Today was one of those mornings when it takes you a while to figure out what your alarm clock is and why it is making noise. At least for me it was, anyway. When I finally came to, my first semi-coherant thought was, "No! I don't want to leave!" before snoozing my alarm and trying desperately to return to my dreams of Greece. But, dream as I may, I have already left. For me, going away to travel is the easy part. Coming back is hard. It's not that I'm not glad to return to my family and friends, my room, my bed, to PLU. It's just that change is hard. And what's changed, more than anything, is always me.
It's a good thing, don't get me wrong, but the process of recalibrating is never an easy one. As my mom would say (and we have already established in this blog that moms are always right), life is always moving; flowing; changing. It is not made up of fits and starts so much as swells and currents. It is constantly flowing from one thing to the next; each wave connected to the one before and after it. I find this thought comforting. My life after Greece is not, nor does it need to be, totally disconnected from that unique experience. After all, as Dr. Finitsis reminded me, the life we are returning to is the life that brought us to Greece. And, inevitably, we will bring it back some things as well.
What is it that I want to "take home" from Greece? How can I both see and create continuity between the mountaintop experience and my everyday? I have brought pieces of Greece back with me. My dad now walks around the house clicking and swinging his worry beads, but it was not worry beads that made Greece meaningful. My brother insisted that we make crepes with nutella and banana for dessert yesterday, but it was not crepes that made the trip profound. I listened to some Greek music over dinner, but it was not the music that impacted me most. While all of these things contributed to the charm of my travels, and can help me to seek and see similar charms here in my everyday, they are not ultimately what I want take with me. Here's what I do want to carry with me from my time in Greece into the semester ahead (and beyond):
*the people- it was you who made my trip both meaningful and fun
*what I've learned about myself
*awareness of the vastness and smallness of the world we live in
*a value of and desire for travel
*an appreciation for both the comforts of home and the excitement of new experiences
*a better understanding of the relationship between Judaism and early Christianity and of the context of the New Testament
*a sense of belonging to and of responsibility toward a global community
*a renewed commitment to seek out the beautiful and meaningful wherever I am and whatever I am doing
*a sense of potential... for learning, for friendship, for "success," for contentment, for happiness
It's a good thing, don't get me wrong, but the process of recalibrating is never an easy one. As my mom would say (and we have already established in this blog that moms are always right), life is always moving; flowing; changing. It is not made up of fits and starts so much as swells and currents. It is constantly flowing from one thing to the next; each wave connected to the one before and after it. I find this thought comforting. My life after Greece is not, nor does it need to be, totally disconnected from that unique experience. After all, as Dr. Finitsis reminded me, the life we are returning to is the life that brought us to Greece. And, inevitably, we will bring it back some things as well.
What is it that I want to "take home" from Greece? How can I both see and create continuity between the mountaintop experience and my everyday? I have brought pieces of Greece back with me. My dad now walks around the house clicking and swinging his worry beads, but it was not worry beads that made Greece meaningful. My brother insisted that we make crepes with nutella and banana for dessert yesterday, but it was not crepes that made the trip profound. I listened to some Greek music over dinner, but it was not the music that impacted me most. While all of these things contributed to the charm of my travels, and can help me to seek and see similar charms here in my everyday, they are not ultimately what I want take with me. Here's what I do want to carry with me from my time in Greece into the semester ahead (and beyond):
*the people- it was you who made my trip both meaningful and fun
*what I've learned about myself
*awareness of the vastness and smallness of the world we live in
*a value of and desire for travel
*an appreciation for both the comforts of home and the excitement of new experiences
*a better understanding of the relationship between Judaism and early Christianity and of the context of the New Testament
*a sense of belonging to and of responsibility toward a global community
*a renewed commitment to seek out the beautiful and meaningful wherever I am and whatever I am doing
*a sense of potential... for learning, for friendship, for "success," for contentment, for happiness
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