Life Just Happens

If someone were to ask me to choose the best thing about life, my absolute favorite thing, it’d definitely have to be this semester I’ve had abroad in Aussieland.  I’m only kidding.  That’s probably what my global advisors at school are wishing I’d say, but I’m not that sappy.  In all honesty though, my favorite thing about life would probably have to be its unpredictability.  I love the randomness of it all.  I love that you could make plans a week, or even a year in advance for something, and have them completely fall apart and fall through the day before.  I’m not going to lie though, it always sucked when I was deciding whether to pack my Mickey or Minnie ears, only to find out that I would no longer be the happiest person at the happiest place on earth the following morning.  But that’s life.  I’m not exactly sure if it’s always going to be as sweet as a box of chocolates, but one thing’s for sure, you really never know what you’re going to get.  And that’s the beauty of it. 

But you have to learn to love it—I certainly have.  I love not knowing—not knowing what I’m going to be doing tomorrow at three o’clock pm, or heck, let’s get wild and say am, because who knows?  I love not knowing what or where I’m going to be a year from today, because it simply means that anything goes.  The unpredictability of it all—the absence of a coherent and detailed plan—leaves so much room for…I guess, for life to happen.

And it always does.  Life just happens, and I guess it’s just our job to let it.

A year ago from today, I never would have imagined myself in Aussieland.  During my freshman year in college, I wasn’t even sure if I was going to be doing a semester abroad, but look at me now!  I’m not making paper, but I’m definitely making memories, and word on the street is that those are pretty invaluable.  I’d say they were priceless, but this isn’t a Mastercard commercial.  I’m seeing things I’ve never even dreamed of seeing, and meeting people that I never knew existed prior to this trip.

That gets me every time.  There are seven plus billion people in this world and seven plus billion other places I could be, and yet here I am--in Sydney.   I’m about four months in, and the thought of it all is still just about as mind-blowing as it was on day one.  The experiences, the people you meet, the encounters, and the relationships you form—you had a one in seven plus billion chance to meet and experience who and what you have.  You had a one in seven plus billion chance to build that relationship, to sculpt that companionship, and to mold that lifelong friendship.  How is that not mind-blowing?  Every experience, every encounter, and every friendship is truly special, purely based on the fact that it happened, when it had every reason, and every probability and possibility not to.  And on that note, I just have to say thank you.  Thank you to everyone who’s made my experience in life, and in this particular situation, here down under, the spectacular-ness that it is and was.  Thank you for all the market mornings, the Tim Tam slams, the Mackas at midnight, the classy turned trashy Thursdays, the burgers with beetroot, and the list could go on and on.  But thank you all for the fun, and thank you Aussieland for the food, friends, and memories.  I just needed to get this out there a few days before I depart for the homeland to avoid staining my keyboard with tears. 

Here’s to five more days in Aussieland.  Five more days of randomness, and five more days of life, just happening.

Cheers,

Kimmy