Come Alive

If you follow me on the social medias, you know that I’ve been on vacation for the past week. I spent the better half of the trip at my aunt’s house– a super special place on a mountain in North Carolina that my grandparents built fifty years ago. Back in the day, they (plus my dad and aunt) were living in Ft. Lauderdale and would spend their summers in the mountains to escape the heat.

It’s the place where our extended family congregates, where everyone goes to get married, where you go to heal, to think, to watch a total solar eclipse, to see all the stars– to feel alive. It is a beautiful, sacred place that has been pivotal in my life, even more so to my father before me.

On this trip, I was looking for direction. I anticipated all of my questions answered in the serenity of mountain views and freedom from obligation. I expected these answers to be given clearly and in laymen’s terms. I decided that by the time I arrived home in Chicago that I would have a plan and a reignited fire to write or date or work– basically to manifest all that I think I want from my life. As the days passed, it became clear that answers weren’t going to come as obviously as I naively hoped.

So, I shifted my expectation to growth. I realized that I’ve already learned that life, typically, doesn’t unfold in the ways we think we need. Worrying that time was passing and that I wasn’t receiving convenient answers to my questions was distracting me from the opportune lessons surrounding me. My intention became to just be.

I spent the rest of the week growing through laughter and conversation. From Highlands, NC we headed to my parents’ home in Michigan– another of my very happy places. My friend Shannon

and I spent two and a half days putzing around on the lake belting The Greatest Showman soundtrack for all lake residents to hear. Throughout the week of travel, I was able to see friends and family I don’t see often. Every day was full and began with coffee on porches and ended with deep conversations under stars that hide from me in this giant city.

Returning to work today has been joyful. I’m able to once again feel the progression of my ambitions. While my week in paradise didn’t provide me with step by step instructions to manifest what I think I need, it gave me peace. Peace is the most calming gift to a chronically not-calm-minded person. Pay attention to the things that make you calm. I’m thinking that those things are some of the most powerful gifts we’re given.

-M

Ps. It’s been a while since I’ve written about the things I usually write about (ie. dating, astrology, mental health, etc). I want to know what you’d like to be caught up on. All of it? None of it? What’s the thing that makes you most excited to read this blog? Let me know in a comment below or contact me via the contact page on this site. Hearing from you makes me happy; so, thank you in advance!