The Swinglish Life

We all have to start somewhere

I think I've been waiting for some kind of sign to tell me "you are now to start your blog. And this is what you are to accomplish with it:..."
Yeah, not so much. Although, I did have one of those moments where I thought 'today is the day' (as a chorus of angels singing filled my tiny dorm room, followed by a breeze sweeping through my window on cue, throwing my hair back Charlie's Angels style as a light falls on me). Or something like that. But I did in fact feel strangely motivated to just start. I didn't know what I would say and I still don't know what my goal is. Perhaps it will make itself apparent as time -days, months- go by. If it's anything like my imagination, what comes up will probably have no coherence; for a while. In the end everything will strangely find a way to tie itself together to produce a meaningful epiphany that sheds some tangible truth on the reality of who I am, and I hope others can relate.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Do you know where I took this picture??

It's the small things in life, the little details, that make me happy. Why is that? People look for such grandiose things, and I'll admit that it's traveling that I want to do more than anything and I will never be quite happy enough unless I get a dose of it every now and then. But when I travel I see myself sitting by the window of a cafe in some small close-knit town lost somewhere in the world, watching the people passing by and learning what I can about the friends sitting next to me. I want to learn how to play soccer from a group of teenagers in the poorer parts of a cultural oasis so that I can earn myself some dirt and dust stains. I want to walk through the marketplace of an eastern village and buy what I would need as if I lived in their world and come back with a special bracelet that may seem insignificant. I want to make close bonds of friendship and visit their homes and their families so that the trip will merge the foreign with my life. Anywhere and everywhere. Not just see the details, but experience the acute joy they surround my soul with.

Enjoying the sunset in Östersund. The anticipation for the start of the music festival Storsjöyran is making its way.

My inspiration for this post... despite being the middle of finals week here at Case Western. "A snack and a book" never fails to bring me back to my sane state of mind.