Amazing to think that one month ago today I arrived in Melbourne.  Tepid and excited, scared and nervous I was ready to begin my adventure.  Utterly clueless and with no plan, I have absorbed the transition with ease and comfort all due to my host friend who has made this place feel like home.  My days have been full, fun and fast.  There are moments where I feel as though I am just dreaming, waiting to be woken.  Other moments it feels as though I am on an extended holiday and about to pack my bags returning to love and life of Toronto.  And then there are the days that I realize I am far away from everything and everyone I know.  All sense of familiarity, and I struggle with overwhelming loneliness.  But there is one constant feeling: this element of adrenaline that I experience everyday, which is this innate admiration I have for my surroundings.  The awe of realizing that I am in Australia – this magnificent hidden world tucked into the corner of the globe – and I become grounded, bursting with thoughts and wonders about how I am going to fill my life here.  A new appreciation for coffee and cuisine, developing a taste for good music, indulging in past passions like writing and drawing, exercising and sculpting both my mind and body, finding new causes to get involved in while reinvesting in old ones.  Meeting new social influences and most importantly decompressing – savouring the time each day to be reminded of who I am, where I am and why I’m here.  I’ve been around for 28 years now and all it took was a time out, allowing myself to move forward without feeling guilty.  Believing in landing on my own two feet, finding strength to direct my own destiny, overcoming my fear of taking risks.

And yes, I have been able to discover all of this – and so much more – in the past thirty days.  Not really sure where I’m going from here but that is something that only time can tell.