To The One Who Moved to Guatemala

When I think about you, I think about your understanding, your ability and willingness to look into the souls of others and act out of compassion for the soul in front of you. I’ve never met a person with as much understanding and compassion as you.

You’re really doing it. You’re living your honest life. The next chapter from the young woman who left the United States with a backpack because that’s who she believed was her ideal self.

When you tasted it, you bit in.

That’s the most brave and beautiful thing about honesty, that by it’s undeniable. Yet some still try to deny it. You didn’t.

There’s fires burning on both sides of California and the death tolls are ticking upwards of 25. Thick haze settles in the valley over 80 miles away, filtering out the lighter hues of the Sun’s rays. People carry on with their day to day lives, anyway. Going to Starbucks, going to yoga, driving in their cars.

I’ve rattled my brain for what would be a worthy activity to be doing when the End came around and what I’ve realized is this: it’s not the act alone that tells the story, but all the potential actions that one could be caught in the middle of when the big one comes.

This is who we are.

How do you live? How do you fill your days? How many years of your life are you willing to sacrifice? For what?

It’s not just the end - death, oblivion, etc. - that may find us eating fast food in our cars out in the parking lot. Maybe it’s the love of our life, pulling into the space next to you and looking over, catching you as you are- in the real moments of your life. Maybe they’re sitting in the cafe working on a project that they are perfectly stuck on because they lack a partner with your skills and abilities.

That’s the thing I admire about you the most. Ever since I’ve known you, you’ve filled your life with the most authentic of moments, aligned with your ideal self. Ever ready to be found by whatever may come.

Best of luck,

Roman