One of the first gifts I really appreciated receiving was a world globe, just like the ones found in most schools. I was a grade schooler when my dad and I went to K-mart, and he bought me a brand new blue ocean globe as a reward for something. I can't remember what I did to deserve it, but I vividly remember standing in the aisle and reaching up for that shiny globe packed nicely in its open box. The palpable contours of land masses were as reavealing and exciting as braille to a blind person.

When the world sat on my desk, my imagination held me captive. With each revolution, my eyes would capture a new land, a new body of water. My eyes became the beam of light bringing sunrise around each horizon. Through that globe, I discovered my place in this world - between my birthplace of Taiwan to my home then near Chicago to the ends of the Earth.

It was probably the first time that I realized the interconnectivity of the human race, and I was but just one little person... barely a speck on the globe. Very humbling. Yet, at the same time, I could grasp that globe in my hands and feel a certain grandiosity and control over my destiny.

I adored that globe for all that it represented: my achievements at that early point in my life, my father's approval, my humility and place in this grand world, and my faith in the future.

I estimate that the real Earth we live on has revolved over 8000 times since that time in my childhood. I've experienced so much in life, but I know there is so much more to come. I can only continue to imagine and dream and hope. Maybe even find that endless childhood spirit I once possessed.

I don't know why I started thinking about this globe, which today is gathering dust in the basement of my home in Chicago. But I sure do miss it.

So today, I bought myself a new fancier globe - a crystal clear one, so that I can see with more depth than ever before. I'm anticipating its arrival soon.