The Time Capsule

Those of us who left family, friends, values, cultures, and countries behind in pursuit of better opportunities may relate to this one.


Speaking for myself, I left with my own set of values and traditions, with an image in my mind of loved ones and of the country that I left, and in my mind arranged them in a perfect little time capsule and called it home. Of course, I only took what I liked from each one of these listed factors, which was already a distortion of reality. Still, it was my perfect little world and I liked it the way it was. Only there were two problems with this scenario.

The first is that my time capsule prevented me from fitting in. Instead of jumping in and embracing new cultures, I kept referring back to my set of values, comparing it with those I am seeing, and thinking that I can not possibly do this or that because I am "different".

The other problem was that it distanced me from my comfort zone. The time capsule that I carried so dearly with me was not an accurate reflection of reality. As a result, whenever I went back home I was disappointed to see that people have changed and values have been lost. Of course, things may have never been the way I saw it, I just chose to see it that way.

Conclusion: Neither am I fitting in where I am living now, nor where I used to live. Just hanging in the middle. I am not alone, am I?