I have been avoiding my Facebook page the past couple of days because they have been filled with memories of “a year ago today posts”. I usually enjoy these little reminders. However, this month has been especially difficult. A year ago today I was in another country. More specifically, Ireland.

If you happened to click on this, I am guessing you have an empty void inside of you somewhere. You don’t have the words to explain the pain to anyone else. It just lingers with no warning. You have days where you are just a little down, more so than usual and you can’t always put a finger on why.

There is this thing that us with big hearts and minds yearn for. A world that does not exist within the vicinity of our beings. We therefore long to go outside the boundaries. See the truth for ourselves and experience the adventures only to fill our lives with moments and amazing memories rather than materialistic items that only give temporary pleasure.

The people around us ask what is wrong. We simply cannot explain. We cannot describe to others how much it feels like a part of us has been deleted based on the lack of not being able to share and show how much we have changed because of that specific other country. Not being able to talk about our experience because of the fear of hurting others who have not yet had the opportunity to travel.

your heart leaps with joy when someone asks you to tell about your experience. It literally makes your day being able to talk about those months that changed your life. You can’t tell your friends that you are down because you miss another country. They just roll their eyes and change the topic. So now we are back to hiding it inside and reminiscing for two hours looking through pictures.

I am writing this because I too am feeling this way. I want to experience life as it comes and I want to go beyond the boundaries that have been given to keep us safe. We were created for a purpose. God made this beautiful world and I will not sit here and waste my days by ignoring the fact that outside these four walls there is a whole world full of beautiful, beautiful, people and animals and so much more.

Please remember the smell of the ocean. The smell of the wet, soft grass, as thick as a memory foam pillow. The way the coastal wind blew and how you could taste the salt on your lips. Don’t ever forget the long days and watching the sunset on the ocean. Don’t forget the day the ocean was a solid sheet of glass nor the day the water was furious and crashed into the walls of the cliffs and reached up to say hello to the top of the giant coastal cliffs.

Don’t forget how it felt to walk through the terminal leaving home. Leaving the familiar and the unknown. But also don’t forget how it felt coming home to those who love you and the huge embraces you received from them and the huge smiles welcoming you home. Even if you never have the chance to travel abroad again, this will ALWAYS be a part of you. You have it in your veins. You may not be able to share your self-improvements, experience, or disappointment of being stuck in a place where you cannot travel for a while, but you will always have it inside of you. Your heart will always be beating a little bit faster. You will always have the urge to be someone else and or to be somewhere else. Please don’t get used to the mundane. Don’t listen to the world telling you to become who everyone else is. Please I beg you, be your own individual aside from everyone else.

That country will always be inside of you. Don’t lose grasp of it. Clench it tightly in your palm and hold it close to your heart. This experience changed you, now go change the world.