the opera house or the sky
I moved to the outskirts of Sydney, Australia in late January (so blame my lack of writing on a shift in continents and hemispheres). I hadn’t planned on coming here. Australia had never been a dream, though traveling and experiencing new places has always been a love. The door opened very quickly for me, and once I decided to step through it, the entire process of getting here felt a little like walking on clouds.
I think that those of us who have adventurous spirits secretly like the idea of leaving everything behind. We have this glamorous picture of starting fresh in a new place, where people are different, scenery is different and (in my case) there are hundreds of white, sandy beaches beckoning.
What I’ve learned in just a few weeks, though, is that no matter where I am (living weightlessly on the moon or studying in beautiful Australia), I’ll always be Leora. I will always originally be from West Texas. I will always be the daughter of a teacher and businessman, the granddaughter of a seamstress and sheriff and 11 months older than my very tall brother. I will always have memories of desert thunderstorms and swimming with catfish in natural springs. I will always be the girl who cut her hair down to an inch and dyed it white, then purple when turning 18. And I’ll always be the girl who quit her job, sold her possessions and moved from Colorado Springs, CO to eastern Australia to study music at Hillsong’s Leadership College in 2008 (a school and church I’d only just learned existed a few months prior to getting on the 16 hour flight).
Moving overseas and leaving friends/family behind hasn’t changed me. Seeing the opposite shores of the Pacific Ocean hasn’t transformed my life or sanded off all my rough edges. And having the rare opportunity to make a thousand first impressions all over again hasn’t prompted me to come up with new ways of introducing myself. I still just say, “Hi. I’m Leora. It’s nice to meet you.”
It took me moving across the planet to realize that the quality of my life is most dependent on my perspective and how I step into and move around in my tomorrows (not where I am). I’ll always be Leora. Right now, I’m Leora in Australia. And from my perspective, it’s absolutely beautiful here.
