finding balance in a time of upheaval

This time last year I was preparing to head to Ghana and now I am starting my Master's degree. Time certainly has a way of making one stop and and wonder where it went.

My time at home has been a mix of really wonderful moments and really over

whelming, not-so-good moments.

At first I was happy to be home and see family and friends whom I hadn't seen or communicated with in a long time. This honeymoon period was short-lived and I soon started to miss the place and people with whom I shared so much of my life as I quickly started to realize that it will be a while before I return to Ghana.

Shortly after arriving home,

I learned of some devastating news. My host mother, Georgina had passed away. There was a fire at the store/home. The generator had spark

ed and the whole place had gone up in flames and taken Georgina with it. She was in the hospital for 6 weeks suffering from burns until her passing.

Hearing the news was very hard at the time and it made my transition home quite bumpy in places. I began judging every little thing I was doing from purchases I was making to what I was eating to whether I should be going to school. It was hard spending money and watch people continue on as though nothing happened while Georgina laid in the morgue for 2 months until there was enough money for her funeral.

Thankfully, I began to recognize that it is okay to judge and be conscious of my actions, but there has to be a balance. This summer at home has taught me a lot about the

importance of balance.

One must balance living life here with remembering what is happening other places in the world. One must balance trying to conserve money with not becoming a hermit and avoiding people/places. One must balance giving of oneself/time/energy without giving too much to be exhausted/broke/drained. One must balance their Canadian life with their Ghanaian life.

This, sadly is a much harder feat than it sounds, but I'm slowly becoming better at it each day. There are some days where I feel totally fine and

feel like life is balanced; there are other days when the scale is tipped so drastically in one direction its hard to imagine life ever was balanced.

One begins to treasure the days that are balanced, which are thankfully, more numerous than unbalanced days.