my Ireland family on the Ballycotton Cliff Walk

There are some days when you feel like just a dot on the map of the universe. Today was one of those days. In a good way.

While I spend many a weekend night in Ireland enjoying a pint (or two, or maybe three) of Guinness at the local pub, weekend days are for exploring. Today, walking along the insanely gorgeous and verdant Ballycotton Cliffs, on the literal edge of the country looking out over the Irish Sea, I was reminded that the universe is so much bigger than me. And therefore, there are so many places I can go in it. Today, the world felt quite literally like my oyster.

Some days, I’m very preoccupied with figuring out where “home” is. I’ve had many lives. One of my fellow students said to me just yesterday, “How many lives have you had?” Many, I answered. Most days, I’m very thankful for the many beautiful places I’ve lived in, the many beautiful people who’ve come into my life, and the many beautiful experiences I’ve had. But some days, I question my nomadic life and wonder what might be different if I had just settled down in my 20s, bought a house, started a family, and followed the course that many others I know have done. But today, I was thankful that I hadn’t, for I wouldn’t be walking on the edge of the universe, with beautiful friends who have become my Ireland family, on top of beautiful green that stretches for miles, with beautiful water a stone’s throw away from every step, if I had in fact taken the road more traveled. And I might not have been able to look out on the edge of the universe and decide where I go next. Eventually. One day.

me, some grass, and the world