Chasing Sunsets
Let’s rewind for a moment back to quarantine - October 2020 to be specific. I’m cramming in homework the night before it’s due. My back hurts from siting so much. My eyes hurt from staring at my computer so I stare out the window, dreaming of all the things I could be doing instead. I’m procrastinating listening to this lecture I have tried to watch three times. I notice that the sky is changing colors as the sun sets. And all I can think about it how I never want to be the type of person who misses sunsets, and yet here we are…
Now fast forward to tonight - it’s 9 pm and I’ve just been swimming in the sunset after having a picnic dinner on the beach with friends. We got so caught up in the moment, basking in the glow of the setting sun, that we almost got locked in the park, but made it out just in time. In the 10 days I’ve been here I’ve seen the sunset 9 times. You’d think that after the third time it would have gotten old, but you couldn’t be more wrong.
My soul is overflowing with genuine human connection and happiness. I have at least three moments a day where I stop in my tracks in disbelief that this is my life now. It feels like I’ve been here for months, but it’s only been days. I like that. I like that I’ve found a place where days are long, yet also short, but are so full of goodness that you can’t keep track of just how long it’s been.
If younger Emily could see me now. Boy, would she be proud. I think a part of her wouldn’t believe that this life is real. That it’s possible for her. She took a big step, left her tiny town, chased her happiness, went in full force, and didn’t question it. Now she doesn’t stop dancing at red lights, watches jaw-dropping sunsets, has awe-inspiring adventures, and loves every single moment. I hope life looks like this for a while.
If you take one piece of advice from me, let it be this: do the scary thing. Question life, examine your surroundings, envision what ultimate joy looks like to you, then go after it. Find what is missing in your life and fix that hole. Mine was sunsets, and it brought me here. And now look at me; I’m a bikini-wearing, salty-haired, beach bum who can’t get enough of the ocean. And I like it that way.
If you need me, I’ll be wherever the sunsets are.
