Brazil Nuts and Iranian Dates
(c) Melina Magdalena 2007
Well . . . after a two-month hiatus in blogging that I can scarcely begin to explain, I seem to have broken the habit and don't quite know what to say. A lot has been going on in my life, but that's nothing new. Maybe it all caught up with me and I was forced to deal, rather than just observe. I feel tired already, just thinking about it.
The last time I blogged was just prior to inviting yet another PD (prospective donor) to take a look at my blog. He is also a writer, and my thinking was to short-cut part of the getting-to-know-you ordeal. Alas, I have not heard from him since.
Perhaps what I have been experiencing is a little like culture shock. Or to put it more accurately, I am repeatedly experiencing mini-earthquakes. The aftershocks rock my world, forcing me further and further from my comfort zone. Is this all part of growing up, I wonder?
culture shock
n. disorientation and unhappiness caused by an inability to adapt to a culture which is different from one's own
(from The Macquarie Concise Dictionary, Third Edition)
... but I haven't been unhappy, and I have adapted to disorientation, disappointment and disillusion, by simply continuing to plant one foot in front of the other and keeping on keeping on.
I can at least elucidate on the title of this post!
Yesterday I had my 12-month fitness checkup at the University of South Australia. I have been taking part in a PhD program which is studying the effects of regular exercise on a sedentary population. To begin with 12 months ago, my fitness age was assessed as being in my 60s. This was terrifying! But I signed up, because they were offering me 40 days of free fitness classes three times per week. I knew this would be good for me. Since my dog died I had stopped going for walks. My joints were stiff, and I felt tired all the time. So after the inital 40 days, my fitness was monitored at 3 months, 6 months, and now 12 months.
The assessment is done after fasting, because as well as taking measurements of height, girth and skin folds, they look at blood glucose, cholesterol, lung function, reaction times, flexibility and heart rate during exercise.
So I was pretty hungry, when I arrived home after the assessment. Over 12 months I managed to lose about 2 kilograms, but gained a great deal more, including the confidence and motivation to exercise regularly.
I feasted on a handful of brazil nuts and pitted iranian dates, accompanied by my usual milky tea. Why is it that such simple foods taste so very good even after so short an abstinence?
Here is a short list of the culture shocks I am feeling just now.
- entering a world in which I am being paid substantially for the professional work I do
- spending a great deal of my time performing and being public
- learning how to mother young adults and build healthy family relationships upon this ever-changing lifescape
- listening to the tales of horror, atrocity and redemption that hover like spectral deathshrouds over the present lives of the students in my classes
- discovering at every moment how little I really understand about this world or any other
- trying to make my ideas and visions manifest in ways other than the written word
Although the idea of 'culture shock' may sound negative, I feel I am moving into an extraordinarily positive phase in my life. Opportunities for deep and abiding friendship, meaningful work and creativity are knocking on the doors and windows of my mind. I am overwhelmed by ideas and sensations, but I'm still grounded. It's a matter of recognising the choices as they present, and taking action when I so choose.
I feel blessed with good fortune. Funnily enough, I don't feel driven right now, to prosletyse. I am aware and I am communicating. Right here, right now, that is exactly where I am.
