eople and just like that you never see them. I think the hardest part is that we all live scattered throughout North America, so the chances of us seeing each other are pretty slim...and that's a tough reality.On the plus side, I now have fantastic friends all over the country and Canada, and together, we know so much now about a country overseas. Sure we know a thing or two about our country and how we work, but to say you know more than a thing or two about another country far away says something.
But with all the going, going, going that we did in NZ, I knew coming home was going to be completely different. For one, I am not with people at every waking moment so there is actually some down time. Two, I am not partaking in any environmental initiatives at this point in time, which is killing me. And three, I am not doing any crazy activities, like bungy jumping. What a drastic change. Not only that, but it is whole new thing not living in the same four outfits anymore. I came home to a room filled with clothes and just started going through things that I could sell or give to reuse stores. But going through everything has given me...WASTE ANXIETY!
I look at all the STUFF that I have and think about perhaps all that I actually use, they don't equal up. But I am not the only one. Everyone throughout this country goes through tons and tons of clothing throughout their lifetime, and where does it all go?! Surely it is not biodegradable fabric, so it doesn't break down. There are those people who send to reuse stores in hopes that it will actually get reused, but I know that a good majority of people just as easily toss them in the garbage when they have had enough. Garbage means landfill. Landfill means land. Land means habitat. And habitat means something is people taken away from the little untouched land some of these animals have left.
Yes, my friends, that bit of rambling is WASTE ANXIETY. Not something that gets to everyone, but I have it and I am on a track to counter it, be it sending old clothes to reuse stores, or giving them to younger family friends.
I wonder if I would have this or think this way if I hadn't gone to NZ...I am going to go with no. Thanks NZ. You're an eye opener.
Hey there you, only just had a chance to catch up with your blog once more.
ReplyDeleteWaste anxiety... now there's a term for exactly what I felt all those years ago when I first got back from Africa, and just looked around at my life and though 'oh dear lord how have I been living?!'. You don't know you're doin it, because it is normal back home... because no one thinks twice about amassing more and more'things' on which we then begin to build a notion of what it means to be yourself... actually it's all rubbish, it's all anonymous bits of cotton with a brand name on, essentially it's all fake.
Once you strip away all of this, as you did in NZ, you begin to know who you really are, what is really important to you, and what you really prize above all else. From a quick read of your blog, that seems (much like I found when I looked harder) it was people, relationships, activities and Experiences. THEY make us who we are, not the material things around us. This is why I went into the jungle for 3 months, this is why I yearned to be out of the city wandering in the eucalypt forests in Australia, and this is why I live in a rustic cabin in the hills in NZ... basic life seems much more real to me, much more exciting, and you feel like you're connecting with something real (be it the cold and the wet, the milky way stretching out above you at night, or a rustle of the trees as the sun sets over the coast...).
Being spread out, well just as you said - look at the positives... you have new areas of the country you can visit and explore with the locals! If it takes much to prove that you will see these people again... well 2 years after the charity stuff, I shall be reuniting with 5 of my closest friends from Malaysia - back in Borneo for one of their weddings. Awesome.
Be good + find something positive to throw yourself at to get back into the swing of things. You shall go far young lady!