Return

Wow....it has been over two months since I have blogged! The space here feels like it actually belongs to someone else. So much has changed since I left Asia at the end of July! I have a job that I love, Peter and I are now happily living together, and I am beginning the slow work of getting back in touch with friends and family while my brain begins to process the last two years away.

I didn't think I wanted to continue blogging after I left Asia, since, well, my life is certainly not as exciting as it was over there. I most definitely yearn for my weekend jaunts to Burma, and haggling over jade elephants in markets, and buying strings of pearls without blinking an eye, and watching sunsets at temples. My camera is taking a well-deserved vacation, and I am trying to finish writing in my journal about trips that were not fully documented before they disappear into the abyss of anything that is outside of my present thoughts, wonderings, and work.

But, well, I realized that I missed blogging. Even though there may no longer be anyone listening due to my extended absence, I feel as though I have a lot from those two years that I still need to process, still need to document, and would still love to share with others. I have also realized that I need more in my life right now than just work and sleep. Don't get me wrong....my life right now feels full and busy and peaceful, and BURSTING with people and love and new ambitions. The peace of mind that I have now would not have been possible without the hard mental and emotional work that I did in Asia, and a bit of the Buddhist peace, the appreciation for the present, and the lack of hyper-focused tunnel vision that I found there has stayed with me. However, there were also many painful events and situations over there that my brain is now feeling safe enough to work through.

When Peter and I woke up this morning and went about our delicious weekend rituals, he told me that I seemed more Zen. Less overwhelmed by life and the universe and the scrambling logistics of adapting to an entirely new living and work situation after having been immersed in such a unique and different culture for two years. I feel more Zen. I feel present and awake and thoroughly satisfied, but it has definitely been an interesting adjustment period.

And so.....in honor of it being NaBloPoMo (though I don't think I will ever put myself through that in any sort of official capacity again...sheesh...) I officially resurrect my blog.