My Story

 

If you were to tell your younger self their future, how would they feel? My answer. She would be filled with pride, disbelief, and amazement.

If we take ourselves back to the year 2000, we would find a little girl whose light of happiness was dimmed by the inevitable experience of loss. Loss of the most powerful bond that we form. Loss of a mother’s love.

As a child, if you were to look into my eyes, grief and sadness would reflect back at you. I never really smiled much even before my mother’s passing, I suppose I must have known what was coming. Growing up, I would look back at old school photos, and wonder why each one had the same saddened face looking back at me, it’s like I frowned on purpose when the photographer said “Say CHEESE!”. I more recently discovered the missing puzzle to all my wonderings. What changed? Because if you were to meet me now, not knowing my past, you wouldn’t think that I was the same sad eyed girl all those years ago.

About two years after losing my mother I went on holiday with my aunty and cousins to Morocco. Camel rides, beautiful beaches, and a kid friendly all-inclusive hotel, all things that were new to me, you better believe this was the first time I properly began to smile again. That’s the beauty of travel. As corny as it sounds travel is my escape. When my mother found out she was sick, she escaped from her darkness to our beautiful island Jamaica. I’d like to think that this is where my passion stems from. Immersing myself in an unknown surrounding allows me to let go of my darkness, familiarities, and be free. Free to explore, learn, and experience.

Smiling in Morocco

It is only as I write this now that I am able to connect the dots to my life. I now understand why I chose to study languages, at the time I just stuck with it because it was something I enjoyed, but now I see it is so much more than that. Languages enables you to enrich your mind about new cultures, it has already taught me so much about the world and has opened so many doors for me. At a young age I have travelled more than I ever imagined, lived abroad, and become a teacher all before the age of 21, and it is not going to end there, this is just the beginning.

So there you have my story, I share with you because knowledge is only powerful when it is shared with others. I want my journey to inspire others to not stop until they find what it is that sets them free, re-light the darkness in your eyes with your truth and love.

As I like to say now: Stay true, to you, with amor.