By this time next week I’ll be back in America.

I’m so ecstatic to see my family and the best puppers dog in all the land! Too bad I can’t put this place in my pocket on my way out.

I want to take the lava. and the moss. and the birds. and the glaciers. and the grand expanse of irrational sky that at any given moment might open up and pummel me with hail while in a hair’s breadth be ready to kiss my cheeks with the soft of springtime sun. even the smell of sulfur permeating the air. it reminds me of Earth’s gurgling underbelly. I want it.

Most of all though: the quiet.

I came here to learn about climate change and sustainability, and I did. I really did. But without bargaining for it, I also reconnected with the Earth.

I expected when it was time to climb back onto that plane headed for home to feel nostalgic for the people here who became a temporary family I could rely on, laugh with, cry with, and cook with. But I never expected my cheeks to meet the tears they did last night for the relationship I fear losing with Mother Earth.

The idea of traffic and noise is scary. I dig the sound of birds and wind.

I think the leaders of every country still perpetuating an “all of the above” energy policy ought to be forced to come to this place where the majesties of Earth still poke out on every corner.

I imagine a part of me will probably always reside in this beautiful slice of wild, longing for the calm that comes with living on an island home to just over 300,000 people, most of whom live in the capital city.

With all this said though, I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t another part of me that is insatiably excited to get on that plane.

I can’t wait to put my feet on the ground at home so I can try out my new-found knowledge in familiar settings, start new sustainable projects, build up renewed communities with neighbors and friends, and on a personal level, strut around a more confident me than I’ve ever been.

My husband practically pushed me out the door to make me do this. After a long history of living in poverty, chewing on government cheese, wondering if I’d ever get out of the homeless shelter I was living in years ago, this world I’m in now is more than foreign, it’s alien. It took almost until I was leaving to feel like it was even real.

He wanted me to have this for Me and he made sure I went after it. That I knew I was supported. That I come and learn as much as I could to bring home something of value we can both use to try and make a better world for our children.

The term ‘life lottery’ feels apt.

And as if that wasn’t enough, besides my partner, numerous others offered support along the way by either relentlessly encouraging me, writing me letters of recommendation, or by reaching deep into their pockets to help me make this project a reality.

I am the luckiest person I know.

Looking forward to getting home to my comfy bed and my film editing software – it’s going to be an epic summer.

I’ll miss the shit out of Iceland because it stole my heart in every way it’s possible to do so, but man, though this may sound corny as a tortilla, it gave it back fuller and more ready to try and push for a better world than I ever thought possible.

So, signing off for now…but keep an eye out because I’ll be back in film form before you know it!

And of course, as always, smile BIG and stay green, folks!

Glacier

They say they were there,

Giant time crystals, ticking,

Before the sea rose.

~Brittany Longhetano~

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