RUNNING the world

And in a desperate attempt to love myself, I began to run. I fell in love with my spirit. My self discipline. My determination. My passion. The feeling of pride after I pushed myself and my body to do things I never dreamed of doing was what kept me going. It kept me living. Running became more than a sport, or a hobby, or a way to stay in shape. Eventually it became what kept me alive.

A glimpse into the journal of a (quite intelligent) 16 year old girl. Photographed, with permission, in Central Park. 

Some people smoke, others drink, and others fall in love, each one dies in a different way.

The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.

When I say I want to travel I don’t mean I want to stay at resorts and go on tours with tour guides or buy key chains from souvenir shops. I don’t want to be a tourist. When I say I want to travel I mean I want to explore another country and become part of it. I want to discover small coffee shops in Germany and Italy and France. I want to walk on beaches in Australia and browse the book stores of England. I want to hike the Great Wall of China and go cliff diving in Hawaii I want to meet people who are not like me, but people who I can like all the same. I want to take pictures of things and places and people I meet. I want my mind to be in constant awe of life on earth. I want to see things with new eyes. I want to look at a map and be able to remember how I was transformed by the places I’ve been to the things I’ve seen and the people I’ve met. I want to come home and realize that I have not come home whole but have left a piece of my heart in each place I have been. This, I think, is what is at the heart of Adventure and this is why I plan on making my life one.

If one could run without getting tired, I don’t think one would often want to do anything else.