What is the thing?

When I was eighteen and freshly graduated, I thought that the thing was a question that was important to figure out, so that I could begin my pursuit as soon as possible, accomplish it, and then progress to the next thing. As an ambitious and career-focused young person, I thought I had it figured out.

But as it turned out, the thing was not so defined, and that the figuring it out was going to take a lot longer than I could have imagined.

Now I’m twenty-five and have since realized that I barely know a thing, and in that, I am left with all the room in the world to wonder. I travel, interview people that I meet, then I write about it— often finding myself in new and uncomfortable situations. Like spending two weeks sleeping on a mat under a mosquito net on a rural Thai farm, or navigating across the country of Wales by hitchhike with a friend.

In the grain of it all, any story will lead back to the significance of a person met, and through writing I hope to convey the significance of our fellow people while creating conversation through the exchange of the ideas that they teach.

In Pursuit of the Thing is a forgiving blog of writings put together by a person trying to make sense of the world as she learns and grows from it day by day.

Read a story, ask a question, stay a while.