What To Say?

Hello, blog-o-sphere,

I always wondered why it was called that. “Blogosphere.” Who came up with that term? Oh, turns out someone actually did coin the phrase: Brad Graham. Thanks, Internet. And hats off to you, Brad, for your contribution to society. I should see if the word has made it into the dictionary yet. 😉

That was a tangent. I’m stalling, really. Why? Because I don’t know what to say. What do I say? This post is supposed to be about my Midway experience and how amazing it was. I wish I had something profound to write here but honestly…it’s been really hard to put into words my feelings about that little atoll. I’ve tried to share as much of the place as I can with you guys and I think I’ve done a decent job, but there are things that I just can’t share. They won’t translate.

Simply put, I started my Midway experience as one person and 4 months later, emerged from that atoll a slightly altered version of myself. Not completely different, but changed. I’ve started to view the world differently and my goals in life have actually shifted a bit. This is not to say that I no longer care about plastic or all the things I was really into 4 months ago but after being on Midway…I care in a new way. I’m curious about tons of new facets of life (for instance: Why are seabirds so awesome? or Why are federal budgets so convoluted?) and my sense of adventure has only been heightened. I need to explore more.

Since I cannot seem to find the correct words and phrases to relay to you how inexplicably humbling of an experience Midway was, I’m going to quote a friend of mine, who reminded me this morning of just how incredibly lucky I truly am:

“To put into perspective how awesome your summer has been…You have lived at two United Nations World Heritage Sites: Volcano National Park and Papahanaumokuakea, 2 of 962 sites world-wide. Papahanaumokuakea is 1 of 29 sites that is both a natural and cultural world heritage site that only a small group of people will ever have the opportunity to see. I’m not sure how to pick another neighborhood to live in after that but good luck.”

Yep. That about sums it up.

Something else: if any of you have checked out my “About Me” page recently, you’ll see that some changes are afoot. Mostly, that’s because I’m unsure of what direction I want this blog to go in. I need to figure out how to fit into the “blogosphere” in a new way. That means a new mission, a new cause and a new look.

All of this will take some time, but I’m feeling a renewed sense of purpose after this summer and fall (if you could call it that, living in Hawaii…). Things might get a little quiet over here at 7 In the Ocean but don’t worry, I’m not disappearing. I’m simply taking some time to get outside my own head for a bit. 🙂