Back to Business: Two Months at Home
I am home. Actually, it has even been over two months since my plane touched Dutch soil. Coming home to all my family and friends after seven months was truly magical! Finally I was able to give them an actual hug instead of a Skype emoticon. Finally I could tell everyone my stories without losing internet connection midway through the story. And finally I could catch up with all their experiences. Though it was freezing outside, all the hugs, kisses and cuddles (and the warm blanket on my parents' couch) made me feel so happy and warm!
To be honest though, this feeling did not stick around for the entire two months. I had seven months of life to share; from the quokka's in Perth to Sydney's Opera House, but reality settled in quite quickly. After sharing a couple of my stories, answering the question 'what was your favorite part?' about 20 times, and showing some of my 30GBs of photos, life continued. Before I knew it, that soft, warm bubble I had arrived in transformed itself into the busy schedule of university, work, and committee meetings from before Australia. My time abroad was now officially in the past, and there was no time left to even think about all the things that had happened while I was there. My to-do list continued to grow as the days passed, and I could already feel the tension in my shoulders and back. Not that there was more to do than there was before I left, and so the full schedule wouldn't have been a problem at all if there had not been that one big difference: I had experienced a life without this stress. In Melbourne, I learned what it felt like to be able to not do anything for school for an entire weekend, to not plan every single day from start to finish, and to not worry too much about the future. I had learned to enjoy every single minute of every single day and to create as many memories as possible, so that this would be a part of my life I would never want to forget.
Now that I am back in the daily routine of a life without a departure flight, I have seemed to have forgotten all the things I learned there. To enjoy every minute, to have fun and live in the moment. Being back in this life sucked me back into the bubble of having to achieve, to plan, and to always know what the next step is going to be. And this bubble blocks my view, and the view of so many others around me, because we seem to forget that there is beauty right below our noses. That memories and experiences like those in Australia are right there at my doorstep. That it's not just Oceania, but every single part of the world that has its charms, but that you have to actively look for them, seek them, and embrace them. In the midst of all our worries and plans for the future, we overlook all the prettiness that is right in front of us. Of course, travelling brings us places that are unforgettably stunning, but that doesn't mean that our life on this side of the world is not pretty. So pause every once in a while, look right below your nose, and see some of the beauty around you! And so if there is one thing that my semester abroad has taught me, is that it is a place in itself that brings happiness, but that how you see and live in that place is what truly makes you happy.
Not convinced just yet? Take a look at some of the pretty things that I stumbled upon this week, and who knows, you might be able to see some of the beauty that surrounds you at this moment.
To be honest though, this feeling did not stick around for the entire two months. I had seven months of life to share; from the quokka's in Perth to Sydney's Opera House, but reality settled in quite quickly. After sharing a couple of my stories, answering the question 'what was your favorite part?' about 20 times, and showing some of my 30GBs of photos, life continued. Before I knew it, that soft, warm bubble I had arrived in transformed itself into the busy schedule of university, work, and committee meetings from before Australia. My time abroad was now officially in the past, and there was no time left to even think about all the things that had happened while I was there. My to-do list continued to grow as the days passed, and I could already feel the tension in my shoulders and back. Not that there was more to do than there was before I left, and so the full schedule wouldn't have been a problem at all if there had not been that one big difference: I had experienced a life without this stress. In Melbourne, I learned what it felt like to be able to not do anything for school for an entire weekend, to not plan every single day from start to finish, and to not worry too much about the future. I had learned to enjoy every single minute of every single day and to create as many memories as possible, so that this would be a part of my life I would never want to forget.
Now that I am back in the daily routine of a life without a departure flight, I have seemed to have forgotten all the things I learned there. To enjoy every minute, to have fun and live in the moment. Being back in this life sucked me back into the bubble of having to achieve, to plan, and to always know what the next step is going to be. And this bubble blocks my view, and the view of so many others around me, because we seem to forget that there is beauty right below our noses. That memories and experiences like those in Australia are right there at my doorstep. That it's not just Oceania, but every single part of the world that has its charms, but that you have to actively look for them, seek them, and embrace them. In the midst of all our worries and plans for the future, we overlook all the prettiness that is right in front of us. Of course, travelling brings us places that are unforgettably stunning, but that doesn't mean that our life on this side of the world is not pretty. So pause every once in a while, look right below your nose, and see some of the beauty around you! And so if there is one thing that my semester abroad has taught me, is that it is a place in itself that brings happiness, but that how you see and live in that place is what truly makes you happy.
Not convinced just yet? Take a look at some of the pretty things that I stumbled upon this week, and who knows, you might be able to see some of the beauty that surrounds you at this moment.
"We travel because we need to, because distance and difference are the secret tonic to creativity. When we get home, home is still the same, but something in our minds has changed, and that changes everything."
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