The Painful Obstacle of Leaving

Meghan's Personal Reflections...

            The plane took me away. It didn’t transport, carry, or bring me home; rather it willingly took me away from the place I desperately desired to reside. It was a place I was safe—a place I was content—surrounded by the kindest, purest people I had ever met. After experiencing such a friendly culture, of intriguing philosophies and such rich tradition, arriving home to the stifled America, was a discouraging thought. While the bird took me away, the daunting realization of parting with a place, I craved to be my sanctuary—having to leave for an entire year—slapped me across the face like that of a rude awakening. When saying my good-byes to my genuine friends, I surely thought I would break into tears, but instead I smiled exuberantly and ecstatically—with remorse sheltered in—to enjoy my last moments with the best friends I had known for such a short period of time. It wasn’t until I walked onto the plane, finding my seat, buckling into my space, and staring down at the Earth—that evoked such powerful emotions and memories to mind—that my first teardrop broke loose, silently flowing in a misty rain. Melancholy was barricaded no longer as the familiar trees, sacred land, and relaxed lifestyle quickly faded from reality into a tiny blur, making recognition dawn from my eyes. My last two weeks—my life—faded into that of a wild dream, long lost in the distance, impossible to grasp, with only blissful memories to refresh my sorrowed mind of the exotic experiences many may never comprehend. Closing my eyes, images of the grand temples of Angkor, the crazy streets of Phnom Penh, orphans rhythmically dancing, playing soccer in exhausting heat, listening to beautiful Khmer voices, and laying beneath the stars in Battambang, all too quickly washed away with the blink of an eye. I quietly sat while the demonstrative yet symbolic airplane slowly glided through the cotton clouds to a new place on the map I knew would be a completely foreign lifestyle, culture, made a haze from that of only two weeks before. The mere fact that such an amazing trip, lasting only 14 days, has been able to impact my life so vastly is one of the biggest blessings and astonishments of my life. It may sound cliché, but this trip has broadened my perspective, softened my heart, making me a much more compassionate person to the entire human race. The bird glazing through the atmosphere signified the grand rapid river boiling in my soul, pouring and weeping through my green eyes, making the trip fade from reality to only become a reminiscence I will forever remember as the most amazing time of my life.