the Walkabout

The little aborigine boy whispers " Sometimes we have to get lost in order to find ourselves, Sometimes we need to go on a walkabout"

What a fabulous advertisement for Visit Australia 2009!

I checked what a "walkabout " meant (just to make sure) and its basically a temporary wandering into nature usually alone. A wandering into the vast unknown. We may get lost, we may find things we have never encountered and get petrified! But the upside is, we may also be able to experience the grandeur of life which we would not have noticed or taken for granted had we not left home. In short, i think we learn things about ourselves we never knew existed or find ourselves back, which we had lost.

In the urban context, "walkabout" could mean go off to that much needed retreat, "balik kampung"( a trip back to the village).., doing something totally out of the ordinary..just get lost really!! For some, the walkabout may take a few days, a few months or sometimes a few years because we are so so LOST that we don't even know we are on a walkabout!! But the time does not really matter, what does is the journey and ultimately, the fabulous feeling we experience when we finally get home.

love n light