I’m not planning world domination, nor am I seeking revenge on a visually challenged, scar donning adolescent – BUT old mate Voldie and I do actually have a common thread. He calls them horcruxes, I call them life experiences.

I recently came across a quote that says “travelling means leaving a piece of your heart all over the world” & this completely and utterly floored me because it so perfectly captured how I had been feeling.

I’m so happy to be home – I love where I live and I love the people who fill my days and heart with so much joy. But I feel in pieces. I feel like only half of me came back, and maybe that’s because of personal shifts etc that meant a different Emily arrived than the one that departed. But nonetheless I have been feeling a little torn and separate from myself and my life here. Then, these words found me. And I finally got it.

Before I explore it and unpack it a little more – let’s go back to Voldemort. In order to attempt invincibility and immortality, Voldie split his soul into pieces, storing and saving them away in an array of objects to preserve his human self. In doing so, he ensured that a piece of him would continue to live on even while his physical self was challenged or deteriorated. Look, don’t take me the wrong way, I don’t like the guy or condone his ways (and really really wished he hadn’t murdered one of the Weasleys) BUT brother knew what was up.

It made me think that this is perhaps what we do, and not just during travel, but in the day to day happenings of our life too. We infuse a little bit of ourselves into our experiences, the places we visit, the people we encounter – and in doing so help to preserve our memory and our presence.

In my travels, there were a few places and people who completely stole my heart. And I, in turn, captured a little bit of theirs. I carry around the places I fell in love with and give them form through the stories and photos I share with the world, the people whom I adore are brought to life again in texts and phone calls and hilarious recounts of our times together.

And maybe I will never feel complete again, because there are pieces of me scattered all across the planet – but that’s ok. Because it also means that I won’t soon be forgotten and that a little bit of my essence is hidden – like precious little gemstones – in distant lands and far away humans.

Blessings, wizardry magic and profound and all adoring love x