Present Darkness, Hopeful Distance

This may not be what the sky looks like tonight (it's from a couple nights ago) but it's how I feel right now. 

As a sophomore in college I spent over a semester living in Ankara, Turkey.

My time there was filled with *way* more serious things than your typical study abroad shenanigans. Turkey happened in the midst of my first year in recovery from my eating disorder. It was my first months of Prozac. It held an attempt at forgiveness. It broke down a lot (all?) of my internal barriers against growth and spiritual evolution.

My time in Turkey was a bridge from a former way of living to a different, new way. Kinda like Istanbul. My time there was a tumultuous conglomeration of modern/progressive and traditional/comfortable way of thinking. 

Turkey is a beautiful country, one with a mixed bag of history and legacy. My heart aches for them in light of the recent terror attack on Istanbul. 

Because of Turkey I can truly say I AM BECAUSE WE ARE. 

We need each other. We need love. We need connection. We need our differences. We need our histories. We need peace.