Over five years ago, I wrote the following:
Second story windows give perspective.
I know, because I live in a basement. The view from its windows is limited. Several months after college, I moved to Asia to work in a country I had never seen, with people I had never met, in a language I did not know. To call my perspective “limited” would be quite the understatement. Awkwardly, I stumbled through eighteen months there, days that were usually messy, beautiful, dull, humbling and heartening at the same time.
And I got a glimpse of life from a different perspective.
It has been several years since I returned. I have learned that second-story views are usually linked to change, that they require work, and that they are invaluable. It also seems like these perspectives are much clearer when shared with others.
Now I am getting ready to take another one-way ticket to a country I have never seen, with a language I do not know (at least, not much). Friends await this time, and I’m moving from a basement apartment in New York to their basement apartment in the Middle East. But I am hoping for a second-story perspective. Come, check out the view.
So I moved in 2014 from a basement in New York to a basement in the Middle East. Eventually I moved to the second-story of that same Middle Eastern house.
Then, in 2017, I moved back to New York– this time with a second-story view of the Hudson River and a brand new husband, whom I had met and gotten engaged to while in the Middle East.
After a year in the USA, we moved together back to the Middle East. The apartment we live in now is, coincidentally, another basement. (Technically I guess they call it “garden level”– some parts are underground, and we have some windows at ground level). But we are finding lots of things that give us new perspective. I may try to write about some of them…
This is awesome! I can’t wait to hear about your experiences! I’ll be praying!
Hello, your grandparents suggested that I write to you at B-Camp this summer. I do not remember if I did but I can across your blog and so I am writing now.
Glad you stopped by to share in some of the stories. Hope you enjoy the blog. Merry Christmas to you!