the power of love...

the power of music...

the power of compassion...

the power of friendship...

the power of belief...

should never be underestimated.

Is it weird that I think I have a love/hate relationship with home?

It’s the place I grew up, it’s the place I’m most familiar with.
But it’s also the place I couldn’t wait to leave. The place I still feel the need to get out.

There is a certain comfort about going home. I have no denial that it’s true. However, it’s the place I spent days wishing I could be someone else. Or just be somewhere else.

Maybe it’s the feeling, the one that everyone shares, regardless of how much it hurts, that you always want what you can’t have. When you’re home you have everything you’ve ever known.  But what you don’t have is all those things you might never know.

Going off to college, I wanted to be somewhere close enough to home without being too close. I picked a place where I was just that. An hour away made it easy to come home, without spending every weekend back at the place I left.

Now that I’ve been able to get even farther away, one step at a time, it made me realize two things. Two contradictory things. I appreciate all that home as given me, but I let myself get too comfortable. Once I started exploring, I realized the only limits I had were the ones I put on myself.

I’ve traveled thousands of miles from home. Coming back made me realize you can always go home. In realizing so, it has also triggered my eagerness to keep exploring. There is so much I want to see and do. Home makes me feel at comfort and ease. But I also find myself back in the same place where I struggled to leave, not knowing if I’d ever really want to.

I guess that’s the way it goes. You always want what you can’t have. In the end, you realize what you want, what you have, what you need, what you don’t…it’s all just an illusion and disguise for all the alternatives in your life, sometimes it’s just too hard to see behind blurred lines. I’m doing my best to discover this path.

So I've been home from Australia for about two weeks now. It's so surreal that my trip is over. I spent four months in a beautiful country, meeting so many new people, traveling nearly every weekend, and doing things I never thought I would. I'm so happy I made the decision to study abroad. Now that it's over I can't believe that actually going was only somewhat of an option in my mind.

I think its because I doubted myself too much.

I didn't think I would be able to spend so much time away from home. Away from my friends, away from my family. Thousands of miles away across the planet.

The thoughts scared me. They scared me so much that I wasn't even able to block them out with the thoughts of all the possibilities...new adventures, friends, experiences, and so on and so forth.

When I was in Australia, it made me think about how blessed I was. How lucky I was to be able to participate in such a journey. I found myself pausing to reflect nearly every day.

Traveling to Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne...Skydiving, Scuba diving, sandboarding...playing with kangaroos and koalas...spending my time on a different beach nearly every weekend...constantly meeting new people and making new friends.

How did I get so fortunate? I have no idea. But I wouldn't trade a moment of it. I am truly so thankful and appreciative for everything I was able to do. It was a time in my life I was able to learn more about myself, others, and the world...and it was more than I ever expected.

Sorry for the lack of updates! I'm still relatively new to The One Love. I've also recently been using Twitter and Blogspot alot, maybe too much? (twitter.com/mich531 ... follow me!)

I've also been traveling around Australia so that has been taking up time, on top of school. Which is actually no excuse because that means I should be writing more! Something I have been doing more of is reading. I haven't always been too into reading but it's a new thing I really want to keep up with. I'm already on my 3rd book of the year! For me, this is alot. haha

I recently read Randy Pausch's The Last Lecture. After hearing much enthusiasm about it from many friends who had read it, I had to read it for myself. I would deffinetly recommend it... I laughed, I cried, I was inspired. I have always tried to be an optimistic person, as I believe its one of the best traits anyone can possess. To read stories from a truly optimistic individual who lived out his dreams in his life that was cut too short, was really inspiring.

Life is something we sometimes take for granted. Every moment is a treasure. It's up to us to make the most of what we're given.

I have been so fortunate in my life. This year especially has already been off to an incredible start. I'm in Australia, how could I even complain!? I've been able to travel, to live, to learn, to meet new people, to have adventures, to conquer fears, and to take responsibility for my life.

I don't think I'm going to want to leave this place. I'm surrounded by such amazing people who have the same desires to learn, travel, explore, and live. I'm learning something new everyday.

Hello, I'm Michelle and I'm new to The One Love. I wanted to take this opportunity and use my first post to introduce myself.

I'm 20 years old, from Massachusetts. I am a student at Quinnipiac University where I am a Communications major (Media Studies concentration) and Marketing minor. I hope to work in the music industry and I am anxiously awaiting to hear about my summer internship.

I am currently studying abroad in Australia. I've already been here for a month and I can already say it has been one of the best experiences of my life. Independence, change, travel, sunshine, friends, challenges, experiences. I love it all.

I have a twin sister, and we're bfflz. For real though, we read each other's minds. But I also have lots of other best friends, and for many of us our relationships have grown over the years through our passion and love for music.

I love Starbucks, Urban Outfitters, mangos, and New York City.

I have lots of fears, but I try to focus more on things I love and want to do in my life than things I'm afraid of or things that hold me back.

I am so excited to be a part of The One Love. It is such a unique, creative, and inspiring idea. Bringing people together, telling their stories, sharing their ideas, expressing themselves, describing the music in our lives, and coming together to fight for our chosen causes.

That brings me to another point. Our causes. You may or may have not noticed that I have not chosen a cause yet. There are a few that I am passionate about and I am currently deciding which one I will choose to support through my blog.

I hope this gives you some insight into my mind and life. If you are interested, you can check out my other blog (mich531.blogspot.com) and follow me on twitter (twitter.com/mich531).

Hope to talk to you soon!