Bravely Stepping Into the Unknown

Life can often feel as daunting and uncertain as exploring the depths of an ocean. Sometimes we find ourselves in parts where light barely seeps through, where we feel alone, lost, and unsure about what we might experience in the next moments. 

Zion National Park, Utah // October 2020

While not quite the same, and far from the frightening dark with its incredible colors, the Narrows in Zion National Park require that one willingly enters into the unknown. There are so many uncontrollable factors – varying temperatures, water depth, strength of the currents, the uneven terrain - that remind hikers of their humanity and how nature cannot be tamed.  Wading through the Narrows means committing to trekking ahead, even in the moments when you aren’t certain where your foot will land or how high the water will meet you. If you hone in on the rapid current, or look ahead and realize you’ve lost sight of the ground, it can be easy to feel distressed. To get through moments of uncertainty, it can help to look up, take in the surrounding beauty, and remind yourself of all the elements you’ve already successfully overcome.  

It’s important to remember that sometimes you’ll have someone there to cheer you on, lend a supporting hand that you can literally lean on, and dust you off when you need some extra strength. Other times you’ll be forced to look around and find ways to work with what you have. And, the reality is, there will even be days when you’ll just have yourself to rely on – whether it’s a celebratory event or a low period. In these moments, we become strongest as we exercise our skills of surviving on our own, and it makes us more appreciative when we do have support around us. 

Personally, I know it can be extremely hard to muster up the courage to move forward. Sometimes recognizing all the support and love around you can actually make it harder, adding on a layer of “Why do I feel this way when there is so much positivity around me?” Guilt can seep in, compounding the negative feelings of not knowing what lie ahead. The effect that you are only sinking deeper and deeper may wash over. The key word is “effect;” the truth is that there have been challenges before and, often times, the worst outcomes of our daily stresses aren’t actually all that bad. Truly, it hurts us more to limit ourselves and remain stuck; It’s important to continue to make progress by bravely taking that bold step into the unknown. 

While hiking waist-deep through the cool, crisp water in Zion, I realized that it was easiest to trek when I went with the flow of the current and intuitively harnessed my momentum to leap from rock to rock. In this way, change is similar to a current. Resisting change and being frozen by fear, only makes it harder to navigate. Without surrendering to what might be and continuing our journey, we miss out on new possibilities and the potential to see an unthinkably beautiful sight around the corner. It’s about focusing on the fact that opportunity awaits, as opposed to the fact that you are halfway under water. 

“It’s about focusing on the fact that opportunity awaits, as opposed to the fact that you are halfway under water. ”

Without the power to predict the future, it is normal to get anxious about the unknown or feel overwhelmed. However, if we pause and log all that we’ve conquered in life, it’s easy to see that the magic in life is in all the crevices that we dare to explore. Cheers to being more fearless in this new year! xoxo

Compounding Change

Amidst these unique times, change has become obvious. We see differences in the way we navigate everyday activities, and modes of adaptation are at the top of the agenda as we discuss what our post-pandemic future may look like. As we continue to learn how to cope with the ever-evolving situation that our world is battling, we are also still experiencing the inevitable trials of human life that have always existed. Personally, I find myself dealing with immense feelings of change as I graduate college and attempt to transition into a new phase of life during this universal uncertainty.  

I am grappling with the reality that this current position is not what I had visualized for myself when I dreamt of becoming an official Berkeley graduate. The long-term planner in me had assumed that logically my first step in the real world would be to place my foot in the door of a stable career. After spending months preparing for dream opportunities, my prospects dissolved given the economic circumstances. However, in addition to a degree, my college years also bestowed me with valuable lessons that I believe will carry me farther than any formal education could. Once I got accepted into Berkeley, I thought I crossed off a big item from my life agenda; but, come freshman year I realized that there were holes in my fairly linear plan. I hadn’t thoroughly considered how my time at Berkeley would impact my identity beyond the classroom. Being a student was so engrained within me, and I soon found that there were points in my college career where my bigger objectives were to manage my relationships and maintain my health. Now - as I sit here writing this from the vantage point of straying from what I felt was a secure, original blueprint - I recognize that this period ahead is asking me to apply my larger ambitions and lessons to manifest abundance in all aspects of my life. Juggling the multitude of emotions and experiences over these last few years has essentially been like training my brain to stay balanced on a surfboard in an effort to ride out the waves of life with as much strength and confidence as possible. 

