Reflecting

My return home, and the readjustment, has been interesting. I've noticed many, many differences between the Ozzies and the Americans. Ozzies are much more relaxed--the entire no worries/ 'ave a go attitude is lacking--and I miss it. To come from a place where everyone is truly seen as equal, into a place where-while we all have 'equal rights' there is still judgement cast among us based on class, color or conformation. Australia, certainly is not perfect-but your typical Ozzie would listen to what you have to say, find out who you are and what you are about, before judging you.

Everything here in the US is so rushed, as if we're afraid our lives are so very short that we must rush about and do everything at once. But you miss so much doing that- even in doing the mundane, you still have to do it, so enjoy it, don't rush, and do it right.

I have met some incredible people in my travels. I've learned that yes, even one person can have an effect on the world, one person can influence others and that influence can make things happen. What we choose to do with our lives, every choice we make has a consequence, and our interactions with other people can have a lasting effect, for good or bad, as you choose. I know that I certainly suprised a few Ozzies when I didn't turn out to be the loud, lazy American stereotype. Once they realized that I was in fact a person, before I was anything else, they listened to what I had to say.

I miss the ocean, with all of its danger and beauty and secrets. I miss discovering animals and plants and places that I'd never seen, or imagined. I miss the islands, rugged and delicate, intricate yet fierce. There is an elegance to it, in the biology of it. We try to study these things, to teach ourselves about this world we live in, and find beauty in even the smallest things, elegance and order in the cells, the atoms that make up the larger thing, all culminating in the beautiful, dangerous, ever-changing place we call Earth.