Although the following entry was written a month and a half ago, I am feeling its relevance today.

"Journal excerpt from June 15 2014: Leaving mi querido Mexico

Reflections of a farewell:

:::The sounds of the shouts and music in the park outside. The unintelligible jabber of the announcer onstage. My half empty apartment. The stiff summer heat and the fan struggling to outdo the music...while blaring in my ears and barely making a difference, even if I sit close. My sacred space as much as my emotions, scattered and in limbo. This is today. Every moment we live is dying and being reborn as we keep regenerating, learning, evolving. The drums begin to sound outside. And little by little the rhythm becomes constant like the beating of a heart... a ***ritual... when the nomads leave the safety of their homes... in search for better conditions... more suitable for the tribe. (They blow the conch shell and the drums get louder, more intense.) They pay homage to the earth that gifted them the means to their survival. They thank her for her abundance, they bless her and they move on (The drums outside stop). They understand the cycles of existence. They do not feel sadness, they feel a yearning; a yearning to be everywhere and nowhere all at once. To see, to be, to feel. To love and to be loved. To have the courage to move forward in the midst of uncertainty and say "I am not afraid". To trust the divine essence of the earth and give themselves to her. They listen, breathe, act and speak through her... and eventually they become her. ♡" :::

Today I moved into my new apartment here in Austin, TX. Two loads in a smart car and I'm calling somewhere else home! I mentioned that perhaps I would have been the first person in history to make a move in a smart car... a friend assured me that at least a few New Yorkers must have beaten me to it. I still laughed about the ease of the move and totally wished I had my Bob Marley poster to feel a little more at home - but I left it and a piece of my heart in Mexico. And so, as I sit here perched on my foam mattress on the floor, with the scent of copal incense burning and the sound of traditional Mexican folk songs filling my room, I reflect on my past. My past it seems, couldn't be further away from where I am today. In reading the following excerpt, I am reminded to be in the moment and be present and grateful for wherever it is that I am today. How the present can change in the matter of a moment. Cease each and every single one you've got.

:::“Travel is like love, mostly because it’s a heightened state of awareness, in which we are mindful, receptive, undimmed by familiarity and ready to be transformed. That is why the best trips, like the best love affairs, never really end.” — Pico Iyer:::

Settling in...