People & their stories - Week Two

According to Stephen Fry, "our stories are what makes us human," and yet my experiences here, sometimes make me believe that people fear 'speaking their truth, listening completely to the words expressed by another individual and using language to experience the world'.

The colleagues that I am sharing my experiences with in Dili are at times complex to understand, yet fundamentally basic. They are nomadic in mind and spirit and even if that is how I too appear, I don't believe that I am like this. Rather I seek adventure to experience like's challenges; to better understand humanity and myself; and to maintain inspiration and balance. I may seem like I am constantly in flight and motion like a butterfly, but at my core I am content, hopeful and anchored to a place and people.

I suppose at times, I am perplexed by what I perceive as a 'service to oneself', the elusiveness of trust and honesty, and a fierce sense of entitlement. My reactions are also compounded by the fact that conversations are generally fixed on auto-play (i.e. where have you been? what have you eaten? who have you seen? etc etc). The majority of people are not interested in discussing cultural events, their passions or ideas and while I am comfortable with 'going-with-the-flow', I just wish that I could experience some sort of genuine human connection.

This is a recurring issue for me and it is time I accept that inspiration and energy comes from many unexpected things and rather than feel disillusioned, I should continue to cherish that moment at the end of each day, when I position myself at one of the restaurant balconies which overlook the sea, to drink Timorese coffee, absorb the colourful and fascinating landscape of Dili and day dream...