LIMITLESS YOUTHFULNESS

Not sure about myself, my heart so shy

I feel a certain whiff of sense of life

But yet not more and days keep passing by.

My dreams: some fragile blooms - what makes them thrive?

When I left to spend three months in the south of France, not far from Marseille, I was excited to experience a different way of life and the famous Mediterranean spirit. Still I struggled with the final departure from Germany, because it seemed to isolate myself from my former social network and because I got overwhelmed and maybe overtaxed realizing planning was finally finished and put to practice. As I took off from the airport in Hannover, I let go of all strain. Deep down inside of myself I felt an uncertain emptiness, as if there was a hole created by the fact of not knowing what expected me. A hole to be filled with experience. I was ready to welcome the unknown.

Then I arrived in France. It was a different country, a different family, a different village, a different language: I utterly fell in love with it. Simply the fact of being able to experience something new made me happy. I was curious to meet new people and see new places as well as I was eager to learn. What helped me to benefit from my time was the awareness that it was up to me to form my stay in a way it would please me. It was up to me how I presented myself, what I did and who I talked to. These basic observations allowed me to get to know myself better. I tried to find in external distance inner closeness. The confrontation with a different educational system, a deviating daily routine and new philosophies of life established a connection to what I am comprised of and what I want my life to be like. Though there were moments of significant disagreement with my host family and moments of loneliness, because I felt misunderstood or unable to give an authentic presentation of myself, the inspiring experiences predominated. There are many great remembrances: my first day at school when I got to know more people than I could remember their names; a cloudless, cold night out on the hill with my exchange student; a sticky bus ride with friends; swimming for the first time in the Mediterranean Sea (by the end of October!); comforting my host brother after a nightmare, ... I could constantly continue this list. All in all, I experienced a small infinity of inner calmness and not only made new friends but developed a boundless confidence in myself as well as in life in general. I tried to capture my stay with photos, but to its whole extent I could only capture it at heart. When I finally returned, I returned rich. Filled up with images, colours, emotions, foreign words, joy, memory - filled by the vividness of life. I returned with a new certainty:  To continue to explore. Explore myself and others. All around the globe. I returned relieved: No door is ever utterly closed, no path will ever be irreversibly inaccessible. I realized: Dreams need to be put to practice.

I travelled far to face my destiny

Faint dreams? They throve through new identity

The art if implementation.

Soothing sonnet