Berkeley, CA // March 2019

Balance cannot be achieved without training one’s focus. And, while the chaotic global climate has not been overwhelmingly positive, I will say that it has given me the gift of perspective. Last week, I took a solemn walk on campus as a goodbye gesture to the place I have considered home for the last four years. I noticed so many more details than my buzzy, rushed walks to classes ever allowed me to observe. My separation due to quarantine granted me with the ability to relish in the minutiae that I would not otherwise have missed until it was too late to soak them in one last time. A moment of epiphany occurred when I recognized that expecting this change was a blessing, and without the natural ebbs and flows of life I wouldn’t be able to enter this phase with the same brilliant force and appreciation behind me. I feel like my life up until this point has been the gradual baking and stacking of a cake; and, with my tiered foundation now in place, I am ready to continue the process towards my ultimate masterpiece, decorating myself and adding color along the way.

I suppose that in sum, we can never truly predict the dose of change that life will heap onto us; however, what we can do is choose the way we respond. In any situation it is important to stay open-minded to the lessons we may learn about ourselves, as well as foster gratitude. When we take the time to dive within and assess what we can and cannot control, we exercise our capability to remain stable during rocky times. Change has transformed our pasts into our present selves, and change is what is currently building us into better versions to embrace the future. Being thankful for growth relieves the blocks we subconsciously place on ourselves. It is by no means easy, but when we reach a point of self-trust we lose the tension and apprehension that comes with facing changes. 

Berkeley, CA // May 2019

These are scary times for many, and as we continue to face the natural ripples that affect us, we are also all weathering out this global tsunami. I encourage you all to notice your own strength and capabilities – your entire life up until this point has been one extensive course on how to stay afloat, and if you continue to hone in on maintaining your equilibrium, you will not have to fear even the biggest of breakers. While life can seem stagnate at times, other stages offer more action and require more adaptation. Let us not fail to remember that we have all survived changes before, and we have the power to conquer what may lie ahead. xoxo

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”

— Rumi

Learning How Distance Can Bring You Closer to Center

There’s the saying that “you don’t know what you have until its gone,” but sometimes it just takes you being the one that’s gone for a bit to help provide some clarity and perspective. When I decided to go abroad to work and study for two months, I expected to learn a lot, but I had no idea how quickly I would begin to discover more about myself. It has only been about two weeks in my new (temporary) home of Sydney, yet I already get the sense that I may have signed up for a summer intensive course with me at the focus. 

Bronte Beach, NSW, Australia // June 2019

While I have come to realize a lot of personal things about myself, I have also come to generally find that there is something really refreshing in removing yourself from the routine that you know – it gives you freedom from the part of society that pushes for you to keep moving closer and closer to success. In fact, it feels a tad rebellious to seemingly “press pause” on the normality of what you have always known and to instead “press play” to a life completely unfamiliar. And, doing so does not impede on your track to success that it feels like you are escaping from, but rather it helps you better understand how to navigate that path once you return to reality.

For example, in being across the globe, living nearly a full day ahead of all my friends and family, I have experienced a deep appreciation for the people that I do have in my life. I often find it hard to display any signs of weakness, but I honestly have been feeling bouts of homesickness, since I miss my incredible sources of love and support back home. (Otherwise, Australia is really amazing and I would probably stay forever :) ) Being on my own has also naturally surfaced a lot of inner motivation and strength, which have always seemed a little more difficult to actualize back home. When you experience these types of feelings at least once, you begin to realize that you have it in you to catalyze them at any point in your life.

Bondi Beach, NSW, Australia // June 2019

While I might be experiencing a more extreme situation of solo self-discovery, I think there is something to be said about giving yourself space. When you are in the midst of life, attempting to make decisions, it can feel overwhelming. It is like deciding what lane you need to be in on the freeway – life isn’t going to just stop and wait while you make up your mind, so instead you feel like you have to make decisions quickly and efficiently as other cars whiz by. Allowing yourself to step back from scenarios, gives you the ability to truly analyze situations and make whole-hearted choices, knowing without a doubt they are the right ones to make. It takes getting out of your comfort zone to realize what your true comfort zone even is – the things and people that bring out the best in you, along with those that don’t make you feel the best.

