This July marks two years since I landed on Kiwi soil. I couldn't leave it blank because a lot has happened in those two years and I've had to undergo a lot of changes. And especially because this month, reflecting on it, I can say that I now feel at home...
Moving to another country requires a major life change and adjustments that take some time to settle in. According to the New Zealand Immigration website, there are different emotional stages we go through. My experience was exactly what the website says. The website provides the following chart:
After exactly 24 months here I finally feel at home, and what's more, I now feel that I have an established life with friends, hobbies, career, routine, assets and life planning. But to get to this point I went through a period of adaptation.
When I came here, my heart was completely open to new possibilities, to seeing things from a different perspective. I made a contract with myself that from then on it would be me with myself, without family and friends to advise me, so I should start following my heart more and be okay with myself.
In the end, New Zealand has given me everything I was looking for. The increased contact with nature has been one of the most fascinating things. My partner introduced me to hiking and that changed my view of things. O hiking helps us ask powerful questions that show us the things that really matter, such as: if I lost everything I have today, would I be a happy person? or What could I do to get a little further ahead? or Am I helping the people around me? How could I help?
Walking for the sake of walking is the same as being for the sake of being, it doesn't need to be thought about, justified or judged, just felt and been. Detachment is the greatest lesson. Letting go of the idea that when you reach a certain point you'll have to climb or descend a 1500m mountain, letting go of warm water to bathe in, letting go of the many facilities we have today. Trusting yourself and realizing that you are your own best companion. Being comfortable with the uncomfortable.
And consciously feeling how much your mindset interferes with your performance. Constantly challenging yourself means evolving hand in hand with fear, because it will always exist, but the excitement of doing something new is much greater than it.
Photography and yoga were also two things that came into my life for good. I already practiced in Brazil, but not as vigorously as I do here. And how good it does...
Anyway, that's the biggest lesson I've learned in the last two years. For those of you who are (or want to be) living in another country, you know that being an immigrant is sometimes not easy. Before you feel at home, there are many barriers to break down, such as language, customs, distance, climate and discrimination. But the good news is that one day all this becomes a mere detail.
- And she always felt at ease, because it didn't matter where she was, but where her heart was.
With love,
Cha
☆
