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Growing up is life long process and the journeys we embark on no matter how hard we try to navigate or chart out where we want to go, the reality is that the most inspiring and introspective journeys we will come to experience are the ones we never plan on taking and are rarely ever fully prepared for. Throughout my life I have come to find that experience, along with travel, equates to one thing that I can only describe as joy. There is something experimental and scientific in taking chances, and risks. As a child I it was revealed to my parents early on that I was to some degree a mad scientist, and it was imperative that I was able to have first-hand accountability in life, and therefore was encouraged to search out this massively curious world with gusto and freedom. I was fortunate to have that push and support from my parents but quite honestly it should come to no surprise since my family was groomed on world travels and performing, for both my mother and my father where nomads as they became world class circus performers, and talented artist in their own right. I recall the road being so representative of what was to come every time we went from town to town where we were granted access to the diversity of culture and the richness of the people who lived in these neighborhoods and residential areas. I discovered and got to recognize the importance of history and the connections that can be made when you are a visitor, and if you are curious enough there is so much to be absorbed and shared. It was natural to adapt to life on the road, so I got used to always picking up and leaving, and most people would assume that this kind of lifestyle could be detrimental to a young girl, but for me it was absolutely wonderful what I discovered in the people. The girl that I can tell you about, the one that grew up thrust into the epicenter of entertainment and travel became quite captivated with what was happening off stage and behind the scenes. Who were the people watching us? Why did they pay to see us? I started writing about the people I would encounter and wondered where they lived and what they did on weekends, and what was a family vacation even about? I found myself picking up my pencil and creatively wondering what else was out there? What is it that “normal people” did in their hometowns? To me it seems that it is the details we remember that inspire happiness and bring joy to what life has to offer. My imagination would wonder about what I would do if I could spend just one whole day to find what it was that made a place magical, what was the unspoken treasure that was left to be discover? As we constantly traveled my collection of journals grew to the point that we had to mail them back home where my grandmother lived so she could store them with all our lifelong belonging that we just did not have room on the road. I would meet people randomly or by chance and I made it a point to ask them questions and try to invite myself into their world by letting them see that I was fascinated with who they were. I found myself living vicariously through those I was observing, and as I would write, I found myself being satisfied even though at times I felt like something was missing, since I was growing up on the road. I realized that along the way the truth was that all these people I encountered in my travels with the circus actually allowed me to become part of their stories and in some way, it gave me a sense of belonging. As an outsider it is easy to feel like you don’t fit in and that maybe you don’t have a place, but one thing that I can say has shaped me, and helped me to connect with others is the joy we experience in finding that we are not alone.