I have been back in Australia for 1.5 years now. It has been 18 months of stationary travel: although I have been geographically immobile, the journey has been continuing within me.
For many years I have searched for a 'home' but I have recently learned that this is no more than an idea. Home is a state of mind. It doesn't matter where you are physically in the world: once you close your eyes you will always recognise the familiar voice and soul within you, which has travelled everywhere and nowhere. Home is within.
I travelled for a very long time trying to experience as much life as possible so that at the conclusion of my journey I would find inner peace - no matter where I went, what I did or who I was with. Needless to say it completely shook my world when, once upon returning to Australia, after countless travels and adventures, and epiphanies and enlightenment, my soul and spirit was in more turmoil than it had ever been in my life.
And I think I know the reason for this: I searched the world for an enlightenment that was never any-WHERE to be found. It was always within. And once I turned my energy and journey inward, only then did I realise that the true journey of enlightenment was taking place before I ever even took a step.
One may argue that it required the hundreds of thousands of miles of world travel to arrive at this conclusion - and I may be inclined to agree - but when I think that the next 'journey' I take can commence with the closing of my eyes... this makes me smile.
Onto my next adventure...
I have been a writer ever since I mastered my opposable thumbs. I distinctly remember writing letters to an imaginary army at the age of five. "Dear Men," I would begin. Not yet in possession of a journal or diary, I would write in a little, blue bank-book - where one would ordinarily records his or her deposits and withdrawals. Clearly this was a time well before computers would fit inside a house.
Since that time, I have been constantly ushered closer and closer to the same conclusion: that I wish to write a book - something that has also been encouraged by many of you. Well, the time of reckoning is approaching and when I close my eyes I see the end result.
But first I would like to undertake a year of formal education to groom and nurture what skill and ability I possess, to better tell the stories that so far only live within me. And in order to study - and to relieve the financial strain which three years of volunteer work creates - I am applying for a wonderful, writing scholarship.
It is a fantastic opportunity, and I fulfill most of the requirements but one: references. Usually the references should be from teachers, professors, mentors, etc, but because I have no formal training in writing, the administrators of the scholarship have requested that I compile and submit to them a collection of comments about my writing - whether it is my blog or anything else.
And so I ask you, my readers, if you have enjoyed my writing over the years, please leave a comment on this post: a few lines about my writing that I may forward with my application on the 12th January.
I greatly and humbly thank you all for your time and following regardless. I have thoroughly enjoyed relaying my thoughts and adventures to you over the years, and I hope to continue doing so for years to come. Thank you for your companionship on my journey.
Much peace, love and light to you all,
Ara
