The Gravity of Repatriating Home
The decision has been made. After 10 years of living in South Korea I will soon be moving back home to the States. There are so many factors for me to stay, but just as many (if not a few more) for me to go. I was born in Seoul, but I moved to America when I was just 2 months old. America is where I grew up, it IS home, but in so many other ways, so is Seoul.
I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to do or how I’m going to make the move, other than that I’m just going to do it. Many have done it when they’ve lived overseas for maybe a few years. But I don’t know too many people who have made the transition after 10+ years. There’s not really a guide on how it’s done as everyone’s repatriation is unique. After all the coaching I’ve given to all the young people here, I wish there was someone who could actually coach me on this one. So for me, I’m just going to try and follow the advice that I give them:
Write it down. Don’t know what you want to do (in life)? Write it down! Write down that you don’t know and just see where it leads. Envision what you want the end of your life to look like and keep writing from there. Not sure of how to market your business? Write down on your company blog or social media exactly just what you are thinking. Share with your users the journey that you are going through. Write about a day in the life of the company and what you envision will be the product you promise to deliver to them in the future. This will help you 1) organize your thoughts 2) think about how to pivot and execute 3) get feedback from your users or potential consumers and most importantly 4) keep yourself accountable.
Be vulnerable — don’t be afraid to ask for help. Be honest — not only with other people, but most importantly with yourself. And be as authentic as you can be — don’t just cater to the crowd. You never know who you will resonate with. You never know what writing a fleeting thought can lead to when you digitize it and tweet it away. The answers you seek could one day show up in your inbox.
So that’s what I’m going to do. Write about my repat to the States. And who knows? Maybe one day this can help give someone else the coaching and guidance that I’ve been craving later on. I’m going to discipline myself for writing at least once a week, if not more. If I’m not consistent, find a way to penalize me. I’m always up for a competition. But If I’m not writing here, I will be writing in my other 2 blogs I keep about Korean tourism and Coaching. This way, I can always record my thoughts in whatever direction or form they take and stay focused within the umbrella of who I am.
I think the main reason of why I’m going back home is to be with family again. As I’m getting older and older, I’m realizing how important family really is. I think I took for granted a lot of the blood relationships I’ve had. I don’t want it to be “too late” before all of us get too old or too distant and grow apart. I have now lived more years apart from them than I have with or near them. Coming back I guess is all just part of the circle of life.
I first started feeling this way the last 2 times I visited home. I have 2 kids and my sister has 2 kids roughly the same age. I think it’s time for the cousins to start bonding and building a relationship. I also think this will be a good chance to build a better relationship with my own sister. I never really thought about how a brother and sister relationship had to be because you just live the life you are given (or that analogy of a fish knowing what water is). But now that I have a daughter and a son and seeing how they interact with each other has given me a new perspective on kin relationships. They love each other. They are completely interactive and symbiotic with one another. I think a lot of this actually has to do with the influence they get from their mom, my wife. She has always had a very good relationship with her brother. She and her brother talk about everything. I never saw this as a good thing with my sister. Again, you just live the life you are given. My new perspective came from living with my wife and seeing how different her life was from mine.
As I mentioned in the first paragraph, there are many reasons for me to go and stay. I am going to be going into more depth about them in future blog posts as well as what I’m doing on a day-to-day basis to prepare for this transition. I’m just going to be writing what comes to my mind, so hopefully this will turn out unfiltered and unedited. But most of all, I hope that this becomes my guiding light. I saw the movie “Gravity” on Netflix last night with Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. One thing that I learned from watching that is if you are ever lost in space, you just keep talking. Start with “Houston, in the blind…” and just ramble on. Maybe you can’t hear them, but the hope is that in the slight chance they can hear you, they might be able to come and help out.
