Second Thoughts and Converging Timelines

Michael and I both had a moment this week where we questioned whether we really want to move back to the US. Despite the constant shootings that don't happen in any other developed countries (because all of them passed reasonable gun control laws after they had shootings), the government continues to do nothing to make people safer. Because of this, everyone is on edge. Michael's company's head office had an armed intruder reported, and the office was evacuated. It ended up being a false alarm, but since there have been so many other shootings in the country this year, anything could become a situation at a moment's notice. A car backfired in New York City, and that sent a crowd of people running, panicked, through Times Square. Is that the kind of paranoia that we want to bring our daughter into? Do we want to leave our lovely free healthcare? Do we want to go through all the effort of moving our cats overseas? 

The thing that gets me about all these people that are against gun control laws, is their argument is that they won't work. Well, first, the research in countries and states that have different forms of gun control shows that they do work - they do have fewer deaths caused by guns. Second, if someone is so sure that the laws won't work, they should be open to having them, if only to prove that they don't work. It's like saying, "I'm so confident that I'm right, that I won't allow you to prove me right". 

Moving on...

Are we just focusing on the negatives because we just read too much negative news coverage? Maybe. I can't help the fact that I want to be informed, but I can read and watch less of it while staying in the know.   

The plan is still to move. The whole point to move is to be able to spend more time with family and friends after almost six years of being away, and that hasn't changed. There are also lots of aspects of living in the US that we miss. Nothing will ever change the fact that it's our home, no matter much it seems to have changed since we left. 

But preparing to move back, we can't help but feel less American than we used to, and more Australian. That's probably because we literally are more Australian, but hopefully we aren't any less American. Not that that's actually a thing. Having a different views and culture in our background is the essence of being American, or it used to be anyway. At least we can always move back down under, if we miss the way of life. 

I guess one way to look at it is that the US started unraveling after we left. Maybe when we go back, the universe will right itself. Like, maybe we were never supposed to move to Australia, so us moving caused some dark timeline to start. Now that we go back, the timelines will converge back.