One Month Away From Departure

The best advice for preparing for this journey was given to me tonight in speaking to a co-worker from India. "Let it go," he said. "Just let it all go. If you arrive with an open mind and an open heart, you will love India."

Openness. Freedom. An unparalleled experience lies before me and despite my subtle resistance of the unfamiliar, I have not denied myself this opportunity. Who could? My greatest fear is letting go, not in the matter of actually doing so, but in the matter of discovering what I've let go of. American ideals, western mentalities, all of the things that I am sure I take for granted, but don't yet realize. I will return as a different me, an improved me, I hope. And despite my security in how well I know myself, this will inevitably teach me more about the person I think I am. This is not just a journey across deserts, through monsoon rains, over lands unknown. This is, perhaps most of all, a journey to discover my soul, to realize my beliefs, to finally grasp an understanding that I've hungered for since I could imagine it- my place in this world.

Just one short month away, I will let go. The metaphorical cage that I am content to be in will burst open and I will soar... from Denver to Newark, to Dublin to London, to Mumbai and finally, to Chennai, where I will find a new home, a new life, the new me that I just may come to find out was there all along.