The people I consider safe are my Mom, my Dad, and Royston - my family. I know that my safety and happiness is exteremly important to them. I cannot begin to express in words how thankful I am to them for the support they have given me throughout my life. If I could have dinner with two people dead or alive, they would be J.B Lobo (my mom's father), and Mary D'Souza (my dad's mother). Two incredible people who I did not get to spend much time with and whose wisdom and knowledge I'd like to witness for myself. Royston (my brother) is my go-to guy here on earth. Jesus is my hero.
[The above is an exercise I was asked to do before my trip to Kenya - I believe that questions similar to the ones above are important to think about when you decide to begin a journey of self-exploration. It's sort of a starting point. You look inside yourself and ask yourself "Who am I?". You look at the people closest to you and identify them. Ask yourself WHY you picked them? Think about the people you'd like to learn from. WHY them? Who is that person you ALWAYS turn to for help, or to share that funny story with, or to talk about an issue dear to your heart? Who is your hero? How do you define what constitutes a 'hero'? Everyone's going to have a different definition]
My goal is to go on another trip like the one to Kenya, every year - but to a different place each time.
I want to travel to India, East Asia, South America, Europe, Australia, and more of Africa.
I want to work with children with special needs. The looks on their faces when they succeed at something is PRICELESS...however big or small their task is.
I want to expose my friends and family to my goals and the issues I care about.
I want to live more actively as a Christian. My trip to Kenya definately helps me start, but I want to bring it home with me everyday, and take it to work with me everyday.
I want to complain less, and work harder
I want to capture and remember every smile I made happen
I want to absorb as much of our planet's beauty and share it with others
Reflect upon who you are, who you want to be, commit yourself to something and have faith that you alone can make it happen. Nothing's better than saying, "I DID IT!"
Peace n' Love,
- Falon
1 comment:
Alright lady you can start rubbing your hands with glee because here is your first non-spam post AND in English too ;)
As I told you earlier, i've read your blog a few times now. I won't lie, a part of it had to do with me trying to find something to do while at work - like right now for example :) A lot of it simply has to do with the fact that you are a good writer and that I find your Africa stories to be very humbling. There is another reason as well but i'll get to that later.
I wasn't kidding when I said that the stories are humbling. I think I lead a fairly well-to-do life. No Ferraris or Porches, but I think I do alright. I have a great family, great friends and great prospects ahead of me. Life isn't a struggle at all. Yet I somehow always seem to find something to complain about, get angry at or get me down.
Then I read your Africa stories and it puts things in perspective and I mean REALLY in perspective. People go through harder things everyday and yet take so much joy in the smallest of things I'm sure I take for granted. I would like to say that I take these stories to heart, but until I experience them first hand like you did I don't think it will truly sink in. The moment I get back to my day-to-day life these sort of things seem to take a back seat. I don't think that makes me a bad person, it just makes me like every other person out there - and THAT is the truly sad thing here.
A friend of mine experienced something very similar when she went to Uganda a couple of times as a volunteer to help in the elections. She was so incredibly touched and was the leader of the Guluwalk in Halifax. She now works from the organization in Toronto (www.guluwalk.com). Her stories really hit me hard and through her gentle nudging I watched a CBC documentary on Uganda and another documentary called 'Uganda Rising'. I strongly recommend you watch that because you will never be the same afterwards. I took a big interest in the Uganda situation after that but again my day-to-day life came in the way and i've lost touch somewhat. I think thats why I tend to read your blog every now and then. I need the reminder to put my life in perspective.
As for the other reason that i'd alluded to earlier, its a simple one but very true - I read the blog because for me atleast, its a means to know you better. I DO think of you as a very good friend, but its odd to say that because I actually DON'T know all that much about you. If I were to do a tally I think i've actually only seen you on a handful of occasions. And its almost always been in big group settings where you can't really get into 'deep' conversations. To be honest, I think that applies to my relationship with a lot of the crew. I think Dev and Jonty are the only ones I know inside-out. All that will change for sure once I move to Toronto so hey, theres something more to look forward to because you'll are all amazing people - that much i'm sure about ;)
So till then I continue to live vicariously through MSN and Facebook and yes, your blog. I used to have a blog a couple of years ago that i'd update fairly frequently. People used to comment that it helped them get to know me better or at least know whats been going on in my mind. Now I do the same with you. One day I am going to sit you down and get the full Africa debrief. I’m sure you’ve told a lotta people about it already, but knowing you, I’m also sure that you have no problems with reliving it all over again :)
So there ya go. Quite the long winded message eh? Feel free to reply through Facebook or something. I’m pretty sure I’ll know what you’re referring to ;) Besides wanting to share my thoughts (and make you rub your hands with glee) this is my way of saying thanks too for all the countdown messages. Its always heartwarming when someone is excited to see you. I’ve almost forgotten that my reason for coming down there to begin with is the concert… almost ;) You are a special girl Falon, just like the rest of them and I can’t wait till I’m actually there for good and a REAL part of your lives – and vice-versa.
Love & Hugz,
Some Random (but ridiculously handsome) Dude
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