How many moments are lost because they are never spoken?
Life is made of the moments, and I'm still grateful for all that I have. Sometimes I wish I could make more of them. Sometimes I wish I could pick and choose the ones I get to keep. Pick and choose which ones I will get to experience again. Life ... not so simple, but because of that it means more. There are little truths all over the place that may be bittersweet at times, but help us keep on moving. Keep on moving, eh?
I spent 11 days in America. It was an interesting experience. I was told by many people before I went back that the reverse culture shock would be difficult to handle. America would seem ruder, fatter, bigger, louder, and busier than I had ever previously experienced they said. Maybe some of it was true, the contrast was a bit surprising. One thing that never got me though was that people were in any way ruder. It's just different ways of communicating. While Americans might not wear the mask of formality in their language often, the directness of their speech didn't seem intended to offend or put people off. It was just different. Wherever we travel in the world, there may be different cultures, languages, and customs ... but we are still people.
Look up in the sky and night and see stars, and we're all people under them. We live, breath, and our hearts beat. Even if we can't see the stars we still have our hearts.
It's comforting to know there are common ties. Stars and hearts might be good things to follow and reach for from time to time. Just maybe.
While I was in America I found that I was able to see many people I missed dearly ... though not for long enough. I found there were others I didn't get to see at all. Others I missed simply because I had left them behind in Japan while I was gallanting around on a different continent.
The picture at the top of this blog is from when I joined a circle at my University. It's sort of an 'Outdoor Adventure' club, but what it really equates to is people thinking of fun random things to do for fun, and then doing them. In this case it was from after a meeting. We had all gotten together that evening to go over some upcoming events, and then ate out afterward. A friend and I started joking about climbing a mountain that very night, because it was adventurous. Several of the people took us up on the offer, and that picture is the result. Funny how things can end up sometimes.
