Finding Beauty in the Everyday

On the way to a cross country race I realised that Indiana is beautiful. When the sun shone through the trees, I could see the miles and miles of dappled countryside. It's green, lush, welcoming, and it's home. Of all the places I have been over the past year, that corn filled stretch in the middle of nowhere Indiana was the most gorgeous. Even though I've been having some tough times lately, right then I felt so at peace with myself and with the world. It was 7:47 in the morning Saturday, and it just felt sooooo good to be alive. {deep breath} Going to Chile has made me appreciate my simple, Midwest life so much more. I love Chile with all my heart, but I have the privilege to live the way I did again. Same high school. Same people. Same family. Same town. I'm not living it over again. Although to a certain extent it does feel like that sometimes. I just face old problems with a new understanding of life. A new zealous. I feel older and more mature. I find that many of the old problems that plagued my life seem trivial, and easily fixable. I am so grateful for the opportunity I was given to go abroad, despite what I might tell you otherwise, and it's good to be alive. (And that Hamilton song plays on queue "the greatest city in the world... History is Happening!... aren't you happy to be alive right now?! Look around, look around!")