living.

I've been dying to leave the United States for a while. I love New York City more than I can say, but I think I deserve to experience beauty in other parts of the world.

I also wonder where I'll live someday. I dream of having an apartment in Greenwich Village, perhaps. But where to escape to when city life bombards you?

I've visited Arizona once, to see my godmother. An eccentric, but very insightful and beautiful person. I've had dreams of deserts since; standing in one, admiring the limitless amounts of sand and sky.

She said to me, once; "I always visited people living in these beautiful places, and I thought, well why can't I live somewhere beautiful?"

It's a good point. Those words "why can't I live somewhere beautiful?" have been replaying in my head for weeks now.

Maybe I'm not meant for a desert. Maybe a beach house to escape to. Perhaps a rural area. Perhaps some deserted place, tucked away from modern living, so that I may regroup once in a while.

Who knows, now. I'm still an undergraduate in a dorm with a dual bathroom/kitchen sink, after all.

But when I finish writing this chapter, I'll have to bring myself further along the road I've been paving myself for 20 years. I'm old enough to know that being idle is foolish. I'm young enough to know that I can flit in and out of places, breeze through towns and cities and find something to smile about in every one.

I'd like to have one inexpensive escape location, though. Someday. Even if it's just a place to park my car for an evening, or a place to lay down comfortably while I stargaze.

But I know I'd like to live somewhere beautiful. Everyone should want that. Beauty isn't just a vacation stop. Whether you create it around you or you stumble upon it while you're wandering through a foreign area, embrace it. Try to be present in it as much as possible. And when you feel like you're sad to leave it, always remember that you deserve something beautiful out of life.