Unfamiliar Familiar Territory

I think we’d all probably agree that venturing into anything new can be a little scary, if not downright terrifying at times. Feeling the strange uneasiness in the unfamiliar seems not only understandable, but expected while the boundaries of our comfort zones are pushed and pulled.
 
And what happens when your journey takes you far away from an old familiar setting, but then brings you back to that place? A place where you seem to recognize everything… buildings, people, and daily routines, but now for some reason you feel like a stranger in a strange land. What had been true for you before in this place is not necessarily so anymore.
 
That is scary, too, I find, because this time these unfamiliar feelings might not be expected or understood (or wanted) by many of the old familiar faces. It takes courage to be who you are when it might be easier on others for you to be who you were.
 
It’s not about shame, blame, or right/wrong. It’s just that change changes things. Sounds kind of obvious, but I think that this can be a really difficult concept to handle sometimes. It can definitely be hard to talk about, especially with people who haven’t walked where you’ve walked.
 
But I don’t think that the objective of our journey here on earth is ever to take us back to who we used to be. I think it’s about experiencing and growing, having compassion for the bravery it takes to do the best that we can each day and learning to love and accept who we are now and the choices we can make now.

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