Day 17: Seeing

Today we went to Cinque Terre for the second time. This experience was a little bit different and a lot bit more relaxed. We stopped at the first village of Riomaggiore and took a ferry to the last village of Monterosso. When I was on the ferry just looking at the beautiful rolling hills, the bright blue water, and the colorful buildings I felt like I was actually seeing for the first time. This probably sounds extremely cliche but I rarely stop and smell the roses. My life is always about going and going and going. When I'm not going, I'm thinking about it. I don't ever take the time to enjoy the moment and actually see everything for what it really is.

I read a blog post the other night from one of my friends I've met while here named Hannah Beers. She spoke about being present in every single day and all that you do...

"Live responsibly. Just don't live in a world of to-do lists. Live each moment. Be here." 

I think that post and those words specifically were definitely on my mind throughout this entire day. Everyone who knows me knows that I can talk a mile a minute. For once, I shut up and just opened my eyes and began seeing. I wasn't trying to take a thousand pictures [although I did take a few]. I wasn't worried about wifi. I was just living in the moment and it felt great.

As weird as it sounds, I feel like a switch flipped in me today. I wish that I could put it into words but I honestly can't. I'm just so unbelievably grateful for this trip and I'm sad that it's about to end. Yes I've spent entirely too much money and I've cried more times than I would like to admit but I wouldn't change a thing. I feel like everything I stress about isn't worth it. If I were to just stop and see the world like I did today, I have no reason to complain. I'm healthy. I can see, hear [barely], walk, and enjoy life. Not everyone can say that. Am I going to stop complaining and worrying cold turkey? Definitely not. But when I feel myself stressing about something that I can't change or I'm complaining about a minuscule issue, I'm going to try to stop and see the situation for what it is and be grateful for it anyway.

Every single day of this trip has been beautiful and memorable. Just thinking about it is almost leaving me breathless. It's so weird that it's taken me almost my entire stay to realize the intensity of what I'm experiencing but better late than never, right? Just know that I will not waste another second with my eyes anything less than wide open.

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing I would love for you to just take a second and see the world around you. It's so hard to clear your head and enjoy the splendor, but once you finally do you won't regret it. I promise.

Smooches,
The College Natural

My first Pina Colada. I didn't like it LOL