Tomorrow. (3)

This is part 3 of a 3 part series, for better context, you should read part 1 and part 2.

I left Perth and move to Melbourne to get away from the influences that had a negative impact on my life. It has helped me immensely in my own personal growth and to, at least I hope, become a better person.

But in case it wasn’t obvious, leaving Perth was running away from a problem.

I’m now torn between 2 worlds. My family and some of my closest friends still live in Perth. Over in Melbourne, I also have a lot of really close friends, a lot of which I’d consider family too. There’s 3,500km between those worlds.

I also have a lot of reasons why I don’t like Perth. It is very small and it loves holding on to that ‘wait a while’ reputation.

Western Australia, for as long as Australia has existed, has wanted to no longer be part of Australia. This on and off has always been down to mining royalties and division of tax amongst the states. I won’t go in to the details here (there’s an entire Wikipedia article on it if you’re that interested), but over the years it seems people in the west hold a grudge to the east and want to secede from the rest of the country. The current premier, Mark McGowan certainly isn’t helping either.

But I digress.

Do I want to go back?

Yes and no. I like Melbourne. Though initially it was me wanting to be a better person, I feel like Melbourne is better for me. I enjoy it more, there’s more to do, it is far more cultured than Perth. It is a place I love and not somewhere I’d give up quickly.

Plus I have a decent career here. I don’t mind my job, it pays well enough and gives me decent flexibility in what I do.

But I do sometimes miss Perth. For all the flaws and for all the problems I had there, it was still where I grew up.

Grown Up

Both myself and Perth have grown up. I can’t wholly blame my past on Perth. Even in Melbourne, I will find myself in groups or in situations where there’s a negative influence and I need to be able to handle that myself. Not run from it, and not be influenced by it.

Right now, I want to continue living in Melbourne, but not for the reason of staying away from those influences that I had in Perth.

I want to be able to know that returning to Perth one day, will not be bad for me, will not enable old habits and will be something that I can do by myself, without depending on anyone or anything.

I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but I do know that I want to be a better person tomorrow than I was yesterday.

Hopefully writing down my thoughts will keep me humble and allow me to learn more from my past.