I Have Been Other Places

vanessaglendagarcia — Sun, 22 May 2011 04:32:00 GMT

Welcome to my small corner of the universe.

There are three things that I love: art, life and travel. The first two, being art and life, are not very different from each other. Sometimes, I think they are the same thing constantly mirroring each other. Which bring us to travel; which is the way I experience art and life best.

We'll Run Away Together by *vanessaglendagarcia on deviant ART

Allow me to digress. A the risk of sounding idealistic, I refuse to live a mediocre life. This defining trait of mine is the elemental drive in my life.

I believe that in order to be the best, you have to work with the best. This opportunity presented itself to me when I was eighteen years old. The catch: I would have to relocate to the Middle East within a monthʼs time. It was a decision that could change the direction in which I imagined my life and career would take. Moreover, I had heard stories of difficult working conditions, racial and gender discrimination, and limited possibilities for advancement. Something inside me wanted to know if these stories were true and if I could prevail above these circumstances. But it was a question to ʻdoʼ or ʻdo notʼ. To ʻtryʼ was not an option.

Coming back, this not about my career. Though it was my career that 'took me out to sea' to begin with, this is more about the journey I have taken and the things I have experienced. Being far away from home is a horrible, horrible thing; that is if you allow it to be. I remember being terribly homesick for the frist few months. As I write this from the comforts of my own bedroom in the house that I grew up in, I know that I would not have changed a thing. I have experienced many wonderful things that have added unto my life and shaped the way I view the world. Leaving home was the best decision I made. Coming home reminds me of why I left in the first place.

It was Henry Miller who said that “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” From where I'm standing, the world is filled with countless destinations to learn a new way of seeing things. I am returning to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates in a couple of days. Leaving home always makes me sad, but I am excited for the promise of each new horizon unfolding before me.

Border Jumping

I Have Been Other Places