Reflections on an airport…

Right now I am sitting on San Francisco International Airport waiting for a flight to Seattle. As airports are like teleports between different worlds, it is a place for reflection and consideration. You are leaving some place and going to another. A situation that often creates a mixed feeling.

It is now a bit more than three and a half month since I left Sweden. A lot has happened and I have met a lot of amazing people. The power of the Silicon Valley – the valley of miracles – is very much present. Some reflections on what has happened is in order I guess.

Today my friend Sam picked me up and drove me to the airport. It was a beautiful morning and I was filled with peace during the drive to the airport. Looking back to the late night September 3 when I arrived here in the “valley of miracles”, I can honestly say I had no idea about what the semester was going to turn into. My chats with my fellows have given me insight to a whole other world out there. When I left Sweden in September I was living in a “bubble” as Hernando de Soto is talking about in his book “The Mystery of Capital”. I first set foot on the Stanford Campus at noon September 4 and did not realise the power of the transition I was about to go through and still going through.

The first hectic weeks before the opening reception were an interesting and experience building time. The weekend after the program went to Asilomar to really start the program. The night walks, the looks at the sky filled with stars, but also the interesting conversations during the nights there was like a starting point to it all. Especially on a personal level things cleared and I remember one moment standing down at the beach listening to the ways coming in. A moment that liberated me beyond anything. After Asilomar began a great learning curve spiced up with meetings with a diversity of people to be finished off by an amazing last month.

Some people have influenced me more than others, yet I can honestly say most conversations during this time have given me insight to a variety of problems and aspects completely new to me, yet ever as appealing and interesting. More over I have gained perspective on things and realised the importance of different things in life. The world is far from black and white even though it is more convenient to think so. A truth ever as simple, yet very complex to fully grasp…

I sent an email to someone yesterday on this semester and my personal experiences of it. As I said in that email the extremes make people grow. I have gained experiences in many levels, and the feeling of flying away from the Bay Area is two-facetted. One is just feeling great about going home to friends and family; another is leaving persons that really have made an impression on me and grown fond of. I chatted the other day with a friend now in India and he shared the same feeling. I already miss the people here, especially some… It feels strange, yet nice.

I left Sweden with various thoughts and questions in my mind. Thoughts and questions that have cleared. I am happy, filled with peace and feel really good. It feels good to go home from Christmas and meet my friends and family. It also feels good to know that I am flying back to the “valley of miracles” and “the farm” in the beginning of January.

Before I left and during my time here I have been told to “stay Erik”. My perception of the world has changed, but I still am Erik from Sweden. I have grown, but the inner Erik remains.