I told her, "I love the view from up here Warm sun and wind in my ear We'll watch the world from above As it turns to the rhythm of love. We may only have tonight But till the morning sun, you're mine..."

“I am collecting the lessons each faction has to teach me, and storing them in my mind like a guidebook for moving through the world. There is always something to learn, always something that is important to understand." -Veronica Roth

“But even so, amid the tornado-ed Atlantic of my being, do I myself still for ever centrally disport in mute calm; and while ponderous planets of unwaning woe revolve round me, deep down and deep inland there I still bathe me in eternal mildness of joy.” 
― Herman Melville, Moby Dick

“Dusk is just an illusion because the sun is either above the horizon or below it. And that means that day and night are linked in a way that few things are there cannot be one without the other yet they cannot exist at the same time. How would it feel I remember wondering to be always together yet forever apart?” 

Take me into your loving arms
Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars
Oh, darling, place your head on my beating heart
I'm thinking out loud
That maybe we found love right where we are.

Lessons in leaving...

Been procrastinating this post,

uncertain of how to wade through the jumble of thoughts and feelings.

And with change on the horizon I can't help but to feel that familiar sense of excitement.

Finally freeing myself of the current situation of here and now.

Resuming the journey into an unknown,

after a long hiatus...

and the comfort of being submerged in the known.

And I walk the way my compass points,

heading west,

leaving the east of my past behind.

And it feels weird to not long for the concrete jungle.

As if one switch was turned off as another was turned on.

Day dreams of palm trees, sandy beaches, and the magnificent ocean,

stretching endlessly on my horizon.

And the greatest adventures are birthed from the journey.

And home is where the road is,

always making certain to keep patience and practice bravery.

Always stopping to appreciate beauty along the way.

And when I really think about leaving,

and the art of saying goodbye,

I've learned to appreciate every single moment,

and enjoy every single relationship.

I take nothing for-granted,

because in the end life is short and you don't control the time.

I've let life teach me the lessons I need to learn,

to equip myself for the challenging unknown.

And as I have said before,

I trust that the relationships in my past will reappear in the future,

if this is the way it is meant to be.

And I have checked another box on the bucket list.

I have waited and waited and waited,

learning patience and simplicity.

I have practiced the lifestyle of staying.

I have played hard,

and seized all the opportunity that has laid in my path.

But the time is finally here,

and I'm venturing forward.

And I will gaze into the last two years with sweet nostalgia.

I will not regret the moments that didn't make sense,

and I will not count the time as wasteful.

I have endured the challenge of staying.

And this was difficult.

Where most people find this a common practice,

it was just as foreign as when I first stepped off the plane.

And when I look back on it I'm eternally grateful for all my blessings.

And the people I met,

and the friends I made,

have birthed a new hope for me.

That people are inherently good,

and they treat each other kindly.

They support each other through the hard times,

and celebrate with each other through the good times.

The support that has been showed to me,

just reinforces that people here and people there are the same.

That everyone works to make the best hand with the cards they are dealt.

And it's never too late to build lasting relationships,

and even in familiar settings,

quiet conversation can bring loud realizations.

And I founds friends here that are instant family.

And we didn't have to put in years and years of drama and struggle,

we didn't build a common past,

we didn't share acquaintances.

We lived invincibly in the here and now.

Intensely present in the current,

working towards a common future.

To find a way to let life create a comfort,

but in each way unique to the individual.

And my friends have shown me,

we can accept each other despite differences,

and that lightheartedness is important for maintaining sanity.

And I will miss them terribly when I leave,

but I will know that every single moment was appreciated.
And not a single thing was taken for-granted.

And I will cherish the time,

 the games, the play dates, the bonfires. the dinners, the parties,

the dancing, and laughing, the engagements, and weddings,

and house renovations, and lazy summer days,

Because every moment in life has a purpose,

a piece of the puzzle to complete the bigger purpose.

And we can't always tell in the moment exactly what that will look like,

but when you make progress and step back,

you see it all fitting together exactly how it's supposed to be.

This wasn't the same as the journey East,

and it certainly won't be the same as the journey West,

but for the time being,

this was exactly there I needed to be.

Here in the middle,

practicing the life lessons I learned.

Perfecting patience, and gathering strength to complete the journey.

Remembering to love,

and being open to second chances,

and to soak up the feeling of being safe,

and belonging to the same address for a year.

To wait for the right opportunity,

and to not rush through the present.

And to celebrate with my family,

and to grow closer to those in my past.

Its been good,

better than I ever imagined.

And while I am ecstatic to head onward,

I will not discount the pieces of the puzzle that fell into place here.

West Coast, I'm coming for you...

And change, I'm welcoming you...

Be brave. Practice love,

and don't forget...it all matters.