live, live, live life

The world today has a tendency to forget to appreciate the smaller things in life. Our faces are glued to our devices and we are too focused on the lives of others and emulating their lifestyle. What we see portrayed on social media captivates us at times but also can create comparison and anxiety. It takes us away from where we are in our own life and creates this idea that we need to be somewhere else. We obsess and envy those who seem to have their life put together. 

We are not present. Not even a little bit. We are in another world of constant worrying about why we have not figured life out yet. Why we have not figured out how to travel the world, get married, or created a business for ourselves.

We will all do what we are meant to do in our own time. We must stop focusing on where we should be at our age and the ideal life plan that is constantly shoved at us. Be happy for those who have followed their path. Your time will come.

But until then, we must live. We must live for ourselves and not for how this could appear on social media. I go through moments where I delete all forms of social media off of my phone because I can not stand the grasp it has on me. An addiction to social media is real. As much as you try to deny it, I know if I suggested you should delete it, you would create a long list of excuses why you can not. With all of the excuses and reasoning you would create for your desperate need of Snapchat, you truly DO NOT need it.

Delete it all off your phone for a week. See how you feel. Notice how your anxiety decreases. How the feeling of not being good enough weakens. The false stories you tell yourself of not being where you need to be slowly start to diminish.

You do not need fifty likes on a selfie to realize your own beauty.

You do not need to post a status about you going to yoga to experience the true bliss of the flow.

As badly as you want to tell the world your narrative of your day, why not try journaling about it instead? Put your thoughts on paper for only you to read. Express everything you would want to say with no filter just for you.

Without the consistent checking and scrolling, I can better appreciate the now.

As well as appreciate the smaller things in life that we make a habit of forgetting.

Growing up in Florida, I am a sucker for a good sunset on the beach. But with work, responsibilities and weather, seeing a sunset on the beach every day is not always possible. This past Wednesday was a full moon and I know exactly the spot on the island to be able to watch the sun set into the water and the moon rising from behind the palm trees.

Full moons look different from every part of the world. From the light pollution, to where you are, it can change the luminosity of it. I have made it a habit to appreciate every full moon. To bring attention to it in my life wherever I am, when I am at home or on the other side of the world. The full moon rising and shining above us happens everywhere. We all have the capability of watching it. But we need to give ourselves the time to walk outside and look up. Gazing at the moon from my driveway, or on Captiva Island, the magic of how beautiful this earth is still amazes me. 

Chasing glorious moments of the sun diving into the horizon, I drove an hour from work to watch the sunset on Captiva. Once the sun started to descend, I swam out into the water. Swimming until my feet could not touch the ground and swimming even further into the depths of the gulf. As I swam in the direction of the sun, I spoke out loud. Speaking to the water, and myself what I wanted to release from my life that has been holding me back. As I spoke I kept swimming closer to the horizon and realized I had made my way far from shore. When I completed saying all that I needed to, I dove into the water letting the chill take over my body and swimming deeper. Once I opened my eyes I could make out the sun shining through the murkiness of the green. I swam towards it and as I came up for air, the weight of all that fear fell off of me. I floated on top of the water and felt at peace. Feeling the current take my body in the direction it pleased, I closed my eyes and inhaled the present moment.

The sun dove into the horizon and we watched as the colors of the sky changed from an array of orange, yellow, red and pink to a deep blue. As the sun went to sleep, we watched the moon slowly rise up behind us. Gazing at the radiant moon, I took a deep inhale to fully devour this moment.

Appreciate the smaller things in life, like the sunset and moon gazing.

Enjoy the moments you have with your best friends out in nature. 

You have the opportunity every single day to realize the beauty of this earth.

It is time that we put our phone down and see what is in front of us.
And at the end of the day, live your life.

we came here to be liberated, we came here to be freed

The greatest transformations happen when you step out of your comfort zone and away from your phone.

We have a tendency to fear the unknown, but that is when change within us occurs. Fear at times holds us back. The reason we feel anxious and a little bit worried about how things will turn out is because we are going on a path of unexpected experiences.

When my dear friend asked me to go to Okeechobee Fest for her birthday, I denied her quickly out of reflex and fear. After marinating on the idea, I realized that there was truly nothing holding me back from going other than the exit from my comfort zone. I skimmed the line up and purchased the ticket without a second thought. This was an opportunity that had presented it self and I knew I must take it.

