We all have our Englands and our Utahs.

Over the weekend we traveled to Swansea, Wales to a Cuban Salsa Congress event. People from all over the world were there to simply dance. In Andrew's words, it felt like we were watching a lava lamp. So many beautiful colors, smiling faces, flashy dresses, smart shoes, and hips, painted the dance floor. 

I couldn't help but think back to the small city I grew up in. So many are there lost in the desert, carrying on through life without learning hardly a single lesson. In contrast, there are those that live peacefully in simplicity and with the hot sun in their hearts. The path I am following is one of my own choice, stemmed from my past, and a result of who I truly am.

As I've traveled through the first part of my journey here in England, I often hear from people back in the states, how lucky I am to live here or  they wish they could move to England.What I feel in return is that I am not here because it's England. It takes a lot of trust and faith to take such a big leap away from all that is familiar. When Andrew came to the states to visit me, he was speechless when he stood before the Grand Canyon rim, or looked up at the high peaks of Zion National Park.

He felt peace feeling the waves crash over his legs in California, breathing in the salty air.

 He grew up in England, a place most people I grew up with, would love to see. From his shoes, he felt the same gratitude when visiting the country I call home...the mountains, the valleys, the peaks, the red sand. Although these places are breathtaking, we would both say the reason these moments felt so special is because we were together every second.

***

I look around and see people falling apart around me, young and old. Why? So many seem to have lost touch with what is worth striving for and lack willingness to sacrifice. Put down your mobile phones, turn off your satellite T.V., put the clothes back on the shopping rack. You ask yourself every day what is missing? Why doesn't anything work out? I read Facebook status' regularly addressing the same complaints and self pity. If there is anything easy in life, it is walking away. What's missing is your own appreciation for each breath you are given, each moment in time you have to grow and bloom. 

We all have our journeys, we all have our Englands and our Utahs. We all have our dances and our bottles of beer. None of it would matter without the genuine company we receive throughout our days. If there is one thing I can accomplish from this chapter of my life, it is to always wake up and appreciate who is beside me and who I may cross paths with before the sun goes down. 

"I can't find

Oh, the right romantic line

But see me once and see the way I feel

Don't discard me

Just because you think I mean you harm

But these cuts I have

They need love to help them heal

Oh, don't let the sun go down on me

Although I search myself, it's always someone else I see

I'd just allow a fragment of your life to wander free

Cause losing everything is like the sun going down on me"

-Elton John

I'm not writing to share my love story, or to try and persuade people that my life is lucky or in any way superior. I couldn't have this much happiness without having a past of my own, struggles I've overcome, and feeling pain to appreciate what matters most. Life is never as easy as it may appear. That's what makes it so precious, so fragile, so meaningful.