“This book is about my life experiences to date around the idea of searching, and the various ways that search has looked and unfolded for me. These words were written for myself initially, in an effort to write out these experiences using my own writing style as I reflected upon each one of them. Then, it was designed to share and pass on these experiences for others to enjoy and benefit from, especially those coming after me, the next generation.”
– Author’s quote, taken from the Introduction
After an exhilarating few year’s journey, I am thrilled & excited to announce that I have written, published, and released my first book! This writing project has been quite the adventure, an incredible milestone achieved, and a dream of mine fulfilled.
Now, for a little bit about this book:
The title is called, “The Search For Life,” and it’s about searching for the meaning of life. I have written 13 chapters that talk about different ways a person may search for and find meaning in their own life. The book you are reading is comprised of a number of sub-themes, which all branch out from the larger theme of searching. The context for these sub-themes is how they relate to a person’s life. Essentially, this book is the personal story of one young man’s journey in life, mine, who is, and has been, on a search for some of the most important areas life has to offer. It is an attempt to bring out into the open both world’s of darkness and light that a human being goes through as they navigate their way through life.
You can order your own copy from Amazon using the links below.
Paperback:
e-book:
Here is an excerpt from my book taken from Chapter 1: In Search Of Adventure:
“It seems to me that adventure is what the human heart desires the most, and it can come in different ways for different people. For me, I find adventure in the things that are new such as travelling and sports, including skiing during the winter months and slalom skiing in the summers, as well as golfing, road biking, and roller-blading.
In the book Wild at Heart, John Eldredge explains that there are three core desires to a man’s heart: a battle to fight, an adventure to live, and a beauty to rescue. I sincerely believe he is both accurate and correct in this assessment of how men are wired. In this chapter I want to focus on that second key desire: the theme of adventure.
Adventure’s in Europe
Travelling is one of the areas where I experience a heightened level of adventure. I have been fortunate to travel to two different continents over the last three years: Europe and Africa. As it would be, I set foot on both lands for six weeks each, and travelled by myself for the majority of each trip.
I’ll start with Europe. I went there in 2012 after completing six years of post-secondary education, coming out with a Business degree and an Information Technology diploma. I knew it was time to travel and see the world. I travelled with a tour group on my own and got to see 19 countries in five weeks. I then stayed in London for an extra week. Looking back, the whole trip was a wild and grand adventure for me. I really enjoyed the whirlwind experience in seeing the vast majority of the countries in Western Europe. I took the greatest amount of pictures I have ever taken on a single trip to date, totalling more than 7,000.
Here are some of the highlights of this adventurous voyage:
Paris – Just being in this iconic city felt incredible. I climbed to the top level of the Eiffel Tower and saw the amazing, panoramic view of the city; explored the limitless works of art in the long-stretching wings of the glass pyramid at the Louvre; and watched our bus driver just go for it and merge across eight lanes of traffic at an uncontrolled, hectic traffic circle at the Arc de Triumphe, which was an exciting adrenaline rush! Paris taught me to enjoy the artistic side of humanity and to develop an appreciation for romance.
Rome – I thoroughly enjoyed touring both the Roman Forums and Colisseum. This portion of the trip was complete with an amazing tour guide who was extremely passionate about Roman history and made Rome come to life. Eating Europe’s famed gelato ice cream while visiting the Spanish Steps followed this tour. Other memorable events included tossing a coin into Trevi Fountain and seeing the main attractions of the Vatican City: The Vatican museums, St. Peter’s Basillica, and the Sistine Chapel, all of which were breathtaking to the natural eye. In Rome I learned about a civilization that existed long before I ever did. Hearing stories of what took place in these places and standing at the epicenter of these historic places taught me about the brevity of life and gave me a glimpse into how powerful the Roman Empire really was in its day.
Greek Islands – We parked our tour bus and jumped on a cruise ship to five Greek islands: Mykonos, Rhodes, Santorini, Crete, and Patmos. We also made a stop in Kusadesi, Turkey, where I got to see the ancient Biblical city, Ephesus. Seeing its immense amphitheatres, the city’s original library, and walking the same street as the Apostle Paul did was truly incredible. My favourite island was Santorini with its renowned white-washed, blue-domed architecture set amidst in the Aegean Sea. I would love to go back there. One of the biggest take-away’s from this experience was appreciating the impact ancient history still has on our world today.
Another was re-discovering the importance of being able to sit still and relax while taking in the mesmerizing beauty before me, though both land and ocean.
London – In one week I got to see more than 25 of the top sites London has to offer such as Ben Ben, Churchill Museum, Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and Westminster Bridge, to name a few. I loved exploring this historic city all by myself, and it was a thrilling and highly productive week. Through my time here, London gave me a glimpse of how old our world really is. As a Canadian, our country just celebrated its 150th anniversary, and to contrast that with London having been founded in 50 AD (not to mention that some of its building’s are hundreds of years old), was quite a history lesson.
This trip meant a lot to me because my dad had gone to Europe after he completed High School, and I wanted to follow in his footsteps. I always loved hearing the stories he would tell me about his European travels, and I wanted to be able to have similar stories to share with my children one day.
It was an adventure because this trip was the first time I had visited a different continent outside of North America. It was a very exciting time for me, especially with all the planning and preparation that went in beforehand and then being able to live it and see it unfold before my eyes.”
Get your copy today!
Dwight Van Middlesworth 