Thursday, August 07, 2008

When I finally leave . . . .

I just read this interesting post by Keri that mentions life when you get back home. It makes me a little anxious. I've known something like this was coming as I've watched some of my relationships fade while others have blossomed. Reintegrating to home is never easy after being away for so long. Life has moved on even though we've left.

Here is the part that interested me about Keri's post:
It is this sense of displacement, post-Antarctica. The feeling that you have one foot in two worlds, so different from each other that functioning well in one takes a completely different skill set than functioning well in the other. I've been lucky enough to see many Antarctica friends, and touch base with even more over the summer, and I think we all feel this way to some degree. For some, it hits us with deep, inexplicable sadness. Depression. Inertia. We emerge from the ice completely changed as people, and our relationships with the people in the "real world" have changed profoundly -- some in very positive ways, and some in very negative ways. If you are a first-time Antarctican reading this blog to find out what life's all about, be prepared for this. Maybe it will make it easier to not be taken so by surprise. But maybe not -- it's a feeling shared by many of my second and third season friends as well.

I realized today that in the last couple of weeks, I've finally, FINALLY, felt like I am a complete, functioning person in the "real world" again.

2 comments:

  1. ....when you are there, you miss being here (the states);but when you are here (the states), you miss being there (the Ice). Thanks for keeping me updated here in Michigan while I await coming back down for the summer...

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  2. i think many SASers felt this way when they returned home...

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