born to run, born to love

I haven't been to a lot of places in this world, as my travels have been confined inside of the United States. And while it has been worth it to cross experiences off of my list, i.e. seeing the space needle or going to the DC temple or running around Chicago and pretending to be Ferris Bueller, this thing, this need to go go go that has been shifting around inside of me for the last several years is poking and prodding at my very surface so much that any day it might explode out of my core. I want to run, I want to see, I want to breathe and laugh and feel and explore and take everything, everything, in all at once and then slowly and mechanically, letting it soak into my pores like a sponge that never ever gets full. I want to meet strangers on the street and listen to their life stories, their heartaches and their experiences that weaved the inner workings of their souls, and I want to meet the people they love. I want to speak eat breathe and dream Spanish and struggle and fail my way through Arabic while glorying in how absolutely beautiful it sounds to my ears from someone else's mouth. I want to be hugged by an old Greek woman and I want to eat straight-up Italian pizza until my stomach feels like exploding. I want to see pyramids and camels and make friends with an elephant. I want to lose my breath on the Rock of Gibraltar and I want to hold my breath while standing in the middle of Machu Picchu in fear that if I make a sound or even blink I might wake up from a dream. I want to visit the families my dad served in Uruguay, I want to see the beaches of Kuwait where my best friend spent her favorite afternoons as a little girl, I want to find Peter Pan in his park. I want to stand in the streets of every third-world country and cry. I want to experience this life and this world and love more people than I ever thought imaginable. I want to teach and I want to learn, I want to love and I want to feel the love of strangers who don't speak the same language as me but who share the understanding that we, we are human and we are connected to one another. I want to feel that connection and be consumed by the knowledge that there is good in people and that all of us have the capacity to love. I was born to love, of this I am sure.