We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.

-T.S. Eliot

A new year. For many this is a time to start anew, whether it be getting back into shape, breaking a bad habit, or starting a new journey in life. For a long time I would make a resolution and half way through January I would forget all about it. This year I decided that I didn’t want to make a resolution but just continue pushing forward in my attempt to live a full, positive life.

The quote I chose today was one I’d been wanting to use for a while now. I had it in my email waiting for the most appropriate time to pull it out. This was the perfect time. I find myself at a crossroads. For the last few years, I realized that I’d been taking the safe route when it came to a certain part of my life. I felt that the safe route would leave me the happiest, but so far it hasn’t. I won’t lie and say that it wasn’t good. I was content, but I wasn’t overwhelmingly happy. Hell, I’m still not as I walk this tightrope keeping my safety net close.

For a long time I tried to keep everyone happy. I may have mentioned this before but that’s who I am. I keep a delicate balance, trying to keep everything from spiraling out of control. It tends to do so anyway but that’s besides the point. This is not the purpose of this blog post.

Life is a series of moments. You can sit here trying to plan out the perfect life, but while you’re doing that you’re wasting those moments. What they say is true, “Youth is wasted on the young.” Most of the young spend their lives either worrying about the future or living frivolously. As you get older, you tend to remember the special moments. The genuine people who make your heart flutter. The great ideas that keep you awake at night. The places that steal your breath away. I learned this year that I can’t keep living my life on this tightrope. I have to get rid of the net and risk the fall. I need to explore the world and let it shape me into a better, more well-rounded person. I need to set myself free and never stop my exploration.

Ciao my friends,

*All photos were taken by JoVaughn Hill aka Fly Guy Joey*