So...Now what?

It has been a bit of a whirlwind. My first trip back to my Windsor home, the holidays, returning to Hong Kong and 2012 begins, Melanie and Taylor visit HK, my sweet little family of four and one fabulous dog are all together for the first time in our new HK home, Alex survives finals and starts a new semester at HKIS, and Mel settles back into college in Oregon. If that seems like a run-on sentence it is a bit how the last month has felt! All is well and life goes on. Yet, I am feeling slightly lost. Yes, I'm sure it is because I've just been reunited with family and friends and then left again. I'm still adjusting to the hole that is left when your first child flies off from the nest. I'm coming down from a whirlwind of activiites, festivities, and plans. Now I'm left with the question, "What is next?"

I've navigated through a lot of stuff and now I realize life has settled down, I've healed from all the craziness of the past few years (filled with blessings but stressful none the less), and it is my job to plant the seeds for what I want to grow into now!

The good news is I have plenty of Hong Kong and China adventures to share with you and reflect on. I have pictures and stories and that will keep me writing and appreciating this experience. Today, however, what is speaking to me and what I share with you is the personal, human side. The reality of an International move is not just the logistics and language barriers, the cultural differences and changes to life as you've known it. With the opportunity to see a whole new world has come the unexpected work of figuring out what is next for ME. I gave myself permission to just do some reading today. Within moments I read the perfect answer for myself, for now:

"Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves...live everything. Live the questions now..."
Rainer Maria Rilke

Wow, so I'm going to ask "What is next?" and then WAIT and LIVE and NOTICE and I'll get back to you on that answer!

Just in case you are worried that I'm taking it all too seriously and it is all much too heavy, I leave you with some new statue pictures that I MUST share because they always make me smile and giggle:

The shape of this confident lady helps me with my self-image! Last time I looked, I had NOT developed rolls on my thighs...yet! Wink!

Such freedom of expression! Such unusual breasts!

As much as the female statues make us real women seem svelte, I do acknowledge that the male statues are NOT so great for the male ego...

Here is to always finding things to make us smile and laugh!