I was going to use this second post to catch you up from week 1 to current day, but I’m realizing there’s a larger theme that underlies a lot of my experiences from the past month. The theme is this: What does it mean to have a sense of place?
When I lived in India back in 2003, I had to write “Sense of Place” essays for each new place that we visited… the ashram where we first landed, Auroville, Hampi… The goal was not just to establish one’s self in space to but to open the senses to everything that particular setting had to offer. Interesting exercise…
So now, fully 8 years post-India, this reflection is resurfacing. I just spent the better part of the past 11 years living, working, and breathing Baltimore. My whole identity and sense of self were wrapped up in that city: the experiences I had there and the life that I built. So what does it mean to uproot that, to truly start over? Moving to a new city on a new continent on the other side of the world from everything I know… with no job lined up and no idea what Sydney has to offer?… Totally disconcerting! And yet…
I have the unique opportunity to be wide open in my explorations of myself and this place.
I’ve been spending so much time just trying to settle in and build a mental map of how to get from home to some destination and back again (which granted, we’re both doing fairly successfully), that I almost didn’t notice how relaxed I’ve been feeling the past week…
The clouds are huge, rising behind the hillsides to the east and filling up the sky. The same hillsides twinkle at night once the sun goes down. I am riding the bus, the train, the ferry. I am walking alone at night. There is a noticeable lack of aggression in myself and those around me. The ocean breeze brings sand and the scent of salt water. Kites fly overhead, surfers search for waves, and people gather in droves.
So what does it mean to shed one identity based on a particular sense of place for another? What new body might we inhabit? What new insights may be garnered? I guess it’s too soon to really tell. All I can say is, I feel something shifting…
So with that said, let me now take you on a photographic exploration…
Manly Cove
Michael on the beach at Spring Cove, Sydney Harbour National Park
The leaves rustled, and this guy emerged. Hiking through Sydney Harbour National Park
Native species and ecosystems are very important to many Aussies. One thing we already have in common! The bandicoot is a small rodent-like marsupial.
Looking west to Sydney and Port Jackson from Fairfax Lookout on the North Head. This area is a great place for hiking and for discovering native plants and animals.
Sydney from the North Head
North Head. Most of the coastline around Sydney is cliffs, with a few spectacular beaches filing in the spaces between.