The next time you feel like you need some clarity in a situation or maybe just want to challenge yourself to deeply seek what your heart desires, try adding a little distance. Sometimes it is hard to, especially since it seems like the norm is to keep moving towards things rather than away from them. But, I think it is time to release the misconception that distance is a negative aspect and that it makes it harder to achieve things. Because for me, pulling myself out of my everyday life and into a whole new society, has only made me more excited to go home and keep enjoying what I have come to realize makes me a happier and better version of myself. Taking time to discover your truth is invaluable in getting closer to your ideal future. Happy soul-searching everyone! :)

Pushing Past Budding Potential to Get to Full Bloom

Lately I have been reflecting a lot on how far I have come in my personal life, noting the key practices and elements that helped me get to this point, along with the areas of my life that I still feel like I have not completely unlocked. Inspired by Michael A. Singer’s book The Untethered Soul, I began to come to the realization that I am my own barrier in knocking down any walls that I currently have or ever will have. One of the most important aspects of my journey to where I am now in life, was that I always tried to follow the idea that you “grow through what you go through,” so whether it was one of my lowest lows or highest highs, there was a lesson that I tried to extract for future application. Secondly, in my past, the most prosperous moments came when I had decided to completely surrender myself to whatever life had in store, erasing any imaginative borders that could confine me to a specific outcome. As I have begun to once again ask myself how I can transcend and open myself to even more abundance, ready to focus on my inner self in a way that I haven’t been recently, I have pieced together that in an effort to grow, I must enter out of my “comfort zone” (a place that only exists because I arbitrarily decided that some things in life are scarier than others).

Los Angeles, CA // May 2019

I have been visualizing myself as a little sprout, hoping to push through the dirt and see the sun, imagining that once I get above ground I will finally be able to absorb all the light and beauty of the world. That is when I realized that my perspective was that I had to struggle to emerge from underneath this soil that was blocking me, rather than noticing that this dirt was chock full of nutrients, helping me in my endeavor. This relief of recognizing that something wasn’t a threat to my existence, but was rather a helpful element that wasn’t worth fighting against brought so much contentment – so much stress was shed and I realized that regardless of my stage in life, I can always just be and welcome in all that the universe is willing to provide. Life shouldn’t be a continuous process to get to a certain point where you think happiness exists, there is always happiness and life waiting to be soaked up every day. We have to teach ourselves to turn this perspective into the dominant lens through which we view life.

However, living life free of stress, fear, etc. is easier said than done, and it definitely is not an overnight process. For me, it helps to set little challenges for myself that help me to physically experience and feel accomplished in overcoming things I presume I cannot. Examples of this can be running the extra two minutes even when you feel like you are going to collapse on the treadmill, smiling and saying hello to someone you don’t know very well even if you think you are risking ultimate embarrassment, or maybe it is just deciding to go to a different coffee shop or take a new walking route to test entering into the unfamiliar at a small scale. After successfully achieving the little goals you set for yourself, it is easy to gain a sense of empowerment that will help you to chip away at your larger personal inner walls, letting that warmth of light peek in, and eventually helping you to enter into an infinite space of possibility. 

Los Angeles, CA // May 2019

I highly recommend reading The Untethered Soul, as it does such an amazing job of underlying how much unreasonable attention we give the voices inside of our heads, along with helping to illuminate how to get to the point where life feels like it is an effortless, beautiful flow. We are all in a continual state of growth, but sometimes we hit those walls that require us to reflect on how we can push ourselves to bloom into beings that can truly make the most of every moment and surrender to the winds of life. Try to work on tuning out all the meaningless chatter that suggests that you can’t – it is time for us to be brave and slowly emerge out of the boxes we have placed ourselves in! Have a great week everyone! xoxo 

How to Love in Every Situation

Happy February! In light of Valentine’s Day coming up, I wanted to do another special feature on “love.” Last year I wrote about a few things I had learned on the topic, but this year I want to write about something that I am still working on fully integrating into my own life - the idea that no matter how upsetting a situation is, you approach it with love. When we feel like we are dealing with someone on a different vibration than we are, or when we feel hurt by another person’s thoughts or actions, it is easy to turn to being unhappy, disappointed, and maybe even angry. However, these feelings are not productive in terms of mending and healing, which is why we must ask ourselves an important question: “How can I love in this situation?”

