A Moment of Clarity

So I've been staying in this backpackers hostel which really doesn't have the greatest of accommodations. Ok fine, it's a shithole. After my flight arrived at 11pm in Melbourne, I found the closest hostel and checked in. The only reason I haven't moved yet is because I don't want to pick up my pack and move all my stuff. Ya, it's a bit lazy of me, but it's cheap and I can deal with dirty situations. I've done worse.

I was walking out of my room to take a shower this morning when the owner says "Hey mate, will you help me out for a minute?" I look over and he has his head hanging out of the shower stalls that always flood and is bent over and holding something. I walk closer and he's standing in a half inch of black water, trying to unclog the drains.

"I need you to hold that plug still while I work on this side."

I look down at my flip flops and highly absorbent pajama pant legs and then back at the half inch of black water. I'm slightly germaphobic, but just to the point where I wouldn't eat something that has been on the ground less than three seconds and where I have an interest in washing my hands every time I go to the bathroom. I don't feel obligated to help him but then again, I'm a nice guy and so is he. Holding my shower things in my arms, I step into the shower stall to grab the 'plug,' which is a plunger that looks too small for the drain. The soles of my flip flops are just barely thick enough to keep the black water from touching my feet. As soon as I bend over to grab the plunger, my face soap slides out of its case and into the water. I groan to myself as I pick it up and try awkwardly to hold everything else.

"Alright now mate. Hold it down real toight while I give it a go. Make sure you don't hold your face directly over it."

....what the fuck did I just get myself into?

He starts plunging away furiously on the other side whilst swearing up a storm. I can feel the pull on my side of the drain but since the plunger is too small, it doesn't create a complete seal. Water starts spraying out from the sides and if it wasn't for my amazing Luigi like plumber skills (because Luigi is the better of the two), I might have actually taken some damage. After 30 seconds of yogic balance and focus, my clear mind blocking out the stream of obscenities coming out of his mouth, I escaped without becoming the creature from the black lagoon. It was messy on my side but I got the feeling that all hell was breaking loose on his side.

"Ok mate. Why don't you come over here and hold this side while I give it a go on your side."

.........

Fine, whatever. We repeat the process and I repeat my yogic concentration, escaping once again. Thankfully I was headed to the shower. I spent a good amount of extra time in there, needless to say. What's that you ask? Did I use my face soap? I'd really rather not answer that question. Hey, I've done worse. Well actually, probably not.

In other topics, I've been doing a lot of reading and writing lately. I found a great book in the library yesterday. It's written by a Canadian and is his tale of traveling Australia for two months. I identify with him because he came to Australia on a whim without knowing anything about the people or the places. He talks about his observations and how his ignorance is a type of blessing because he doesn't have an ax to grind in regards to the white/Aboriginal issue. He came out to connect with the native people and to see the beauty of this vast land. He also feels repelled from cities and the white culture and spent most of his time in outback towns, which is what I want to be doing right now.

He writes in a lot of detail and describes all his interactions with people and the thoughts that are going through his head while he's having conversations. His book is 230 pages and he only traveled for 2 months. I've almost been here a month so I should be coming up on 100 pages of writing now, yes? I've been feeling like my blog posts are so long that people won't be able to keep up with them while doing everything else in their busy lives. However, that's not really my problem and I shouldn't be concerned with that. After reading this guy's description of a person, I feel like I have also met that person. When I look at my paragraph descriptions of the amazing people I am meeting, I feel like I'm not doing them justice. My blog posts will continue to be lengthy and that's just the nature of the beast. I'm a guy with a lot to say.

Now, to my moment of clarity. I experienced some confusion as to why I felt like I needed to be moving so quickly and change locations often. I've been led over a large distance in a small amount of time. In the beginning, I wanted to visit the hippy communities to meet like minded individuals. In Byron Bay, I met travelers from all over the world who are aware of the same things as I and who are discussing the same subjects that I have been discussing. I received more than enough validation of my mindset and testimonials from internationals that the consciousness revolution is indeed happening right now on a global scale. I left the comfort of Byron in a hurry without knowing why. Now I see that I could not make much progress there. I needed to get away from like minded individuals and get out there to discover my own truths. I need to mix up my world and push my boundaries. I am on a solo journey now and I've been waiting for this time for many years now. Those small outback towns are beckoning me to come learn the lessons they have to teach. I don't think I'll truly feel back on track until I'm out there so I'm just going to go for it. I keep getting the strange sense that I've walked this path many times before and am now just walking it once more. Even though all of this is new, it's hauntingly familiar at the same time. I keep getting deja vu over and over again.