Despite what I said previously about New Year’s Resolutions being inherently set to fail, I am an optimist and a believer in lists of dreams and goals. New Year’s is as good a time as any for looking back over a year with gratitude, and for looking ahead with optimism, and, if lucky, a sense of wild passion.

So to that end, today’s post is a bit different.

This is a great time of year for planning and dreaming. It’s a time for searching out sources of inspiration.

I’ve previously mentioned that I have been incredibly fortunate in my travels. I studied Spanish in Guatemala after my freshman year, and did a full study abroad in Chile during the spring term of my sophomore year. I also spent one summer during my first Master’s degree doing research and an internship in Honduras and elsewhere in Central America. I have now “rolled over” my most recent study abroad experience in Ireland and Northern Ireland into another year living in Dublin.

Travel inspires me (and many others out there) to remember to look for the beauty and connection in the wider world.

Study abroad is encouraged for this reason. Whenever possible, we benefit from stepping out of our comfort zones, learning from others, and getting a glimpse of life through other people’s eyes. It offers a disruption to normal life.

So, for the centerpoint of today’s post, I want to share a short video made by a friend of mine here in Dublin. It’s a video montage of his travels, from the sound of howler monkeys at dawn in the jungle canopy to raucous celebrations and cityscapes all over the world.

Gareth Nolan traveled around the world in 2011-2012 and created this five-minute short film in memory of his mother. The footage is from stops in Belize, Bolivia, Cambodia, Cook Islands, Chile, China, French Polynesia, Guatemala, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, Peru, Russia, Tibet, and The United States.

In a poem that accompanies the film, “A Sublime Disruption: It is Not a Small World,” Gareth writes:

it is not a small world
and that together
our horizons are infinite
because ours are not small dreams

So here it is, A Sublime Disruption. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Gareth studied journalism at Queen's College in London. He has since worked as an assistant film editor, and is about to undertake a trip to shoot a documentary about deforestation and land ownership in Liberia.

Please feel free to share your sources of inspiration below. What brings you a sense of potential for the coming year?