We Shape the World, yet Sometimes It Shapes Us

With a little over a month remaining, I can’t help but to begin reflecting on what impact the past three months have left on my life.

The importance of being in touch with oneself has never been more evident.  Being thousands of miles away from everything familiar, including people, language, cuisine, and culture, inevitably leaves one with a plethora of emotions.  And at times, seemingly contradictory ones.  It is at these times it becomes increasingly important to examine yourself both objectively and unbiasedly.  For some, this may mean ten minutes of a sort of mental regrouping, and for others, a few hours.  Regardless of which category you fall under, it is important that such emotional conflict is both expected, and pleasantly dealt with.  For, from strife results perseverance.

Those very moments are the ones that stand out to me the most: those moments of profound realization about the beautiful creation existing around me, and my place and view within it all.  A few such realizations for me are as follows:

Just a few days before departing for France, heightened strike alerts began saturating the news.  With my mom and sister forty-eight hours away from departing Chicago, I remember having a profound spirit of condemnation toward France, for if their juvenile manifestations resulted in my sister and mom not making it to Paris, I would be quite bitter, to say the least.  However, I realized that I hadn’t even taken the time to understand what was

First time seeing the Eiffel Tower

causing the French manifestations .  After realizing that the French government wanted to raise the retirement age from sixty to sixty-two, I had little sympathy for them, seeing as the retirement age in America is much higher than that.  However, in all of this mess, it was clear to me that all things in this world are relative.  While to us, the retirement age of sixty-two is substantially low, to them, that is two more years of a lifestyle they neither expected nor value as much as Americans.  One cannot place judgment on a culture they are not a part of, and instead should realize that all of life’s circumstances are just that: circumstantial.  It is my challenge to you to seek understanding when you find yourself in a frustrating situation, for a discerning heart is most always answered.

On a more personal note, I experienced a deep understanding and admiration for Catholicism.  While I myself am not Catholic, being immersed in Rome’s deep Catholic history was enlightening.  As I mentioned in my blog about Rome, it is undeniable the devout nature the Catholics have historically shown throughout time.  Going beyond my genuine acceptance of the Catholic religion, is my acceptance for all inhabitants of this earth, religious or atheist, Italian or American.  For, judgement, whether it is toward a specific culture, religion, or origin, should not hold a place in our hearts.

In front of St. Peter’s basilica

Our purpose on this earth is not to inflict more animosity, but to calm it.  The calming of such animosity begins with oneself.  It’s obvious, then, that Mahatma Gandhi has had it right all along: “be the change you want to see in the world.”

In both of these examples of some of the realizations I have experienced, the concept of knowledge is at hand.  For, both situations required a sort of understanding that I didn’t have prior to experiencing them.  I have always considered myself a lover of academics, an individual who enjoys studying, succeeding, and admittedly, over-achieving, but, up until this point, I hadn’t sought much knowledge outside of my academic studies.  I immersed myself in whatever subjects I was taking that semester, and any free time I had was spent taking a break from all of the knowledge I was busy learning during the week.  However, since these experiences, I have found myself researching politics and theology during my free time.  It is my hope that these learned lessons will be applied not only for the remainder of the trip, but upon my return to normalcy in America.

Always growing together (Innsbruck, Austria)

I leave you with the challenge to possess both a discerning and accepting heart.  You’ll be surprised how it transcends into all other areas of your life.