Well, hello and welcome to the first entry of the Sweany Australia Thoughts & Happenings Blog! I'm hoping this medium will be one of the many fun and easy (and inexpensive!) ways for Andy and I to stay in touch with everybody throughout the next 2 years. This is my first blog experience, so we'll see how it goes.
I feel that I must preface this entry's thoughts with the fact that I spent approximately 2 quiet and contemplative hours this morning finishing the book Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. For those of you who have read this book, you will understand why this entry will probably one of the most, if not the most, serious entries you might encounter from me. For those of you who haven't read this book, I highly recommend it to all females. It is probably a little girly for most of the guys I know.
A friend of mine said to me last night, in a very drunken state (which for me I usually equate with as close to total honesty as you can hope to get from most adults) that he respected mine and Andy's decision to go ahead with this move to Australia, but that he also wanted me to know that he was, "...moving on." This phrase was stated multiple times actually, and multiple references to how he and his life would be, "...moving on while we were gone" were offered for my thorough understanding. I was quite at a loss for words and finally responded, "I got it. Really, I got it."
Initially I was saddened and hurt by these words, but as I considered them further later on in the evening and today, I found myself thinking, Why do I find the idea of his moving on to be saddening or hurtful? Aren't we all, ideally, moving on all of the time, no matter what we're doing? Isn't moving on something that we should constantly be striving for in our lives?? And what can we really do to stop it? Absolutely nothing- the world and universe move on constantly- I just happen to be positioning my body in Australia for the next 2 years. My heart, my thoughts, my feelings will be with me, obviously, but they will also be scattered around the globe, with everyone I care and think about, as they are right now.
Am I struggling with our decision to move? Yes- particularly as the departure date (August 23)continues to approach. Yes- particularly when I wonder, "Is there something wrong with me that I can voluntarily move myself so far away from everyone I love?" Yes- particularly when I worry about the health and wellbeing of all of my family and friends during the time that we will be away. Yes,yes, yes...
And no. No- because I'm going with Andy, and we made this decision together, and we're going together, and it is a wonderful opportunity, and we love to travel, and we love to see and experience new things and meet new people. No- because I can't wait to live there and feel what it is like. No- because it will provide an opportunity for many people who might not otherwise have traveled to Australia the opportunity to come see us and this amazing part of our world. No, no, no...
So, here's to moving on.
Cheers!
Christy
4 comments:
that was the coolest post that I have seen in a long time. Kudos Christy. I hope that you have the times of your lives there down under. Love you guys.
I have had a fortune cookie message taped to my computer desk for about 8 years that sums it up: "Idleness is the holiday of fools"
Wow Christy,
That's really insightful. I am really glad you have such a great attitude to find a positive message in all that. I can only feel sorry for that bum of a friend who would say such a crude, insensitive thing.
I don't know what that friend was going on about exactly...but I'm sure you nailed it right on the head. Maybe that was even what was in his heart, buried deep under layers and layers of brew-fest induced blabbering.
I think that none of us have really dealt with the fact that you guys are leaving. Friends go on vacation and come back, even move within the country, but can be easily visited. This will be different.
My brother left for the peace corps a few months ago to Madagascar. I remember a great, semi-drunken (although definitely not brew-fest style drunken) conversation we had before he left. I asked him what he thought he would be like when he came back, or really who he would be. I told him this experience would really change a lot of things in him. Not that we wouldn't recognize him, or that he wouldn't love us and we wouldn't love him. But definitely different. He didn't say much at the time, but on the day he left he said he had been thinking a lot about that conversation, and that it did scare him a bit, but also that it was one of the most exciting parts.
Maybe that was the sentiment that your insensitive friend possibly had. It is really hard to face the fact that some of our best friends will not be around to hang at a moments notice, and that a lot of time and experience will pass before we can again. We will all be doing our own thing, and changing before we are really seeing each other regularly. Things won't be the same, and that's a little scary.
But this is part of the reason we are all friends. We respect each other, and enjoy each other's company because we aren't idle. We do big, exciting, fun things. These are the type of friends that survive. That weren't based just on convenience. That change a bit, but return again to catch up, and see the changes and growth that has occured in our friends.
I for one, can't wait to see the Sweanys Australianized a bit, and we'll be hanging around NE Portland for a big homecoming. See you guys on Saturday!
Ehhhhh...
So you two are moving to Australia for two years. Are you taking the dog? Are you selling the house? Are you coming back for Christmas? Wasn't Christy's sister opposed to this idea? How do you file taxes there? Are you acquiring temporary citizenship? Did you know that Austria isn't even from California? What is the approximate currency exchange? Are you going to learn to surf? Aren't you guys intimidated to be living on the continent that birthed Paul Hogan? Are you going to buy a Subaru Outback? New or used? Where specifically are you moving to in Australia? Are you aware that Arnold Schwartshenegger is actually from Austria? Would this have any effect on your decision? Are you aware that a known Nazi war criminal actually attended Arnold Skwarzneggeir's wedding ceremony? Did you know that Arnold Schwittzinheigger isn't even American? How does that make you feel? To know you are moving into a Nazi country that isn't even from Austria for a guy who is living in California? I bet you are surprised.
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