Which brings me to my next point; I went to Europe this summer. Like actually went. I didn't do that thing where the spirit leaves the body and travels the world.. It's called astral projection and it's a real thing. I am not an expert, but I am telling you that you should definitely Wikipedia that shit. I swear this is a point to this. I swear the point is not that I have spent too much time on the Craigslist and therefor and unable to put together a coherent sentence.
The point of the above paragraph is to illustrate very non articulately the following formula: Airplane+Europe=Magic. No really. I am not making this up but you have to know the back story to understand this. YOLO, so read this now because it might be your last chance to hear this very important story about my life.
I read a book, which one occasionally does, when I was 18 called Outlander. It is hard to explain the whole premise but basically:
Claire Randall, a married combat nurse from 1945 who is mysteriously swept back in time to 1743, where she is immediately thrown into an unknown world where her life is threatened. When she is forced to marry Jamie Fraser, a chivalrous and romantic young Scottish warrior, a passionate relationship is ignited that tears Claire's heart between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives. (I copied this from IMDB, so what)
Got it? Good. "But how did she end up back in time," you ask. Obviously she stepped through a split stone in an ancient stone circle. It happens all the time and I don't understand why you had to ask. The book takes place in the Highlands of Scotland so of course I strapped on my hiking backpack and my mom pulled her suitcase and we headed northward from Edinburgh to Inverness.
Now, I don't know if you have ever driven on the wrong side of the car, on the wrong side of the road, shifting gears with the wrong hand, in a gigantic city you don’t know...but it was terrifying and I wasn't even driving. Inverness is such a lover's city but I was being sort of a brat because I was homesick and about to start my period or something so I think I ruined the first night there. Sorry Mom. But after that it was really amazing. Really. Wow. I took public transportation to Culloden Field which was really super fun because the bus driver was sexy and had a fun accent and said, "where are you from?" And I asked him to marry me and he said yes. JK. I got to Culloden and all joking aside. Whoa. It was beautiful. And haunting. It is really hard to put into words. It was lovely and clear that day but you could really see the freezing, starving highlanders pushing their way across the field; fighting until they had no fight left.
If you study the rising you know what a serious impact this had on the lifestyle of the people; it quite literally changed their way of life forever. I spent all day there. They have done an amazing job with the visitors center; tons of information, presentations, and guided tours of the battlefield. Then I walked to the Clava Cairns. I passed sheep and highland cattle, and rabbits until I found myself in this shady grove. This is where many people believe the inspiration is for the split stone from the novel and hundreds of people travel there dreaming that the stone will sweep them away too, to their destiny. I spotted it almost immediately through the mossy trees and giant roots. I walked toward it with purpose and for one completely silly moment I believed that I would be gone. As I stretched my hand toward it, I knew I would wake up in the past. I held my breath. And as I pulled my hand away, I sighed and chuckled to myself. I am ridiculous.
The bad (ish) news is that I was still in 2013 but the good news is that at 26, I still believe in magic. And my destiny? It's mine to find. Mine to embrace. Life is so stinkin' cool. I hope you all had a totally magical summer. I know I sure did.
