INDIA.

If you were to ask me where the most amazing place I've ever been is, it would be India. Not because it's the most beautiful or because I had the best vacation there. For none of those reasons but for all of the right reasons. It changed me. Every ounce of me. It pushed every limit, evoked every emotion and challenged all of my fears. It changed how I see the world. Every second seeing and feeling the fragility of life, pure love, intense joy, the beauty of the moment. 

I started reading Shantaram while I was there, in the book he refers to India as the heart of the world and I could not agree more. I don't think there is anywhere as raw and real, that loves and hates with such intensity as India. I loved that place and hated that place with equal intensity. I joke that I fled India and in a way it's true; I could not wait to get out of there but sat in the Delhi airport and bawled my eyes out because I didn't want to leave. I didn't know what to make of all that I had experienced, what I was feeling and what it all meant. I needed to leave to see all of its true beauty. 

Life gives us lessons and opportunities that change us and bring us closer to our truth but they might not look like what we expected or be who we expected....they probably won't be beautiful or perfectly packaged {India definitely was not} and we might not see the beauty for years to come but I can almost guarantee they'll be exactly what we need. 

I needed India.