Time to Go

It should come as NO SURPRISE to anyone who knows me that I am a huge fan of Taylor Swift. As other fans of T-Swift and specifically her album Evermore would know, one of the bonus songs on the album is called “it’s time to go.”

The song (just like everything Taylor does) is pure genius. The first time I heard it I felt like it was speaking directly to me.

Sometimes giving up is the strong thing
Sometimes to run is the brave thing
Sometimes walking out is the one thing
That will find you the right thing

If I could describe in a song the exact thoughts and feelings I had in my head prior to driving into the unknown world of travel social work, this would be the song.

I can’t point my finger to the exact moment I knew I had to go but that is because there was not just one moment. It was a collection of moments, years of moments really that sent me kicking and screaming to the wrong places before I finally knew… it’s time to go. It is time to surrender. It is time to leave everyone and everything you love behind and just go.

So I did.

The picture in this entry is of one of the entrances to San Pedro Square in San Jose, CA which is a strip of restaurants and bars. I frequented many of those bars too before I realized that drinking was connected to a much bigger issue I had (a symptom of the problem). I took this picture the night before I left. The memories at this location are incredibly bittersweet. I loved on this street. I lost someone on this street who I loved very much. I drank here. I cried here.

As I stood there with the bittersweet taste of all of those memories at the front of my mind and on the tip of my tongue, I said thank you.

The next day I went.