I knew that the moment I decided to pack my bags, hop on an airplane, and say goodbye to everything that was comfortable to me was the most liberating/terrifying experience. There were a million thoughts crashing every corner of my brain making we question the decision to leave my family, friends, and life behind.

Those thoughts were all infiltrated with the excitement of who was to come, what was to come, and the life I would build for myself, all by myself.

Recently, I have been hit with a busload of homesickness — a very lonely and empty feeling. Going on two years living in a state 26 hour by car and a 4-hour plane ride away. I love my life where I have planted it. I love the friends I have made and the spaces I have made my own, but missing home is a feeling I am lucky to have since some never experience this.

Then it hit me. This time alone is crucial. It is needed. It has pushed and pulled me in ways I never thought were possible. It has tested me in the worst of ways and the best of ways. What I have come to conclude is that everyone needs some time away from home — whether that be two towns away from what you call home, two states, six, or a whole country away.

It is crucial to plant yourself somewhere where you can grow your own garden.

Finding who you are as an individual takes the messy discomfort, but through that discomfort comes beauty and a life you might never have planned for yourself. So, get out of your bubble and go plant your garden somewhere away from what you know — away from what is comfortable.