Experiences, those we like to label good and bad, they’re all lessons. Lessons about what’s going on around you, and internally for you.
This year so far has had a fair bit of change for me, from a stable government job, waiting for another job to potentially (or maybe not) offer a contract, 2 months in Thailand that might have become longer had that job not offered a contract, and a week on a mates farm that felt far longer than all the rest combined.
My time in Thailand was an experience I’d label good – sunshine, constant learning and upskilling, making new amazing friends from around the world, living a life that felt carefree in all the ways I’ve always imagined and yearned for. This is a place and a lifestyle I plan to return to in future, but for now I squeezed as much out of it as I could and loved it – even with some challenges towards the end – all learnings I approached with enthusiasm and optimism. I had hoped to be able to maintain my Thailand attitude for life longer than I managed to… (will have to focus on getting it back)
The farm, potentially one I’d label bad – but lets explore more. It wasn’t quite what I was told it would be, there were many more risks to me and my future than I care to delve into, I discovered some mistruths told many years ago that affected my comfort with health and hygiene, and much more. However, to label this past week bad would be too simplistic. It was a week of very interesting learnings. I learnt a lot about ageing, about personalities, and about my needs in a situation I hadn’t quite been in before – and all these lessons will be assets to me moving forward. It was also interesting that people who offered ‘help’ this week didn’t appreciate the trade-offs of that, or have time nor energy to explore what my needs may have actually been – and that is fine. Everyone has their own things going on. Between illness (requiring airlift to Townsville the week prior), lack of rain, errant family members rushing towards their own agendas contrary to other farm business, bushfires, and other commitments, there is never time to properly pause and make a sensible plan forward, even 30 minutes forward.
This was an experience of everyone involved just surviving and running on differing agendas with minimal communication – a challenge in any environment, but even more so when stretched over a large area.
It’s all experience.
The lessons in human needs, communication and health I will take with me from the experiences this year will serve me and those around me well moving into future experiences.
Time to go listen to some island reggae and catch up on sleep!
The Adventuring Engineer 