We walked right past each other. I felt your presence whiz past me. I caught a glimpse of you out of the corner of my eye. Why didn’t you stop and say hello? It’s been a while since we met. We had a brief encounter last year, but it was not nearly long enough to really catch up. How have you been? Do you still have that bright, enthusiastic smile? I always loved that about you. Always sparking joy where ever you go. People just seem to light up around you.
Leaving Room for the Unexpected
I’ve come a long way since my days of planning out every minute of our travels. I think back on Scott's and my first real trip together and can feel the gravity of the change. We went to San Francisco and I had every day mapped out to a T. There were times when we were forced to change our plans for one reason or another, but almost every second of our days were planned out in advance. Scott finally convinced me on our last day to wander around without any plans. I was nervous, tense, confused. Well, then what are we going to do?, I thought. But I gave in because, after all, it was his vacation too.
So here I am, less than three weeks till we move to Chile, a Spanish-speaking country, trying to get serious about studying Spanish again. This is a cycle that I have come to know intimately. It goes something like this - get motivated one way or another, make a plan, start studying, slowly lose momentum, wake up one day and realize that I haven't done anything in over a month. Cue extreme guilt and questioning if I will ever be able to stick with it long enough to speak fluently. Lately, though, when this happens I am learning to forgive myself for losing track of my goals by not harping on it - I just have to get back to work. It’s not easy, it never is, but I have to keep moving forward.
It’s happening again. We’re gearing up to make a cross-continental move. This time in the opposite direction - down to the southern hemisphere. We will be settling in Chile where I will be teaching English in a Chilean public school. There are still many unknowns, which can occasionally lead to uneasiness, but mostly we're just really excited. The plan is to be in Chile for about 8 months and get to know the country as best as we can while we're there. Before we get to Chile we'll be making a week stopover in Buenos Aires to get a little taste of Argentina (think prime beef, wine and empanadas).
Living in the process of pursuit
When I read this quote from Alison Sudol in The Great Discontent recently, it really stuck with me. Alison’s words gave life to the feeling I’ve been experiencing in this current stage of life. Transitional, and questioning where exactly I’m headed. I have a lot of ideas and dreams, but no clear path. I’ve being trying out a lot of new things and discovering new interests. Some of those things seem to have no (or very little) overlap, which makes it all confusing.
