3-minute read
How to put the past 4 months into words?
How to put the happiness, the joy the gratitude and the feeling of wholesomeness into one? All I can say is thank you! I know I’ve said if a million times but I can’t stop being grateful for the moments, the people, the smiles, THE JOY, the present.
Trying to put this into a sentence: It’s as if everyone’s life was put on pause to live in a dream and everyone was living so present, so mindful, so happy of every second and every little thing that NOTHING else mattered other than living life in the moment!
I had never met so many people at the same time, so many HAPPY people, so many people that were only willing to give! People only willing to give a smile and connect. Everyone was there willing to be their best self and give the best of themselves.
It’s crazy to think that many of the people that I cherish today, 4 months ago I had no idea they existed. I had no idea I’d make so many friends in such a short period of time and create so many meaningful connections.
I can say the past 4 months I have been the happiest. Enjoying even being soaked at 3:30am biking in the rain back from KK.
It’s crazy how happy you can get to be. The level of joy and gratitude over the past 4 months are something I did not know could be experienced. I never knew I could be this happy with myself and others.
I felt kindness, love and acceptance all the time. I met so many people from all around the world from places I had never heard of and cities that I now have to go to.
I felt so myself and I could have not loved it more. I felt so free and in a safe space where all I had to do was be me and nothing else mattered. There were no masks hiding my true self and all I had to do was be my most real authentic self. I’m so proud of the person I’ve become. Of the person that had the courage to go across the ocean and live alone and move to a country without knowing a single person.
I’m so proud of all the work throughout these years and letting myself enjoy the fruits of all the work and using the money to travel and gain all the life experiences I did.
Sweden you were a dream, a dream I worked for so hard for and that I made come true. From you I learned to be and not to do.
A big part of what I learned the past 4 months was to be. Just be. I had so much time to just be and know that I didn’t need to be doing. That I could just sit and enjoy a cup of tea without doing. That I could do fika everyday and enjoy.
When I got there I made the commitment to enjoy and not worry about everything else. For the past 5 years I’ve always been “on the go” either working, studying, volunteering, helping someone, and always busy having something to do. These part 4 months I was always busy, but busy doing things for myself, busy saying yes to fika and trips and kind of studying, busy saying yes to baking and making dinner together with friends, busy partying and sleeping in afterwards, busy talking about the party the day after and busy enjoying the moment. I only had one responsibility and this was keeping myself alive hahaha and didn’t have to worry about anything or anyone else. And as selfish as it sounds it was great.
I felt that I finally was living the life I was supposed to be living. So many times I’ve felt I’m living a life “older” than myself. But during the past 4 months I gave myself the opportunity to grow down. At the beginning of my exchange a friend told me “there’s a lot of people that I tell them: grow up, but to you I have to tell you: grow down”. And that was the best advice as it became my motto.
I let go of so many things weighing me down and decided to live the life of a 23 year old. I partied all I wanted, slept so many days after 5am and woke up at noon. Chilled and relax and did nothing. I took so much pressure off myself and it felt so good. It was a nice reminder that sometimes we put ourselves in these standards of you have to do: x, y and z and forget to just be, relax, let go and everything has its own time.
I remember googling Linköping Dec2019 when I was considering exchange. Little did I know that I’d have to wait until 2022 and postpone my graduation a year in order to make it happen. However, I do not regret the decision for a second.
Linköping thanks for being my happy place and letting me call you home for the past months. You have more than a special place in my heart. There were a lot of “firsts” and a lot of “lasts” during the past months. And even though I didn’t want the “last parties, last bike rides, last hugs, sleepless nights and tea times” to happen I enjoyed the lasts as much as the firsts.
To every person that I met thank you! You’ve made me smile, happier and filled my heart with memories, joy and love. Thank you Sweden, tack så mycket Linköping you’ve been more than I could have asked for.