I stand on a distant land
A continent of wonders, where the beaches sparkle and the plains glow with red sand
This country is an undiscovered alcove far removed from people on this Earth
I spend my days surfing, my nights walking through the streets eyes alight in mirth
Here in Sydney I have seen myself change
I no longer shuffle along through life, worried that my lack of stress is strange
And when I floated amongst the waves at the Great Barrier Reef
The sun shining, my scuba diving gear a comfortable weight upon my shoulders,
I breathed in the salt and thought back to my first two years of college
How I waffled along the streets of New York, blinded by my spanning to-do list
Study all night, get a job, go to graduate school, buy a house, plan for retirement, know my every life step,
I realized I don’t need to know everything that is coming
All that mattered was the soft inhale-exhale of my first scuba dive
All that demanded my attention was the bright coral and the sea turtle waving a slow hello,
I was so happy that I had done it, checked something off my bucket list
And proud that I allowed myself to sink and put my faith in my training
When I got out of the water, I called my father and saw his tears of joy
This boy from a tiny island in the Caribbean had seen his immigrant father’s dreams fulfilled
On that day I learned how simple it could all be
If I just step back and allow myself to be free
Perhaps studying abroad didn’t create a new me
Instead, it pulled back the curtains on the type of life I could not see
