What it means to live a full life.

From someone who has done things in halves and tries to fix that.

smell the sea, feel alive.

In times of accidental clarity, I remember the little things so clearly, the image crystallized in my mind, as if someone has carved it into stone, forever immutable, forever the same.

Walking with my sister in the streets of Berlin, on Sunday morning, with the only sound being of my boot heels against the pavement.

The brief and rare silence of a city otherwise buzzing with life and excitement, bodies moving and creating.

Despite the bitter November cold, I remember feeling so alive, so conscious of my existence and my place in the world.

Now, 7 years later, I realize that the moments of accidental clarity are always the ones I were most present for, immersed in.

I don’t remember the numerous reels I watched on Instagram. Forgotten within seconds.

I don’t remember the hundreds of videos I mindlessly scrolled through on TikTok. The mind didn’t hold onto them.

I do remember my sister telling me she’s pregnant, and even in this moment, I feel the absolute excitement, anticipation, and pure joy I felt then, and so positive about a future that included a small human we would just shower with love.

I do remember the time I read a book with a brilliant plot twist that made me stop reading there and then so I could digest this information that changed everything.

It’s not all exciting and joyful though.

I remember sitting across from my crying friend who was in the middle of a divorce and struggling mentally.

I remember getting the phone call that my grandpa had passed away and then running to the bathroom to cry in my own peace and quiet.

But memory seems to be interlocked with presence.

Presence seems to create the memory and re-create the feelings associated with it.

And every day it becomes clearer to me that a full life needs presence and immersion.

Pouring your attention, heart, and soul into the moment. Feeling. Accepting the feelings. Letting them roar inside you like waves, until they inevitably break when they hit the shore.

It will not always be a beautiful journey to remember, but it will be there for you to reminisce, reflect and learn from.

So be brave and be present — it is all we’ve got.