When I first came to the states, much of the friction I felt came from the person I was then chaffing against my new surroundings. And just as who I was when I arrived was shaped by the prior decade spent in London, who I am now has been shaped by a decade on the West Coast. During this time my environment has caused me to shed multiple skins, sometimes suddenly but mostly gradually. It's not to say one can't grow staying in the same place, it's just that moving to a new culture is a powerful catalyst for change that one can't help but notice.
I've always thought that when it comes to a person vs their environment, the environment is almost always going to shape the person, not the other way round. So it feels like an urgent privilege to exercise that we should, if we truly feel the need to, change environments. And once there, let it change us.
Where ever you go, you always bring yourself... and that can be a bad thing or a good thing. In my case, after moving to Italy, it turned out to be a bit of both.
Sometimes the bad thing becomes a good thing? When we notice something we don't like, it doesn't appear - it was always there. But that consciousness is an opportunity to, eventually, make some new choices. In theory!
When I first came to the states, much of the friction I felt came from the person I was then chaffing against my new surroundings. And just as who I was when I arrived was shaped by the prior decade spent in London, who I am now has been shaped by a decade on the West Coast. During this time my environment has caused me to shed multiple skins, sometimes suddenly but mostly gradually. It's not to say one can't grow staying in the same place, it's just that moving to a new culture is a powerful catalyst for change that one can't help but notice.
Looking forward to reading more of your journey
I've always thought that when it comes to a person vs their environment, the environment is almost always going to shape the person, not the other way round. So it feels like an urgent privilege to exercise that we should, if we truly feel the need to, change environments. And once there, let it change us.
I'm never spelling colour without the u, though.
This is beautiful: “it turns out that when you turn your back for a second, people fly off in every wonderful direction“.
Thank you! I'm glad you're still coming along :)
What an adventure, what a life, what exquisite honesty. Good on you James, Roy sends his best too xx
I'm so glad! It's been nice to dig through it, truly. My love to Roy, an absolute OG mentor :)
Where ever you go, you always bring yourself... and that can be a bad thing or a good thing. In my case, after moving to Italy, it turned out to be a bit of both.
Sometimes the bad thing becomes a good thing? When we notice something we don't like, it doesn't appear - it was always there. But that consciousness is an opportunity to, eventually, make some new choices. In theory!
Lovely stuff...but oh boy that apartment gives me vertigo!
Imagine waking up, with a hangover, and your brain in two different timezones, rolling over in bed, and looking down...
That really helped lol