Brandon Wilson on a journey toward peace

Elysia Gabe
April 15, 2009
Filed under Features

Brandon Wilson, who walked through many nations to encourage peace, urged students and staff to take their own steps toward a peaceful world.

“Peace will be realized one person, one walk, one step at a time, figurative or literal,” Wilson said. “Seize opportunities, listen to your inner self, and choose your own path.”

Students and staff gathered together in Seto Hall to listen to Wilson, an acclaimed author, photographer and explorer, speak as a part of the annual Peace Week.

Wilson, who has always had the soul of an adventurer, first started his treks throughout the world to satisfy an inner hunger or “wanderlust” as he calls it.

But as he walked from Lhasa, Tibet to Kathmandu, Nepal along an old pilgrimage trail, he began to walk for a greater purpose.

He wanted to set an example for others. “I wanted to do it to prove that borders should be open,” he said. “The government shouldn’t stand in the way of pilgrims.”

On the path, he encountered a variety of difficulties, from hunger to language barriers.

Yet, as he continued to walk, problems sorted themselves out.

“Our lives are so consumed with trying to control things that are beyond our control,” he said with his zen-like voice. “But if you leave yourself open and vulnerable, doors open to you.”

He recalls a night when his party lost their water heater.

They were depressed because they lost hot water, one of the few luxuries they had on the trail. However, that night, a woman in the guesthouse gave them a hot water thermos.

Wilson also walked the Camino de Santiago, a trail through Spain on which 100,000 people come together and walk.

“Everybody had cold showers. Everybody had blisters. Everybody had sore muscles,” he said, “and when everybody started talking about home, I realized that people are pretty much the same.”

Along the Camino de Santiago, Wilson met a Frenchman with whom he later walked the Templar Trail.

This 2,500-mile path stretches from France to Jerusalem. He set out with two main motives: to talk to people along the way about peace and to set up a regular route for people to follow.

“Peace is the foundation of everything,” Wilson said. “It has a certain power stronger than army.”
Wilson presented his photos to the attentive audience.

With a cover of John Lennon’s “Imagine” sung in both Arabic and English, Wilson’s slideshow of smiling children, elaborate architecture and intricate artwork strengthened his message that people are fundamentally the same from France to Jerusalem.

Wilson hopes that one day everyone will find his or her inner peace.

“It’s just a matter of taking one step at a time,” he said.