Back home and happy

The past few weeks of my life have brought new changes and a welcome new climate. From living in the concrete drug den that is Sanitas, in France I have migrated across rolling lands and oceans to wind up once again in Melbourne. I was initially as surprised as you are to hear myself say I was going home, but after much tossing and turning the decision began to settle and feel right.

There were a number of reasons for my decision to come back, from financial concerns to a need to look after my spirit. I was dissatisfied with the quality of the university, I felt increasingly depressed by my neighbourhood. I began to crave the intellectual stimulation I get in Australia, the lifestyle I lead here and the company of my close friends and family. All these factors combined, it seemed that Australia was the best place for me to be this year. Stepping foot back on our Sacred Lands reminded me of how important it is to feel enlivened and energised by the place in which you live.

I am reading Tim Winton’s Dirt Music at the moment. In it he says Australians are riddled with this kind of physical patriotism. Love of the land. The climate. The ocean. Winton’s words really ring home for me: stepping foot outside the airport, smelling the eucalypts and the earthiness on the breeze as I drove home, taking my first dip in the brawny Pacific Ocean, running along the beach with my dogs, feet in the sand. The more I go away the more I realise how much I live and breathe off these simple facets of my Australian life.

Back in Melbourne I am making an effort to fully appreciate the things that make this city the place I’d rather be. Tours gave me an appreciation of how open and accepting our society is. I won’t speak for the whole of Australia but in Melbourne I get this real feeling that I can be whoever I want, dress however I like and not be condemned for it. At uni I can talk to my professors and tutors as equals; challenge their views and engage them in debate. Out in the city I can comfortably be vegetarian and gluten free. On weekends there is always some activity or event that appeals to a whole range of audiences: I went to Seven Sisters, a women’s festival, over the weekend, the Comedy Festival keeps me laughing, tomorrow there is a free postcard workshop in solidarity with children in our detention centres, in a few weeks the Human Rights Film Festival begins.

I often find myself viewing Australia through a very critical lens. I was almost tempted to extend my trip when Abbott was elected. Our Prime Minister sucks; our government is more interested in short term, profit-driven projects than, say, the future of our environment, healthcare, our education; there is too much racism and sexism; it is so expensive… These things are all real! But my time overseas and arrival back in Oz have reminded how important it is to stop and be grateful for what is great; we are so lucky in so many other ways. If we appreciate what we have and not always think about what is missing, I think these things become easier to preserve and nourish.