Entry #3: A True Love Story

Imagine this, you walk into work one day and two of your friends are talking to you about how they’re going to be moving to Hawaii for a six months and you encourage them saying it sounds like a great experience. But then the conversation changes into you coming along and joining them, a month before they leave. So, you go home and talk to your parents about it, thinking they’ll say that is an awful idea, instead they tell you it sounds like an amazing opportunity given you never left home for school or lived on your own. Then with little to no planning you’re on a plane to live on an island you have never even visited before.

Sounds like a dream or something made up, doesn’t it? Well, I can tell you it was all real because these conversations happened almost a year ago. And after 10 months of living on an island this past week I said goodbye to what is now one of my favorite places on this planet. I am ready to follow other goals and dreams of mine, but I would like to share what my experience was like and what I learned from my ten months in paradise. 

Living in paradise was absolutely amazing, but it was not all that glamorous at times, if anything it was far from it. It was a raw experience and something that truly shaped me as an individual. I felt every feeling and emotion you could think of. From excitement to joy to sadness to literally everything, you name it. I had an issue with the location of where I lived when I first moved there, to having a friend that didn’t have my best interest in mind, to working with someone who didn’t get my personality, all the way to spending hours crying to my friend Kristin about all the things that I struggled with including wanting to go home. 

But I did not wanna give up right away. My first month or two were a true struggle, but there was a part of me telling me I needed to stay and grow. And I look back on what was supposed to be a 6 month endeavor turned into 10 months of pure growth. I could say I was miserable with the amount of tears I shed, but I look back on it all and smile because I enjoyed every goddamn second of it whether I was feeling shitty or felt like I was right where I was supposed to be. It was all a magical experience and would not have had it any other way.

It was a true love story to say the least. Hawaii taught me what love is. Yes, I did actually fall in love with the girl of my dreams, but  she was the one that opened my eyes to what love truly is, but I wouldn’t have found her if I didn’t come to the island. I not only fell in love with my girlfriend but fell in love with the island, fell in love with nature, planet earth, myself, this mother fucking life I am living. I learned that love is the secret to everything around us. Love is kindness. Love is gratitude. Love is crying. Love is pain. Love is showing up. Love is living. Love is literally anything and everything you can think of.

I discovered my flaws, who I am, and who I want to be and what I want for myself and the world around me. I want to show others what they’re capable of and show them that they have the power to make the life they have been dreaming of. I look back at my time here, which was probably the hardest thing I have ever done, and realize I can literally do anything. The only thing in my way is me and I no longer allow myself to block my own path. Life is about experiencing, growing, and loving. I encourage you to do the same.

Love is kindness. Love is gratitude. Love is crying. Love is pain. Love is showing up. Love is living. Love is literally anything and everything you can think of.

It saddens me that this past week I had to say goodbye to one of my favorite places where I met so many amazing and supportive people. But if I hadn’t gone there I would not be heading where I am heading on my next journey. I close the chapter with my heart filled with gratitude and love. I cry tears of joy and am extremely proud of myself with that amount of growth I have gone through in these past 10 months. Hawaii is forever going to hold a special place in my heart. I will see you again soon!