Sydney Life

I don’t know about you guys but I’m feeling a little frazzled. Week nine at uni, like a monsoon rain cloud, hits right on time with the same intensity every semester. You know it’s coming. You can feel it in the air. Suddenly computer labs are at breaking point, all the good books are due back in June and four hours sleep becomes the new ‘eight.’ Regardless of preparation, it’s impossible to stay completely dry under that umbrella when the rain falls in sheets from every which way.

Eat, sleep, work…OK, maybe a tad dramatic but if you’re in one of those marathon ‘work zones’ it seems like there’s little else pulling the days together. For anyone who’s a bit caught up in the stress and drama of essay writing season or for anyone who imagines that this heavy grey cloud is settling in, I have one very simple solution.

(Warning: I take no responsibility for this being possibly the most impractical suggestion, time pressure wise, ever made)

Pay a visit to the International Arrivals Gate…and take your tissues. Within ten minutes it’s hard not to stop, take count and rise above, what I know can feel like, a very focused and narrow existence…

It starts when you park the car. All around people are wheeling packed trolleys, arm in arm, some embracing as they walk. You can’t help but smile. Be it five o’clock in the morning or ten o’clock at night, it is a hive of activity as people emerge from a space of limbo, neither here nor there - from up in the air.

Inside, people wait intently, standing on tip toes, clutching the railings to see if it is their loved ones emerging from the sliding doors. There is a buzz in the air. The excitement and anticipation are tangible. From bag dropping running hugs to tears of joy, every reunion sparkles.

I have never felt so much hope or witnessed such tenderness and love than I have standing at an airport arrivals gate. Voyeuristic I know, but it’s hard not to feel a surge of warmth as you watch old friends and family come together with an intensity that defies any tear jerker movie moment.

It is a true privilege to have your own Love Actually-like candid viewing of lovers, families and friends hugging, kissing and simply basking in each other’s presence. What’s more, you get a front row seat to the beautiful stream of humanity. People flow in from every corner of the world - bringing with them the richness of different cultures and the gentle reminder of your ‘place’ on a broader scale.

It serves like a wake up call, a perspective spring clean and a reminder of (insert a cliché here) what’s really important in life. A little excursion like this did a lot to clear my head. Yes, uni is a major priority in my life right now, but sometimes I feel like I get so caught up in trying to do everything at once, I lose sight of all the simple pleasures and joys around me - the people I love.

Driving to the airport that day I had the hundreds of thoughts flying around my head…when was I going to do that, how was I going to fit that in…? After half an hour at gate A, watching the kind of love that transcends everything, with, I’m not going to deny, a constant tear in my eye, my life didn’t seem that stressful after all. Apart from the fact that I had my own very special moment of reunion joy, walking back to the car, my step felt a little lighter and the sun was as bright as it’d ever been.