Unaccustomed Earth

I have just finished my last midterm and my spring break will officially begin at 4:00pm when my car begins to roll down Manitou Hill. However I have started some of my "Spring Break" reading a little early! Jhumpa Lahiri is one of my FAVORITE authors and she opens her most recent collection of short stories, Unaccustomed Earth, with this quote:

Human nature will not flourish, any more than a
potato, if it be planted and replanted, for too long
a series of generations, in the same worn-out soil.
My children have had other birthplaces, and, so far
as their fortunes may be within my control, shall
strike their roots into unaccustomed earth.
-Nathanial Hawthorne "The Custom House"

This quote solidifies my feelings on how important it is for humans to be culturally aware and willing to peek around the next unknown corner. There will always be reasons not try, go, or look somewhere different from where we are, but we could all focus on the reasons why we should. I hope that one day I can look back on my life, and see my footprints in places where I never thought I would go, and see my family in the faces spread across the globe.