Journey Home – Part 2 – A Place to Belong

** The long over due conclusion to my trip back to Australia **

After a couple of days, and seeing the local and familiar, I started to feel more at home, although the nagging feeling that this was no longer MY city never quite left. It wasn’t until I ventured outside the areas where I grew up and away from the streets that I knew so well and who knew me that I began to rediscover where is home for me in Australia.

It began with a road trip. A friend of mine invited me to her house by the beach and who was I to refuse. Once again as I found in Oman, the chance to spend time by myself gave me a chance to clear my mind and enjoy the surroundings, experiences and the familiarities I (re)discovered along the way.

While enjoying the surf, all of a sudden a feeling came over me that: “Yes, I do belong. And this is where I belong!” It was relief and excitement as those feelings washed over me. All of a sudden I knew that no matter how much I enjoyed life before I left Australia, if I was to return home now, home would mean something different to me. Freedom and open spaces were important to me now and gave me a chance to escape the closed in feeling that I had been feeling in Qatar and even in Melbourne. When I got to my friend’s place, and lay down on her front yard with a book in the shade, my mind was made up – when I come back to Australia it is going to be time for something different, a different life, a different place… just different. Maybe by the beach, maybe in the country, maybe in a different city… When the time comes for me to go home, I may not make that decision straight away but explore my options and set myself free.

~ by danavard on April 14, 2008.