Yes I'm a super nerd and love Lord of the Rings...so its named after one of the stories. Puntos for someone who knows!!!
But seriously I just reread the one of the books and the journey relates so much to what I'm going through right now.
Gandalf says to Bilbo: My dear Bilbo! Something is the matter with you! You are no longer the Hobbit that you were.
Hobbits have a lot to teach me in this sense (just listen to what I have to say and then you can laugh). Bilbo was an ordinary hobbit living in extremely comfortable and wealthy circumstances, with second breakfasts and endless amounts of ale in his house. And out of nowhere (although Tolkien credits it to his eccentric mother's side of the family, Took), he decides to go on an adventure with a wizard and 13 crazy/gold hungry dwarves. What was going on in his mind?
Maybe nothing was. The same occurred with me when I filled out my application to Fulbright Colombia. It was more of a feeling, like I needed to do this...?
In the film, Gandalf says: You will not be the same
And Bilbo says: Yes and that is what worries me
I think when arriving to Colombia that fear of personal growth, change, and development clouded me. Its not easy to learn about yourself, your faults, insecurities, and sometimes strengths and speaking spanish at the same time. Its scary. It makes you learn to accept take responsibility and live more purposefully.
While growth is a great thing, I find myself always want to stick where I am. Because its what I know. I guess the same for Bilbo. Why travel millions of miles away from the comfortable shire to kill a dragon and reclaim a lost dwarf legacy?
Because as humans, and hobbits, theres an urge, a push to be more than what we are at the moment. Sometimes we know theres more for us to learn and we decide to pass on that chance. But for Bilbo and I, we can't just sit in our hole and be comfortable. Theres a whole middle earth thats waiting to be discovered and known by us--ordinary folk!
So yes Gandalf you're right--I have changed.
