I remove my laptop and pile my
coat, backpack and zip locked cosmetics onto the conveyor belt in 30 seconds
flat. I begrudgingly comply with the explosives test—an all too
familiar request that I think is linked to racial profiling… but I digress.
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Photo Credit: Liz Chrisman, May 2011 |
Then I walk toward my terminal with a
realization that I know certain airports better than people; a trend soon to
change. After all, my intention for 2018 is to settle and build.
Four months later that seems like a cruel joke. Since setting that intention I’ve been on a whirlwind of adventures—10 flights that circled back to where I started:
1. Rhythm Hut; 2. India (Delhi, Agra & Varanasi); 3. Japan (Tokyo); 4. Rhythm Hut; 5. Blue Mountains; 6. Woodford Folk Music Festival; 7. Melbourne; 8. New Zealand (Kawai Purapura Retreat Centre & Tauranga); 9. Melbourne; 10. Rhythm Hut
It all began with one of the most
spontaneous journeys of my life (and there have been a few). This time I set off to undergo three
reconstructive surgeries in India. I know this may be fresh news for you but the
thought has been on my mind for five years.
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Photo Credit: Amy Charles, Apr 2018 |
I will skip the details to say
I am $10,000 in debt but I have no regrets. :D Body image has been a constant
struggle of mine to the point that it affected the clothes I wore, activities I
did, and relationships I started.
Until recently I was scared to
open up about it because I always thought I was the only one in the room with
this problem. When I overheard a woman sharing her story of breast
reconstructive surgery; I saw a rainbow in the clouds as Maya Angelou would
say.
Photo Credit: Amy Charles, April 2018 |
The experience was equal parts empowering and uplifting. Just a glimpse of the photos revealed a
beauty I didn’t know was there before. Scars and all.
Now I find myself a quarter in to the year and not at all on
track with my intention "to settle and build". Ha! I don't even know where I will live next week. Perhaps what I found is something greater. Within the
whirlwind I found a rainbow in the clouds… and here I am... back at the
beginning.
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"Prepare yourself so you can become a rainbow in someone else's cloud." - Maya Angelou |