by @margie_chala

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TO TRAVEL IS TO LIVE

“To move, to breathe, to float

To gain all while you give

To roam the roads of lands remote

To travel is to live”

• Hans Christian Andersen

 

 

You crave your escape

 

Running away

 

From anything holding you back, from closed minds and eyes shut

 

From the sensation of getting lost in a chaotic, dead end labyrinth

 

You breathe – not so much

 

You live – not so much

 

You grab some clothes and run to the airport

 

On the plane

 

You close your eyes

 

And as you open them, the ground, the people, anything holding you down

 

They fade away

 

And as they do

 

You breathe in your first true breath in a while

 

Your senses heighten

 

You feel that the world is infinite

 

And so is your potential

And the grand, beautiful moments you can live – infinite too

 

You are a tiny something in the infinite of your world

 

And at the same time you are everything

 

In front of you nothing

 

You sink in its desolate emptiness

 

Time stands still

 

And you are a clock melting inside it

 

You let yourself learn about this new destination

 

Learn about its people

 

Embrace new ideologies and new ways to see the world

 

Learn the world from the beginning

 

Like an infant

 

As if you don’t and never knew anything

 

You dream about discovery, new sensations

 

You open the windows of your soul

 

You let in all the beauty that’s out there

 

That’s already inside you

 

You lose yourself only to find it again

 

So you can become richer – in experiences, images, feelings

 

Your spirit is a light, white feather

 

Nothing and everything belongs to you

 

Now you can come back

 

Liberated from anything that was holding you back, the weight now insubstantial, and your misery gone

 

Now you’re ready to face every day as a new challenge

 

You’re ready to take in the people around you as a newfound family

 

Every moment as a whole lifetime

 

Yourself as a new, exciting human being

 

Who sees the world in a different light

 

That world out there

 

But, most importantly

 

The world inside you

 

And now open your eyes

 

You made your journey a remarkable one –beautiful as life

 

Margaret Chala