This would be my first camping experience ever! I had no idea what to expect and I decided that was the best way to go into this, with absolutely zero expectations. Everything happened so easily and swiftly. We met as a large group of seven cars with twenty-three people and caravanned from here to the festival. The second we pulled in, without words being said we all unpacked our cars simultaneously and started setting up camp.

The first night after we watched the sunset over the property of the festival, we made our way to the stage to watch Con Brio. 

During his set, he looks out to the audience and says “we came here to be liberated, we came here to be freed”. No truer statement would be spoken the rest of the weekend that could epitomize the entire experience.

Leaving my phone at home was going to help liberate me from the world and be fully present with my surroundings. I wanted to be able to inhale each moment for what it was and not be focused on anything else.

Days began and we energized ourselves with peanut butter and bananas sandwiches with granola. We packed our snacks, toilet paper, water, and flashlight because we had no inclination of when we would return. That was the beauty of it, bringing what you needed for the entire day and not knowing when you’d be back to the cozy campsite. Our entire camp family broke off and we headed out with our backpacks making our way to the different stages of the musicians we wanted to see.

I truly did not realize how much I would completely love being at a music festival. Dancing barefoot upon the earth I could feel the music underneath my toes. Allowing the vibrations to come through the ground into my legs. As I felt the sun blazing onto me and shut my eyes, I felt the rhythm of the music wash over me. As I opened them I could see the sun flickering and dancing upon the horn instruments. You could feel the funk taking over.

As the days went on you could feel the love of all the people attending the festival. People were all there to let themselves be free and to enjoy the music. We were all there for the music. There was no judgment and people could dress and express themselves in the way they chose.

All of us were here to be love, see love and create love.

Time seemed unreal. We had no place to be be, nothing we had to do and no where we had to go. You had full capability to just do you.

By the fourth day, exhaustion slowly started to take over my body. The amount of walking and dancing with inadequate rest periods caused my legs to hurt. But I did not let that stop me from dancing for every single show I went to. Regardless of my leg aches I danced for all the musicians I saw because I came for the music and to let it take over me.

I was the dirtiest and grimiest I have ever been in my life, but I absolutely loved it! No electricity, no showering and only port potties, can truly test a person’s limits and their level of getting dirty. 

I didn’t look at my appearance in the reflection of a mirror for the entire four days. When we finally made it back home in the middle of the night, I peered at myself in the bathroom mirror I saw life and beauty covered in earth.

We came to the music festival to be freed in so many ways. We came to move and groove within nature, just trying to survive and enjoy all the music.

Step out of your comfort zone and away from your phone.

coming full circle

Life has a funny way of coming full circle.

Sometimes we don’t even realize that we have circumnavigated in time back to the exact same spot.

A few weeks ago I attended a bluegrass show that I had attended exactly a year ago; same artist, same venue, just a year in between and a whole different me attending.

We evolve and change so much that we never take time to actually reflect on that change.

JJ Grey and Mofro are not your typical blue grass band. They are full of life and energy, and their lyrics can be felt.

When we first got to the show I noticed the singer had aged. He is a musician that uses all of his soul to sing and wants you to feel every emotion through his words.

He had become a little grayer over the time since I had seen him last. The year that had passed was apparent. It wasn’t only in his appearance that he had grown but in his voice. You could hear the time and the growth he had made in this past year, you could feel the energy of him growing wiser.

Slowly leaving my group and making my way to the front of the audience I wanted to get a better view of the show. As I excused my small self all the way to the front and center of the crowd, I stood there right in front of him allowing all the instruments and words to wash over me. As I stood in the grass and gazed up at the stars brightening the sky, it hit me. 

A year ago, I stood in the exact same spot. Recalling that I departed from my group last time and made my way all the way to this location.

As I stood there taking in all the music and dancing, I realized the growth that I had made over the past year. I have completely evolved from the girl I was a year ago. All the strides forward to bettering myself had taken me very far from my unhappy self a year ago. My voice and my appearance have changed. The growth in me was apparent probably to everyone else around me but myself.

It took me dancing in the crowd front and center of a bluegrass band to realize. I had made it full circle over the time of a year to the same venue and the same show. But the person I am now is far happier in every moment.

Once I realized my impeccable growth, I just stood there and grinned as I danced alone.

Sometimes we need to take time to reflect on the progress we have made. Maybe it takes coming to the exact same spot over a period of time for you to notice the change.

As I come full circle, I have never been more proud of myself and the woman I have become.