This may seem a bit geekish, and borderline just very cliche-ish, however I can honestly draw so many parallels between what I am experiencing, and what Avatar Aang was going through before he could defeat the Fire Lord, and become the hero of the story.
At this very moment I am an excellent air bender, meaning that I am very free willed. I am able to go into any situation with an open mind, without clinging onto biases, or at least I try to. I am able to connect with myself at times when I need to, which is an important GCB- self care. I also feel as free, and light weighted as the wind, I mean it brought me all the way to Azogues, in Ecuador, South America. A pretty long way from home for sure.
I believe that, just as the Avatar, I have a knack for water bending, which means my ability to create relationships, work successfully in groups, and sometimes even find my greatest strengths to be in working with groups, just like the water tribes that found their strength in fighting together. “Water is the element of change. The people of the Water Tribes are capable of adapting to many things. They have a sense of community and love that holds them together through anything”- General Iroh from Avatar: The last Airbender. and similarly I do believe that I am able to adapt quite well with my new environment, in terms of culture.
I am also very drawn to fire bending, as “Fire is the element of power. The people of the Fire Nation have desire and will, and the energy and drive to achieve what they want.”-General Iroh from Avatar: The last Airbender. However with this, it sometimes conflict with my ability to keep a perfect open mind in areas where this might be required, cause I am still only human, and giving out judgements is a very great part of this, hence fire bending is a skill I want to practise, but am a bit scared of because it could harm the opinions and ideas of others.
Now for the element I am struggling with the most at this point in time. That is earth bending. According to General Iroh from Avatar: The last Airbender, Earth is the element of substance. The people of the Earth Kingdom are diverse and strong. They are persistent and enduring. I have set myself the goal for this year to be as eager as I possibly can be, however with a new country, comes a new language, Spanish. And in this moment, this is a reality that just darkens my path. I know that my persistence will pay off, and that eventually I will be able to speak Spanish, but the uncertainty of when clouds my vision.
I can say with confidence that being able to draw wisdom from all four of these elements would be great, and that it is a definite goal for this Global Citizen year. And if I can do that, I would have defeated my version of the Fire Lord.
I’m Dunn…….
