SOMEWHERE FAR AWAY

Winter is nowhere to be seen. At 7,00 this morning, the weather app on my phone informed me that the temperature was 19 degrees Celsius. In December. The air continued to get warmer throughout the day and had reached a humid 27 degrees Celsius.

As I set out on my walk this morning, I longed to be elsewhere. Somewhere far away. In another country. In a place where winter was actually white with snow and so cold you could see your breath when you breathe. Where I could sit by a fireplace in a small cottage wrapped in a soft woolen blanket and read books. And write. And photograph the world around me as I see it. A dream which seems so far away at the moment.

Life doesn’t always turn out how we envision. Hopes and dreams are set aside as we go about our everyday lives. In survival mode. Going to school. Then finding a job. Sometimes taking anything that comes our way and not really what we set out to do. Simply working to pay the bills. Working to set food on the table and clothes on our bodies.

But when do we actually get to live life? Is it all an illusion? It is true that ‘life is what you make it’, but what happens when we want more than simply to survive? More than to just work to pay the bills?

Sometimes we end up waiting years for our dreams to become a reality. Other times those dreams simply disappear, getting lost in the shuffle of life.

Sometimes we let fear stop us from moving forward. From experiencing the fullness of life. From going after what we truly desire. We find ourselves trapped in situations which are difficult to leave. But what if one day we decided to break free from those chains that bind us? To take that journey to another country. To another life.

Life doesn’t always turn out how we envision. Sometimes it can turn out better than expected. Perhaps we need to take one step towards those dreams. Then take another. Until we finally reach the place we want to go. Somewhere far away.