how do you know?

i have a million bajillion things swirling around my head right now so i apologize if the next few sentances, paragraphs or even blogs are confusing and jumpy! i am home now and yes i was right, it is weird! haha! there are so many things i could write about since i've been home...comparisons,realizations,conversations, feelings etc...but im limiting myself to 2 things tonight!
first...a conversation which lead to a realization, lol! member that 10th grade english teacher who i greatly admire that i wrote about on thanksgiving?!? well, when i got home i had to seek her out, she is an kindred spirit and i was dying to feel understood! She owns a little boutique now so i popped in to say hi and ended up staying for awhile! she invited me in the back and began asking some questions about my trip and how i was feeling now etc...i mentioned that i was a bit overwhelmed, and kinda confused on what the next step in my life should look like but i also mentioned that when i asked myself those kinda questions in the south i always thought of her because a specific quote from jane eyre that she made us read always came to mind...
"Still indomitable was the reply -- "I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself. I will keep the law given by God; sanctioned by man. I will hold to the principles received by me when I was sane, and not mad -- as I am now. Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour; stringent are they; inviolate they shall be. If at my individual convenience I might break them, what would be their worth? They have a worth -- so I have always believed; and if I cannot believe it now, it is because I am insane -- quite insane: with my veins running fire, and my heart beating faster than I can count its throbs. Preconceived opinions, foregone determinations, are all I have at this hour to stand by: there I plant my foot." (for those of you who havent read it, it prob wont make a whole lot of sense, lol)
but she said, "kate, remember in Jane Eyre how she had 5 main stations in her life...stations for change and transformation?" she continued..."and at each station as the reader learns something new about her, she learns something new about herself as well? well maybe jackson mississippi is one of your stations...and maybe you have a few more to go!"
after hearing this i almost starting crying...partly because i look up to Jane as if she was a real being (weird i know!) and so to compare her life to mine felt like a compliment, haha! but secondly because it was one of those moments where everything all the sudden made sense..but more than making logical sense, it gave me this feeling of hope, like im on track, like im not crazy!
but do you see now why i love this teacher! how many people do you know that can calm hearts and make sense of lifes mysteries by relating it jane eyre?!? haha....this woman is gifted i tell you!

but ok...2nd thing! tonight me and my mom went to see "how do you know" its actually pretty funny, i recommend it! anyway, so there is a part of the movie where reese witherspoons character goes to see a counselor/therapist and she ends up not wanting to stay and share about her problems, but instead asks something along the lines "over your course of work have you learned something general that applies to almost everyone in any circumstance?" i started to laugh when she asked this because i expected him to say no! it seems like his job is based on the uniqueness of each person, but he says "yes....find out what you want and learn how to ask for it!" she walks away then comes back and says "both of those are really hard" haha! and as i sat there and thought about it i thought about how true that was but i also felt a connection with the counselor character. i feel like since i'v been home i'v been asked the same question hundreds of times, "what did you learn?" and its a GREAT question, but when i hear it i wanna say "well i learned 27 million things, is there something specific you wanna hear about?" haha! it almost feels like i'd be belittling the experience if i said i made 1 main realization....but the truth is more that i think about it, the more i think, ya, maybe i do have 1 main thing! and it  is this...people are more the same than you think! i am not trying to take away from the beauty and uniqueness  in each individual person but i think growing up i thought people were different and places where the same but now i think i may have flipped it and people are more the same and places are different. and there is a whole lot of rhyme for my reason but basically after meeting people of different cultures, religions, backgrounds, regions etc...for as many differences i could point out, seen and unseen, i could point out that many more similiarities. and for some you may find it a dull realization, but it is one that gives me hope...it makes me feel connected to everyone....
im not looking for confirmation or agreement in my realization...im just putting the thought out there for those who have either asked the question or for those who are wondering "what i learned"