Where You Are.
The brightest and the darkest
If you travel here listen to your heart
And take with you what lasts forever"
- Traveler's Song, by Future Of Forestry
There's a story in the book "One More Thing: Stories And Other Stories", by B.J. Novak, about a couple who retires and moves to a town outside of Rome, and how the husband is continuously tickled pink with being able to mention Rome in casual conversation.
"I'm going to Rome to get some light bulbs." "Yeah I picked up some flowers for my wife in Rome yesterday." "Hey honey, I should be home in about an hour, depending on how the traffic is coming out of Rome."
It's a cute story. In a way, I feel like I do something similar, in my own head.
"I'm glad the public transportation is so inexpensive here in Ecuador." "Going to hang out my laundry, glad it's a sunny day in Ecuador." "Just a normal day, walking to the local fruteria in Ecuador."
I was born and raised in Texas. I first laughed and walked there. I got my first job and fell in love and
knew people who died and helped with weddings and learned the roads and cried, ached, grew, tried, and became who I am. I take it all for granted, yet I hold it close too. Texas, where my family and so many memories live, will always be home. Yet Ecuador is home now too. I'm building a home with new friends and work and purpose. There are moments of starry-eyed thoughts, of how incredible it is to be living in another country, along with moments of sadness for everything I left behind and everything different here which is challenging and hard.
I like to find the adventure in everyday life. It's different for everyone, I think. It might be in growing a garden, raising a child, writing and submitting a story, visiting a museum or other new place, going places alone, learning something new, accepting certain truths, having faith, choosing optimism, picking up the pieces of a shattered grief and simply choosing to live day after normal, terrible, blessed day.
Texas, Ecuador, anywhere at all: I want to be thankful for life, and to have a growing awe for the beautiful jumble of it all.
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