rockit.

Home

It's been 2 days since I've been home, and 20 minutes since I've seen "my world" in utter amazement.

The last highlight of my CEED experience was facilitating at DRIVE EB National Conference in Southern Cone. That was where my personal experience abroad had come to an end, most prominently when facilitating the functional ICX track. To introduce ourselves, we were to give our names, our @ XP and what exchange meant to us. As each person elaborated on what exchange meant to them, I had 10 more things to say on top of each comment, but that is not the point. As each VP exchange spoke about what X meant to them, I held on tightest to 1 comment: Exchange means to see another reality with the vision you had grown up with and coming back with a different set of eyes.

As I rode the bus back home from the airport on Tuesday, I was simply astonished at how everything felt so normal. Everything was coming at me, peoples' behaviours, the bus, the cleanliness, efficiency... and it all felt... normal. How natural it was to not even embrace home, but just glide along with it and merge. I was in no shock, there were no surprises... no expectations... and nothing has changed. Nothing has changed.

Matters and situations are still the same, people still act the same, routines are still the same... and I can't stand it - at all. I guess this is where I see the change in myself - the lens that separates my old matters from my new ones. Yes there are the little things: everyone's lawns are so green, how could I ever have though it gross to step in grass? I want to roll in everyone's lawns now. who cares if I get home at 3AM? I walked the streets of Buenos Aires at 4AM and took the bus all by myself every night after hardcore partying... drinking tap water from a bar? it's not a concern if TO's pipes are 100 times cleaner than those of Bs As...

But the things that extremely bother me: why are people talking about such useless, mindless topics? Should I be wasting my time on being stupid? Things that use to be fun not anymore, and things that used to matter don't. In some ways I feel like I'm being snobby, but can I be blamed for having seen concerns that really matter?

So... what is excellence? Is it doing better than others in certain things? Is it having a good balance in life? Should we live life to its fullest if it means watching a lot of TV because it keeps you content? What should each of us be doing?

posted by Irene @ 1:40:00 AM