W, 29 June 2005 (Plane out of Chicago)
I've met a lot of very interesting, very diverse people on this trip. I've improve my Spanish, if marginally, and picked up a few basic phrases in some other languages. I've developed a new appreciation for home, or at least being around the familiar, but perhaps more than that. But maybe not. Home is where you make it, after all.

I've learned a bit more about myself...I've also learned that though I can do okay on my own, I definitely thrive more when I can be around those I relate to on a regular basis. Also, it seems that it's harder for me to just jump out and meet people than I wanted to admist, but perhaps I'm getting better at that, too.

I also think I've gained a new appreciation for my home country and the culture that comes with it, but not in the way most people probably would think. Perhaps some forms of patriotism are about being able to simply have a place to call home, something familiar, something one is used to, something one can relax into and move in with ease and understanding. If so, then perhaps this is my own form of patriotism.

Americans are not all bad, and I think this is something I realized near the end of the trip [which] needs to be expressed not only to the rest of the world, but to ourselves. Culturally, we have some poor moments (as we all do individually), but I like to think that at our overall core, we're really doing the best we can.

At the same time, we do have some collective issues we need to face. Our government leaders do project an air of arrogance and seeming indifference to the rest of the world. The perception many others seem to have of us is an overgrown teenager who is bigger than its parents (and can therefore overpower them) but has yet to learn the true discipline and responsibility that comes with such ability. Further, we seem to have a real problem taking care of our own in many respects. We don't seem to trust even our own citizens and we seem to not care for the less fortunate. In short, we are running around with blinders on and without any true awareness.

I think the first step to really changing the negatives that seem so pervasive is to find ways to increase overall awareness -- of everything! People need to know, they need to know about others, how they live, how they are affected by things that go on. They need to know about themselves, how they fit into the framework of where they are, how what goes on affects them. With awareness comes understanding. With understanding comes apprciation. With appreciation comes celebration and true balancing of the diversities and complexities of the world.

It's empowering in a way to have such an insight. If I feel powerless to affect improvement in the things around me, perhaps I should realize if I am too far ahead. It may be better to step back and work for expanding the awareness of those around me, on all sides of an event, issue, or line.

And sometimes that has to start on a personal level. Hard though it is sometimes, Gandhi's adage holds true: We must be the changes we wish to see in the world. So it starts with me. If I am disconnected from those around me, perhaps it is a call to some form of awareness. What am I missing by not being more aware of some detail?

Culturally, politically, socially, we all need more awareness as well.

Perhaps I can be a little less harsh with my country, while still recognizing when things need to change. I can let go of the resentment and animosity without becoming simply complacent. I do not embody America (nor does it embody me) but we do and can affect each other. Perhaps we can learn to be less adversarial and more cooperatively growing.

It all comes around full circle, doesn't it? Yet with each iteration of the spiral we find we approach what seems like the "same old thing" on a whole new level.

You can do the same thing here, if you like. :)

Back to the beginning (it loops! ha!)