I may have written about this before, but I’m not even going to bother going back to look to check because today’s selection is something that I am thankful for every single day: the challenge that life among different countries and cultures presents. People have questioned my life decisions since 2000 (if not before), so I’m no stranger to having questions pelted at me about what in the world I am doing with my life. That part is still a struggle for me. I have moved more times than I care to count in the last 15 years, and if my shoulder issues weren’t enough to prove it, then the cumulative hours of chats debating whether the life I desire should be. If I did count, though, no number would be too high for me to say it hasn’t all been worth it. Every encounter with French administration, every visit to the préfecture, all the time spent in lines, every moment of blankly staring at a Dutch person not having a clue what he was saying, each bout with culture shock (going and returning) has all come together to form the most beautiful collective experience of my life. I am so thankful this is my life.

✎✎✎  Side note: As I type this, I feel the urge to jot down notes, to write free-flow about how this life has changed me, turned my world upside down, confused me, thrilled me, and kept me begging for more. I shall move it to the top of my writing list (for a future book…?). ✎✎✎

⇺ ⇺   —  ⇻ ⇻

There isn’t a perfect image that goes with this particular sentiment, so I leave you with this thought and the encouragement to forge your own path, however jagged and rocky it may be.

ggi, girl gone international, Falling Off Bicycles, Julia Willard, Anne Scott