This is how I burst my bubble.

 By Izazkun

I was 5 years old when I discovered writing.

Every little girl wanted a doll, the new barbie house, or even the latest Webkinz. In my case, I wanted a diary, which was pink and had a barbie image, but you get what I mean. 

Words have always been part of my life. But, through books or journals, I have discovered a way to express myself and travel to different stories, worlds, and galaxies. 

This is why, today, I will use words to talk to you about my biggest "bursting out of the bubble" experience. 

Every day, I receive multiple DM's about my apparently magic life here in Barcelona and tons of questions relating to it. ¿How is the life of a Mexican woman in Europe? ¿How can you afford it? ¿How can you have the magic life you have? 

Believe me, dear reader, living away from home is not the luxurious, exciting, thrilling life Instagram has convinced you to believe in. 

 Don't get me wrong. I LOVE my life in Barcelona, and it has definitely been the most wonderful and remarkable experience I've ever lived. HOWEVER, I've learned to love this life because it's different from what I was used to in Mexico. 

Barcelona is a city of contrast. There is a side to it that is very beautiful and full of light, but there is also a dark and shady edge that most people don't get to know until you find yourself living in the city. 

A friend of mine once told me that Barcelona has three stages:

First, move in feel the thrill of the city: that excitement in your stomach and the desire to conquer every corner of it. 

Then, after some months of feeling at the top of the world, Barcelona will show you its dark side. The loneliness of living on your own, the sentiment of feeling lost, and the weight of the decision you just made. 

And finally, you learn to love it with its light and its dark as equals. You get to know the definition of yin and yang, and you will feel good about it. 

Do you know why? Because that's precisely the definition of moving away from home. Bursting out of your bubble and stepping out of your comfort zone in every single way possible. 

Going shopping, building a home from scratch, getting to know people, making decisions on your own, feeling scared, feeling lost, finding yourself, losing yourself, and finding yourself again. 

I know this might sound scary, but that is what life is made of. 

Life is made of the moments in which you prove yourself wrong, moments in which you understand that every fear you ever had, is nothing compared to what you can accomplish if you commit yourself to it. 

Life is made of each, and every second you have decided to write your own story. 

No matter how lonely, challenging, or rough the path might be. Life is made of you choosing to keep walking. 

Life is made of choices. 

Choose to step out of the life you know. 

Choose to breathe a different type of air.

Go get a job in another country. 

Surround yourself with people that make you grow. 

Embrace the loneliness that bravery implies. 

Choose to GROW. 

Because I promise that you will never regret choosing yourself. 

And to really know yourself, you must understand what you are made of. 

Love,

Iz