I only see daylight

Dear Taylor,

It's Tuesday night, I've just come off my longest day of the week at work, and all I want to do is curl up in bed, eat a pint of ice cream and fall asleep. My brain is fried, and yet somehow I muster up the energy to make dinner-a bowl of pasta reheated with chicken and some tomato sauce, grab my water bottle and a towel, and sit on the balcony of my new apartment. The music of Lover drowns the sound of the planes taking off and landing just miles away, the neighbors downstairs using the community grill, and lingering traffic on the street to my left. It is a beautiful night.

Daylight comes on through my AirPods and I can't help but take in the moment. "I only see daylight" I say to myself as Taylor serenades my Tuesday evening. Daylight is a funny concept to me nowadays, as a mere two months ago I started my first "real-world" post-grad job and while I absolutely love the work I do-it is meaningful and fulfilling and makes for wonderful stories at the end of the week-I can't help but feel a ping of sadness that the days are already starting to get shorter and my daylight hours are dwindling as summer slowly-but ever so surely-transitions to fall. You see, this wouldn't nearly have bothered me three weeks ago; only very recently did I just pack up my life and move across state lines to a new home so I could be closer to the job I love. And as much as I loved my previous home-it was in a busy sprawling city, close to friends and family I love-the fact that it backed up to another apartment building meant daylight exposure was limited to whatever sunshine happened to peek through the alleyway that separated me from my neighbors. I had to "actively prepare" to step outside, and only then could I judge if it was sufficient to meet my needs in that moment. But this new place, albeit further from the busy city and my friends and family, has allowed me to experience daylight in a new way of sorts. Whether I have spent the simplest day at home doing chores and watching TV, or have come home from a long day at work, I have the option to sit on my balcony, reflect on life, and soak up daylight in its purest form.

Daylight hits home for me because not only have I listened to it every time I have sat on my balcony in the past few days, it is a constant reminder to take in the moment and truly appreciate each day for what it is. I may be tired from work, and this may just be me going on and on for no good reason, but I want to say thank you for inspiring me to make this simplest change in my new life. The daylight hours may be dwindling, but my new life is beginning, and I cannot wait to see what is in store.

LoveLoveLove,

Hannah