Ubuntu

With almost another year under my belt since the last entry, I have gained quite a bit more life experience. I've changed far more than I ever would have expected. Realizations and new perspectives have drastically changed the course of my life, maybe not quite enough for others to discern easily, but to me, that change has made a world of difference. At the moment I am a single, diversion-seeking young woman looking forward to new experiences in life. I've cut many of the ties that I had in the past which kept me from moving towards the life I've envisaged for myself, now allowing me to be a lot more honest and true to myself.

Of course there are things which have not changed in this year, such as my love for traveling and culture. My year was marked by two incredible trips out of the US: one to Mexico in March and the other in May all the way to South Africa. Mexico opened my eyes to all the obvious things: their culture, history, etc. Yet past all that I learned a valuable lesson in friendship and in making friends. Coming back home I had new friends, all of whom brought something important to the table, something which helped open my mind and mold it to new outlooks. One person in particular played an even more essential role in changing my life, although indirectly and probably unknown to him. Getting to know this person showed me that I needed to look for more from a partner than what I was being offered from the relationship I was in at the time, and had been in for awhile. Progressively, I took actions to ameliorate my life by cutting out the bad influences, i.e. my ex-boyfriend. All this came at a crucial time, just before my departure for South Africa.

Being able to travel to Africa, an entirely new continent and culture to me, as a person focused solely on herself is a gift that I cannot thank God enough for. From the get-go I was able to seek out adventure and experiences I would otherwise have not been open to had I been weighted down by the thoughts of another person. Socially, I grew as a result of the trip, as well as self-conciously (in a good way). From a different aspect, my time in South Africa also awarded me the opportunity of learning a great deal about a country and a people that I knew little about to begin with. My eyes were opened to the realities of social and economic oppression, as well as the concept of race as a major social issue. From the first day, arriving in Johannesburg, the legacy of Apartheid became apparent. Although abolished for the majority of my lifetime, the consequences this method of governing had still linger around nearly every corner. I've been back to the US for a little over a month now yet have continued my studies on these realities in South African society. The situation intrigues me from a humanistic standpoint. Being an individual raised to view other human beings in the same light as myself, I find it hard that at one point in time the South African government made race a legal deciding factor in the lifestyles of every one of its citizens (and every person who fell under its jurisdiction, since the majority of the residents of SA during Apartheid were not considered legitimate citizens). Personally, I do not know what exactly I am seeking in studying the subject, other than a better understanding of the events that occurred and a stronger stance in opposition to any sort of unjust oppression.

Little by little, my mind is re-forming itself and becoming more aware of the world as an interconnected web of people rather than a world of individuals, distant from one another. In the fall, I hope to raise awareness in others as well through the medium of a radio show on my college station. The format will be to feature a certain type of music each show followed by a mix of songs from all over the world. The objective will be to raise awareness of humanity itself. If there's one thing that I've observed throughout my life in America, it is that many people in this country do not show a strong sense of unity with others. It's a more individualistic society, which does have its advantages at times, yet certainly comes with its own downfalls as well. I would like to change this, even if just one person at a time. In today's world where globalization is occurring rapidly, it is necessary for people to be able to view a person from the opposite side of the world, from a culture completely unlike their own, as a peer and an equal.
The African philosophy of ubuntu embodies the mindset which I yearn to understand and call my own someday.