like pulling on a rubber band, i too have been trying my damnedest to expand my mind. this rubber band has been stretching itself thin by trying new things, living in different countries, meeting interesting people, and learning about the world around it.

like stretching the rubber band out further and further, i feel like ive been continually pulling myself into newer and stranger situations where im forced to expand and adjust. learn and adjust. grow. and you know what? its been fantastic.

but if you stretch a rubber band out too far, you run the risk of snapping it. and i feel like theres a real danger of stretching myself out too far as well. thus begins my journey backwards.

i reached the breaking point almost two months ago, during my first week in tokyo. my head had already made up its mind without telling me. its time i leave and pull back before im stretched too far away from who, where, and what i want to be.

since that moment, ive been saving money and biding time. making plans and looking forward (or is it backwards?). waiting. japan, youve been great to me, but i feel like its time we start seeing other people. its not you its me. its been quite a wild ride, but its just time that this rubber band starts retracting. returning back to its original shape. back to where it belongs.

and pretty soon ill have the means to do it.