Back to Basics

I was visiting a church I used to attend as I sometimes did. After the sermon had been underway for a while I politely lifted the "church finger" and excused myself from the sanctuary.  I first encountered my sister in the vestibule, and as I looked over my right shoulder I saw the restroom was occupied. After waiting a few moments, my aunt emerged from the women's restroom and I quickly run in. I notice the door is slightly off of its hinge, and the light from the vestibule pierced through the left side of the room. I walked to wards the sink and the lights from outside went out. When I finished in that room I passed back through the vestibule to find that everyone except my sister and my aunt had left. I wasn't sure how I had missed the entire sermon in that time period. But the greater concern was  the three of us would get home. I continued speaking with my sister in the pitch black vestibule as she stood in between the double doors that lead to the outside.  ...

When you move abroad, you can without fail expect hear one question from every person you meet: "Why are you here?" This question always causes me to take pause. For me the answer wasn't very clear at the beginning. I had a myriad of reasons that could not be clearly and concisely articulated to a stranger. So without fail, in my hesitation, every single person interjects their own answer. "Oh you're so young, you just need time off to find yourself", to which I generally just agree so the awkward verbal exchange ends. This answer never quite sits well with me either. The thing about searching for something is that oftentimes, you can never know what you may find or where you might find it. What results is a perpetual state of confusion, fear, anxiety, uncertainty, and even despair. Take the following analogy: Imagine you've been given plans to build a house. The person who gives you the plans is a world renown architect and a close friend ...