Los Angeles, CA // April 2013

The world can be, and currently is, a very messy place, and in an effort to move forward in a more holistically positive direction, we need to begin to do as much as we can to guide our lives with love and empathy. Stepping back from situations and evaluating how you fit into whatever might be unfolding, is crucial in not only helping to protect your own heart and soul energy, but also in understanding how to handle such circumstances. Let’s say you are having a hard time seeing eye-to-eye with a friend, coworker, roommate, or family member. It’s easy to get riled up, to begin to plaster up the walls of your heart and mind, and to keep those thick layers of defense on for all future interactions. But what if, before you began to apply these shielding mechanisms, you actually expanded these channels? What if you took a look at the situation and realized, “Okay, this is how _____ feels, because of xyz…,” and you allowed yourself to simply bring some love and empathy into the situation? Now, not only have you saved yourself the burden of wasting energy on fortifying your shields, but you have also taken a third person perspective on the scene at hand, giving you the ability to see how the other person is approaching the situation and how you thus should respond. 

This is not an easy task. And by no means does this mean that you have to agree with the person or feel unconditional love. All this practice is serving to do is to get us to in some capacity leak love into our every action, and the more love we exude, the more we will attract. For instance, despite having an emotional morning and having a lot weighing on my heart the other day, I decided to take a moment to myself in the car. I realized that my next agenda item – my weekly grocery shopping at Whole Foods – had no relation to the outside upsets I was dealing with, so I sat in my car and said to myself, “Alright universe, I am going to do my best to shed my fears, anger, and doubts, and just trust, manifest, and magnetize.” As soon as I stepped out of my car and went to grab a cart (with a very mustered, but nonetheless bold, smile on my face) I could feel love radiating. The carts seemed to be stuck together, and I was mid-struggle when a man came over and helped me out and reassured me that it wasn’t just me having difficulties. Once inside the store, I felt like everyone I passed was smiling in my direction, so I kept beaming back, to the point that eventually, my phony smile was really genuine. The feeling was surreal – all I had to do was decide to enter into the setting with love, and low and behold, there was love to be acknowledged and received. This just goes to show that the question of “How can I love in this situation?” is not just applicable in dealing with other individuals, but sometimes we need it for ourselves or for approaching general, public scenes as well. 

Ojai, CA // April 2013

At the end of the day, we just need to do our best at considering what we are carrying with us and how we can work on overcoming difficulties, as opposed to shutting ourselves off from solutions. Analyzing how we can be better individuals by better understanding those around us is essential to a more unified society that operates more effortlessly. Next time you find yourself welling up with frustration or scorn, try to evaluate how you and the other person may be living on different frequencies and how, even if it isn’t a familial or romantic love, you do have flickers of love to disperse to all souls. Allow love to flow through you, so that you may magnetize more into your life and also guard yourself from the repercussions that come from stopping up your love channels with frustration, upset, and other negativities. Feel free to reach out if you have suggestions, want to discuss something, or just need a listening ear! Have an amazing month of love! 

Forgive Yourself

Month one of a beautiful new year! As we become fully immersed in the last year of the decade, some of us might still be in the process of shedding the old. A huge part of the process of releasing is forgiveness – the absolving of all binds to remorse, guilt, or shame. But often times we focus on forgiving others, which is very important indeed, but what about forgiving ourselves? If we are in any way feeling chained to some unhappy aspect stirring in our soul, how can we expect to feel free and reach new heights of our being? 

