📌Ciutadella Park | Mi Último Día Completo
Sitting here on the flight back to the United States, back to Evanston, back to Kellogg… I’m actually keeping it together more than I thought that I would. It feels like my departure from this moment of my life was both gradual and that it came shockingly abrupt close simultaneously. The final days in Barcelona were full of new adventures, reflective moments, and things that affirmed that I actually lived here. From the workers at the bar near my place recognizing me and saying that I will always have a home there — to the chance encounter with Pablo as I sat at dinner looking out into the streets of Eixample…
Barcelona fue mi casa.
This place became home not by luck – it was a very intentional effort to take full advantage of the three months. I lived there will few restrictions (not the best impact on finances) but it proved to be so fruitful. No regrets. As I sit here on the plane soon to land, I’m full of gratitude. I’m grateful for the opportunity, the people that I came to know, loved ones that I was able to share with, and for myself – pushing myself physically/mentally/emotionally. I’m more confident in aspects of my life that I perhaps felt behind of self-conscious about.
Mi Familia de Barcelona | Mi Amigos Siempre 🖤
This beautiful city on the Mediterranean coast of Spain was a bubble insulated from my world back home and the world at large. It was an intentional decision to focus on the present and be a bit selfish. Through the years, I’ve come to realize that time and energy are precious resources that we have to allocate judiciously. With such a short time – a precious moment that I’ll always appreciate – I had to focus a bit inward. Perhaps relationships back home were not maintained or nurtured as much, but I knew that doing so wasn’t in service of my goals. I disconnected from all that was Kellogg with no regrets. Doing so allowed me to realize that there’s a lot of mental energy consumed by the noise. Unfortunately, we live in quite complex times – an ongoing pandemic and war in Ukraine. I disconnected from these worldly things as much as possible as well. With the pace of new experiences and learnings, I simply didn’t have the capacity to exist in the real world – my real world fully.
✌🏾 from our García apartment living room
What makes leaving Barcelona the hardest, is perhaps knowing what’s ahead. The real world. Thinking about this next chapter, I’m not so eager. I recognize that I am very fortunate, but I’d be dishonest not to acknowledge this truth. Returning to the Kellogg environment does not excite me. While I have enjoyed my time pursuing an MBA, the things that I’ve enjoyed have been more outside of Kellogg over the past two years. These final three months are going to be more challenging than I would like. In an effort to reframe it as positive, I’ll emphasize gratitude for the opportunity. In this next chapter, I get to solidify my learnings through my graduate studies and push myself to learn new things. In this next chapter, I get to find and pursue full-time employment. I get to reconnect with people that matter. I get to create new meaningful memories.
P.S. It might seem odd to start a blog with the end of the story, but for better or worse, I was so blessed to have so many continuous experiences. Always on the go. Moment of stillness was few and far between. With that, I look forward to reflecting back on my time in Barcelona and properly documenting it.
Stay tuned… If you wish. :)