...you just have to live. I've tapped one of my all-time favourite books for my English students to read for book club, Tuck Everlasting. Natalie Babbitt writes: Do not fear death, but rather the unlived life. So do it. Whatever it is you're thinking about. And dance while you're at it. Like when you're eighteen and wearing a sari for the heck of it during a night out in Kathmandhu, Nepal and the band is playing and you don't understand the words but you sure understand how much fun the locals are having so it must be good. And don't just inch in and shuffle your feet, jump in, throw your arms and hair back with exuberance and laugh. Laugh at the ridiculous beauty of the moment, being completely conscious of the fact that that moment is your life and you will never get a re-do, another chance to dance. I always get nods of approval, pats on the back, and wide-eyed wonder mixed with admiration whenever I tell people that I moved abroad and you might not guess it, but it makes me immensely sad. Because it's not that I'm living abroad, I'm just living the life I dreamed for myself and the fact that the latter is something to be admired, to be deserving of wide-eyed wonder, means that too few of us are doing this. x
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