Introduction.

“Strive to discover the mystery before life is taken from you.
If while living you fail to find yourself, to know yourself,
how will you be able to understand
the secret of your existence when you die”

My favorite Sufi poet, Attar, wrote this. It’s hard to explain in words why I’m leaving my family and friends and, basically, my life, behind. But I think Attar sums it up in a way I haven’t been able to before. I have always been a passionate person, searching for meaning, purpose, and spirituality in my life. However, at some point, I got so caught up in living my life for others (and according to how others wanted) that I lost parts of me. Who am I? What do I want? What do I enjoy? What don’t I enjoy? How does all of that make me feel? When I realized I could not definitively answer any of these questions without linking my responses to what my parents, friends, and ex-boyfriend felt/enjoyed, I knew I wanted to make a change.

Like a sign from God, The NY Times swooped in and recommended I read Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love book, which made me ask one very fundamental question: Am I living life for myself? The answer, if you can’t tell from above, was: hell. no. you’re not. And while I love my parents and friends (eh, not so much the ex-boyfriend) and they have all shaped me into the person I am today – I wanted to seek the answers to those questions for myself.

So, taking a page out of Ms. Gilbert’s book, I have sold most of my belongings (furniture, car, everything), pocketed the money, and bought a one-way ticket to Central America. If there was one thing I knew that I loved despite the people around me, it was the way I feel whole when I’m completely surrounded by Latin culture.

So where did this path to self discovery begin? It began with Attar. And then there’s Elizabeth Gilbert. My favorite words she wrote were:

“Be prepared for endless and riotous waves of transformation.”

And so I will be.