Tags
3, 5, adventure, car, decision, heart, journey, leap, month, oclock, road, somewhere, summer, trip
June 8th. Friday. 5pm.
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My car is pointing South and I’ve been on the road for several hours already. The wipers slide across the windshield, clearing my vision of the tiny droplets of water this mist has left behind. The rain is an odd paradox to the beautiful sunshine that continues to shine down on me. Peeking up through my open sunroof, the light warms my face and the gentle mist falls on my skin. And I smile.
This is it. I’ve been preparing for this trip – adventure… escapade… jaunt… vacation… whatever you want to call it – for quite some time now. And, here, right in front of my eyes, it’s happening. I glance back over my shoulder and see the giant backpack and suitcase that are accompanying me on this 3 month journey. Back home my goodbyes have been said, my affairs have been brought into order, and now my trusty road atlas has taken its rightful place on my passenger seat. The next three months I will be hanging out with my family, spending time living out of a trailer parked on my parent’s street, road tripping all over the United States’ southwest, camping, hiking, hanging out with friends, reading, writing, and overall just giving my heart room to breathe. Room to just, be.
Did I lose my job, you ask? Experience a recent traumatic event? Lose a meaningful relationship? Face a life-altering and terrifying crossroads? Epically fail at something profound I had attempted?
Nope. To all of the above. No friends, this 3 month adventure is not a response to a negative and/or disappointing set of circumstances. It isn’t a last-ditch effort to improve my life. I’m not running away from something I’m afraid of. Believe it or not, my life “back home” is better than ever.
This adventure is something I am doing simply because I want to. Because I asked my heart, “What do you want to do?” And then I made room for the answer. I planned and saved and bought and sold and made the decisions necessary to shift the momentum of my life in this particular direction. And then I stood on the edge of the beautifully terrifying and wildly adventurous cliff I had created for myself, I breathed in deeply and summoned all of my courage and zeal, and I jumped. I took the leap.
And as I head into the dawn of my little adventure, I pray that you would do the same. That you’ll have the courage to ask, to really and honestly ask, your heart what it desires. And then be brave enough to make room for it’s answer. And, last not but least, when the timing is right, to take the leap.
Because you owe it yourself. And you owe it to this beautiful and glorious experience we call life.
…………………….
“Tell me, what is it you plan on doing with your one wild and precious life?”
– Mary Oliver
“May you live all the days of your life.”
– Jonathan Swift
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