I mean, I am a huge advocate of having time to yourself, doing things alone, and being independent, but it took me a very long time to realize just how precious and beautiful it is by being surrounded with love; I guess you can say I've really taken them for granted. It's about being actively involved in each others' lives, whether it's picking up the midnight phone call to console your sister (even if you were dead asleep), ordering your bestie their favorite drink without them knowing, a surprise massage for your lovey, letting your mom relax with her iPad while you do the chores...
It's really these little signs of affection are what make life so much more real; I mean, while I was traveling, I was left pretty much on my own, to fend for myself, to attempt to break cultural boundaries to be able to understand people, just conversationally, and then maybe through that I'd finally be able to establish some kind of friendship. Yet, I've realized that while these relationships can be totally fun and awesome, it's undoubtedly the relationship that you have with the people that you spend your most mundane and boring part of life with that seem to make the greatest impact. It's because you share more than just a fleeting moment in time; you spend days and nights together and grow to understand one another on a whole other level. It's intimate, it's loving, it's definitely a growing relationship, and honestly it's that feeling of belonging, a sort of bond and unspoken understanding, that develops unlike any other relationship. It can be with your parents, your siblings, your best friends, your roommates, your significant others, your pets even! It's really a very powerful bond that forms between people (or pets).
So, while the Eiffel Tower is indeed a magnificent sight to admire, in my opinion it's nothing more than a standing piece of metal if I can't have my loved ones with me sitting on the grass with a few baguettes, an open bottle of wine, grapes and some stinky cheese.
It's really these little signs of affection are what make life so much more real; I mean, while I was traveling, I was left pretty much on my own, to fend for myself, to attempt to break cultural boundaries to be able to understand people, just conversationally, and then maybe through that I'd finally be able to establish some kind of friendship. Yet, I've realized that while these relationships can be totally fun and awesome, it's undoubtedly the relationship that you have with the people that you spend your most mundane and boring part of life with that seem to make the greatest impact. It's because you share more than just a fleeting moment in time; you spend days and nights together and grow to understand one another on a whole other level. It's intimate, it's loving, it's definitely a growing relationship, and honestly it's that feeling of belonging, a sort of bond and unspoken understanding, that develops unlike any other relationship. It can be with your parents, your siblings, your best friends, your roommates, your significant others, your pets even! It's really a very powerful bond that forms between people (or pets).
So, while the Eiffel Tower is indeed a magnificent sight to admire, in my opinion it's nothing more than a standing piece of metal if I can't have my loved ones with me sitting on the grass with a few baguettes, an open bottle of wine, grapes and some stinky cheese.
