I went away.

I went away.

I spent a year in New York.

I met people and saw places that have changed me forever.

I was there to study, which I did.

But I learnt far more than any book or professor could ever teach me.

I wasn't lost.

But I found myself.

I discovered the core of who I am and who I want to be.

I took the year to appreciate where I was and who I was with.

I took the year to recognise the opportunity I had been afforded - the opportunity I had earned. 

I took the year to 'live in the moment.'

A phrase that often is thrown around in a world of lives lived through laptops and phone screens.

I was able to take the time to explore thoughts and opinions that were often pushed away.

I was able to perceive the world and my life from a completely new angle.

I was able to burst free of a bubble that I didn't know was smothering me.

New York, and the family that I found there, gave me the strength to push further beyond my comfort zones than I could ever imagined and I am eternally grateful for that.

I was swept up in a current of the now and for once I didn't fight it.

I allowed the waves of discovery to pour over me.

Rather than drowning, I emerged refreshed.

With a new perspective of where I am going and what I want.

I am back now.

I am ready to begin again.