set-backs

I think sometimes we arrive at a time or place in our lives where we want to stop complaining and using our past as an excuse for [whatever] it is that has or has not happened in our lives. I certainly want to stop complaining about some of the spiritual and creative set-backs of my life. [Maybe calling them set-backs is unfair...]

They say that children that grow up bilingual often have a smaller vocabulary during their elementry years because they are learning two languages at once. Nevertheless, they soon catch up and do just as well or better than their mono-lingual peers in either language. You would never know that they had ever been "behind".

Moving to a new country or culture has a similar effect on your creativity. What you may have done naturally and well in your original country or culture is not so easy to accomplish in a new one because you are re-learning social rules and creating new social networks. I feel like I am just making it out of "elementary school" again and am at the point where I am fluent culturally and have an increasingly strong social network in this new stage of my life. I've learned from my past experiences of being paralyzed by the newness of my experiences and am ready to use my varied experiences in the fullest and most creative way that I can.