I understand so much better now. It feels bare, naked, exposed to me. Unfamiliar. Learning to be who we want to be, who we are.

It is like the floor has dropped out from beneath your feet, and all the familiar rules have changed.

In a kind of related way, I think of people who've left their contries of origin, for whatever reason/s and often because of fear for their lives. I am in awe that they can go half-way round the world to start again, to learn a new language, culture, customs, laws, new ways of nourishing themselves physically with unfamiliar foods, etc. And at the same time, find a way to support themselves, raise a family, live theri lives.

Strangers in a strange land.