This is me taking very careful, slow steps to cross one of the many cliffs found on the Ochre Trail, where I would often stop to observe the beautiful red clay and trees surrounding me! |
It’s a sense of being aware; observing the big picture of where you are and who you are with while simultaneously searching to appreciate the finer details. The glistening of sunlight on a showered road, the fluttering of leaves inches from your nose, the chill from inhaling the aroma of the best pizza in town - when these things start to take your breath away, when these exquisite details make you feel contentment with where your two feet currently stand, then you know you are living in the moment. Being anxious about future plans, dwelling on missed opportunities, or doubting that now is a satisfying affair will ironically only cheat you from receiving your opportunity in it’s totality. Instead, living day by day means to have confidence that your future plans will work out, to be thankful for past adventures, but most of all to take a deep breath and enjoy the new culture in front of you.
A new friend of mine, who wouldn’t stop smiling over the seaglass she collected from a beach in Cassis, France. |
Kristen Cole is a CEA alumni. She is studying abroad in Aix-en-Provence during the Spring of 2017 and is currently a sophomore at Point Loma Nazarene University.
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