Wherever you go, there you are.

Now that I’ve been in London for over a month (5.5 weeks to be exact!) and feeling more fully settled, one thing that I’m reminded of is the fact that wherever you go, there you are.

I mean, obviously your physical body comes with you wherever you go (haven’t reached that point of human evolution yet). And it should be obvious that your brain (and therefore everything in it) joins you as you gallivant around whatever countryside.

But somehow I find this stunning, fascinating, and yes, a tiny bit disappointing.

Because whatever you may have been struggling with at home doesn’t disappear when you arrive someplace new. It tags along, like a carry-on suitcase full of both your favourite and least favourite items. Same insecurities, surrounded by a new cast, if you will.

Here in London, I’m finding myself falling into similar habits. My body still wants to go to bed late and sleep in (which is a Night Owl reality I enjoy). I’m still taking pictures of random cute doggos and sending them to my partner. But the mind drama and insecurities I throw around at myself in my brain I would have gladly left in Edmonton.

It’s interesting to consider how our whole reality is created in our brain. We get to decide how we interpret and process every circumstance. An opportunity is really on an opportunity if we decide it is. Like, really think about it. The exact same situation could be viewed as either a problem or an opportunity, depending on how you frame it.

Not that objective realities don’t exist: those leaves are green, you tripped on the curb, that bee stung your foot. Documentable, true facts. But YOU get to decide what these things mean for you. Is it beautiful, funny, new information that will help you in the future? Or is it banal, embarrassing, awful luck? The situation is objectively real, but there is no objective “true” way to process the situation. That part is completely up to you.

I don’t want to blythely suggest that we “Always look on the bright side of life”. I could, of course – but I’ve decided in my brain that that’s annoyingly cheerful, and I like my thoughts on this, because it leaves room for irony (which I find more amusing and interesting than a consistently sunny disposition).

Maybe this is the root of my revelation, even: I don’t have to think thoughts because other people expect me to. I can make the realities of my life mean whatever thing is most useful, or interesting, to me.

So many of the circumstances of our life are out of our control. But what goes on in our brain? That’s a delightful place of exploration that we have some sway over.