Learning to Be

 Dear Reader, 

Winter is Coming...

... So I'm leaving... As per my commitment to avoid Winter...

Only joking! 

But it is true. 

I am leaving Mauritius. 

Forever. 

Haha. That part's not true. 

But alas. The time has come to step away from the Melting Pot. A place I am starting to feel more and more connected to. 

The place where I have spent the most time since COVID. 

Where every street has a frangipani flower lining its path. 

Where intricate, colourful temples meet the call to prayer. 

Where every meal comes with chilli. 

Where every beach is beautiful. 

Where the red fody sings his morning beats ♥️

A place where I discovered a whole new garden of hopes and dreams 🌻

Where people greet you when they enter a gym class. 

Where you can see a doctor whenever you need to. 

I could go on... 

My last tantalising trip up North was a wonderful. Filled with the best cheese on the island, hours upon hours of beach lounging, lots of swimming, cards and good convo. Filled my cup right up.

 

Finally - kayaking!!

As I think about returning to the UK, I feel that eerie sense of anxiety again. Do you ever feel that, Dear Reader? 

Despite the fact I will see some of my favourite people, that there are so many who risk their lives to move there, I still hold a little dread for returning to England. 

It's like the opposite of what I feel here. Unbelonging. Nothing sinister. Just always feeling that it is not my place. 

Which is why I travel. I have always been in search for places where I feel I belong. And I have found them. Because many exist. And it's not the geographical location. 

It's the spiritual essence you embody when in that place. How you feel. How true you are to yourself. The people you spend your time with and the things you do with that time. How you are. How you "be".

Where the ocean meets the shore, just as the mountain peak embraces the sky, the trees root to the ground and sunlight touches your face...

So I will return to the UK, this time, carrying the essence of all the places I can "be". 

So that I may jump on the friends who give the best hugs.

So I may dance with my best friend to crazy Eurovision tracks.

So I may meet other friends for the first time - hi Leah! 

So I may go back to Ireland and spend time with my loving parents, my friends who are new mothers, my oldest friends from childhood. 

So I may make the most of every second with all those people whom I miss so dearly 💖 

And all the while, knowing that within a few weeks, I will return to my Meeting Pot and Shining Star.

Dear Reader, my plan is to write you next week, will you join me on the ferry? ⛴️

✨ And Dear Reader, next time you feel you don't belong, close your eyes. Remember why you are there and what brought you to that moment. Find the love in that, and sit in it, basque in the knowledge that you're exactly where you need to be 🪷