
     (with others and with ourselves) at Confronting Love.
     I keep a personal blog at Vagabonderz.com.