Tuesday's Notes from the Universe was written just for me.
Kristen, you're the only person who knows what's right for you.
The only one.
And if you already know what this is, commit to it. If you don't, commit to nothing.
Only you know,
The Universe
Now I know that everyone gets the same emailed note, but in the beautiful way that the universe really does work, there are times that certain messages grab my attention. Or in this case, stop me in my tracks.
Traveling solo allows for lovely introspection, even if you're traveling to visit friends. The time alone, the time that's spent in the company of friends new and old allows me to connect with myself again. I've said this before, but I'm very protective of the time that I'm just me. I'm still a mama, wife, acupuncturist, photographer, and all the other names I carry, but I'm telling the story, I'm sharing the parts that make me whole. My experiences and roles in every day life are richer when I'm solo; sharing parts of my life in a manner that almost puts it into the third person, rather than the present experience that occurs when I'm with my family or working.
With all the change that we've invited this year, I'm journeying to a place that's closer to my heart than ever before. I'm stronger. I'm more like the person I've always known me to be and it's empowering.
Always in the middle of things, I'm realizing the true gift I'm offered in not being able to work right now, in having to stop, breathe, and slow down.
Lately, (and in some instances it seems like the first time), I'm seeing myself in the words and conversations I have with my friends. In learning more about myself, about my presentation and how I represent, I realize that as much as I talk a lot, as much as it seems as though I've laid myself bare here, I've kept myself intensely private. As much as any online presence is a slice of life, a miniscule, selective version of what we hold important and want to share, it never is the whole story.
And I'm not sure the story I tell, how I represent myself here and in the bigger online world, conveys that I'm also the girl who wears her heart on her sleeve. That I'm not always tough and just because I can take it, doesn't mean that I have to keep quiet when the expectation is, that I can take it.
I'm doing the best that I can, same as everyone. Sometimes it's hard to remember that we're all just walking in our own shoes, that it's better to walk forward shoulder to shoulder, always forward.
Tuesday's Notes from the Universe confirmed the balance and strength I'm feeling after eight weeks, (can you believe it's only eight weeks?), of life here on the west coast. The whole looking back thing...wow. I feel like two, different people when I think about myself these last six years in NJ, (I can't remember myself objectively when we were in NYC), and now. I don't have any words to articulate it and really, I feel like this is all just beginning and it's swirling around and exciting and I'm just trying to ride it.
Living at the beach, breathing in the salty air, touching the sand and the ocean...it grounds me and allows me to trust the universe and myself, that forward momentum comes as I strive to do and be the best that I can, that I really do know.
