the guam state: the state of being on island, FOR GOOD.
that is me now. i am the endless middle child between my two sisters. and now the middle section of our threesome will be here holding the fort without them. they both propelled me off the island and back home. my big sis whom i followed to california remains there and just two weeks ago the baby sister of mine stepped foot off this island and now we have resorted to seeing each other only on google-hangouts.
my baby sister stayed just long enough for a night of shenanigans (albeit multiple attempts), beach bumming, and repetitive eating followed by complaining.
yes that's right COMPLAINING. i have now found myself to be THAT person...complaining about the lackluster, thoughtless, deceptive things we would encounter on a daily basis. false advertising and overhyped marketing simply getting away with LIES, LIES, LIES.
BUT this is Guam so i pretty much kept my mouth shut...we stay humbled. we only talk crap to each other. and we grin and bear it. i've come to realize...i can't just sit there and proliferate my hater-ing. i have to actually get off my ass and do something. otherwise, i just become like another one of those people....oblivious to these lies and accepting the shortcomings as status quo.
this is my manifesto. or a tidbit of it. my entire life and everything i've done and am about to do is a declaration of all things that draw me to and pull me away from this god-awful paradise. we leave Guam for that opportunity...to chase that vision...to stimulate growth...and then we come back home to GIVE it all back: to repay our parents, to care for the land and homes we grew up in, to send our kids to the same schools we once went, and to build an empire of hope so that we can make it even better.
stay tuned.
The best thing about being away from Guam and experiencing what other places in the world have to offer is the knowledge that you bring back to Guam. I know exactly what you mean about the the lackluster and deception. I felt the same way when I moved to Guam in 2006. After the first year of partying and getting to know extended family I was left saying "That's it? Now what?"
Now that I'm older and have children of my own, I'm trying to teach them how to make the most of their time here on island, to give back to the community, to understand the culture and be proud and appreciate everything that Guam has to offer.
Looking forward to reading more of your posts!
Thank you for visiting! I actually found your blog well after this comment, not realizing you had commented ;) but yes, everything changes when our own children come into the picture....being away has always made me so critical of how I was raised but somehow I am still drawn to return just they can absorb all the good things that made us boomerang back.
It's great you post regularly...I'm still working on it 😣