So my journey in Belfast has come to an end and in the morning I hop a bus to Dublin and fly away to Thailand with my one-way ticket. Words cannot sum up the cyclone of emotions and experiences I've had in this beautiful place.

It was a relationship that originally brought me here, but my love for the people and land that made me return. You will always have my heart Belfast. I am not the same woman I was when I arrived here October 2014...and I thank you for that. I am wiser, braver, more curious, more patient, more understanding, more forgiving, more prone to take risks, more solid in my beliefs, more driven, more passionate, more spiritual, more determined, more optimistic, more hopeful than ever before.

I loved these two years. Every nitty gritty, dirty, sweet, warm, confusing, rainy, heartbreaking, disappointing, enlightening, glorious moment. The learning that I received was not from my MFA at all, but from life. From the interactions, the mess-ups, the loves, the heartaches, the laughter, the faux pas, the naked romps through the forests, the connections, the meetings, the swims in the seas, the teary-eyed Colenso kitchen conversations, the freelancing, the train rides, the spontaneous headstands, the nights sleeping under the stars, the walks in the parks, the hugs, the kisses, the dances...these day to day events helped me to see more of the world than ever before.

How can I express my gratitude to the universe for bringing people into my life that I will love unconditionally forever in this life and all the rest that follow? I will show it by passing this love on to others that I may meet along the way. And through this sharing and connection of loving those around me, I hope to pass on the legacy of what you've instilled in me...each and every one of you.

I know what I am searching for in Thailand; I don't know where I'll find it or who will help me along the way, but I feel it in my bones. I know that this space of uncertainty is exactly what I need to start me on the road to awe.

Every new beginning is another new beginning's end.

it's not goodbye; just until we meet again.

-DW