Opening up my world

“They’ve gone, gone to a new place,we yearn for them, they must’ve forgotten us.Come home, come to your country, come on back.You’ll be back when we’re not around”– Translated from a Pothwari sher by Ch. Muneer Hussain In June, I went to Portugal for 3 weeks. It was just to get away from my life here in the States. It was the first time I had done something of the sort, no agenda, not a vacation with an itinerary, nobody to visit there. It didn’t give me an immediate epiphany of any sort but it did remove the inputs I have here, like the news, social media, talking to people around me (neighbors and community), and just the America-only rhetoric. Being in a country that isn’t trying to be #1 in anything, the people don’t bother with much of the global politics, and the economy is relatively stable, it starts to relax you without trying. Walking around the neighborhoods in Porto felt peaceful, safe, and freeing. I started to really consider the time I spend day to day keeping myself…