A great practice to incorporate weekly, monthly - whenever you feel like you need to take a step back and remind yourself that the past shouldn’t take away from the present and future – take a moment to just be. Regretting a decision you made? Even if you would have done something differently in the moment, you probably learned something from the experience, and who knows, it could turn out to be a blessing in disguise later in life. Wish you hadn’t said something that slipped your lips? In the moment that was your truth, and it’s okay to go through those types of mistakes. Haven’t stopped thinking about a missed opportunity? Let it go, because wallowing in that loss will only strip you of more potential moving forward. We are all human and we need to learn to love ourselves and trust the process. Being our own best friend and standing behind our own decisions (or being self reflective and recognizing when we could have approached something better), is crucial to being able to harness as much of our individual power as possible and living as aligned to our heart’s desire as possible.

Ojai, CA // December 2018

Forgiving ourselves also means refraining from being harsh on ourselves for outgrown versions of ourselves that we may have a hard time supporting from our more mature and sage perspectives. Life is a journey of lessons! It is important to maintain gratitude for the ability to get to the point that you are today, to gain the perspective and capacity to even look back and realize you had room to grow. Socrates once said that he was the wisest man because “he knew that he knew nothing.” Being able to tune in and realizing there is always room for growth and acquiring knowledge is helpful in maneuvering through a world that sometimes pits us against expectations that we aren’t all molded to fulfill in the same ways. And a part of this journey comes from doing things that may lead to forgiving ourselves, because after all, we need to go through imperfect moments to appreciate the better ones. 

Remember that when we are at optimal individual self, we are a bigger asset to our surrounding society as a whole. Melt away any unsettling feelings you have within your own heart and soul by loving yourself and slopping off any weight that is holding you down, so that you can ascend to a point where your blueprint is clear. Forgiving yourself makes room for more light and love to enter, and you can ensure that you are setting yourself up to receive an abundance, especially once you let the universe know that you trust and are healed. Whenever you are in doubt, look within, and tap into that energy that we all have access to – but remember that you’ll encounter fewer clouds when searching for what you seek when you are confident and content with yourself. Happy January and happy Monday! 

Replacing the Notion of “Giving Up” with “Giving it a Try”

First off, I cannot believe it has been nearly two months since my last post. While I wish I had been able to maintain my writing in the midst of moving back to school, academics, work, and everyday life, it appears I simply could not, but alas here I am, and with that, a testament to the theme of this post: not giving up. Lately I have being struggling to come to terms with the reality of my feelings versus the ideal of persevering and conquering all that I originally envisioned accomplishing. I think part of my long hiatus from writing has been due, in part, to this battle leaving me with such confusion that most of my days are spent with my mind going back and forth, back and forth, until by the time I have a moment to “breathe,” I am so exhausted and cannot begin to even synthesize my feelings into words. As I reflect on how taxing this confliction has been, I come to the conclusion that my vexations would cease to exist if I ignored the impression that people would judge me for failing to continue in paths that I have begun to pave for myself. It is in this moment that I realize that I, along with everyone else in this world, have the right to pursue things, and then come to the realization that these pursuits do not suit me in the ways I presumed they would. After all, how would we know things don’t fit unless we try them on? 

San Fransisco, CA // August 2018

I don’t want to presume that everyone feels this way, but often times, I feel pressured to stick things out to the end. In the past, there have been many times where I have wanted to give up – and by give up I mean down to the kind that makes life itself seem like an undesirable feat – but I always found a way to pick myself up enough times to get on level ground and keep going. Coming off of a wonderful summer and feeling as though I finally reached a point where I was utterly content with life, I was excited to embark on a fresh semester. Just over two months in and I find myself reanalyzing my life, asking myself where I went awry. Did I take on too much? Am I not confronting the underlying truth that this time around I can’t do it all? Is that okay, will people understand that I can’t juggle being a student, working, maintaining relationships, pursuing passions like writing and working out, and also having time to simply just be? 

One thing is for sure, I know that not everyone can understand the internal battle waging inside of me, because there are some people who I know can relate to internal conflicts and then there are others who maybe don’t allow the judgments of others to interfere, relieving themselves of a certain level of intensity. In fact, I don’t even expect people to externally acknowledge this everyday combat I seem to be fighting, since after all, it is virtually invisible, even barely discernable by those with a keen sense of my habitual tones and mannerisms. But because I know this, I also recognize that it is up to me to decide to truly live for myself. Why should I care if someone views my change in directions, my gradual shift in focusing on what truly makes me happy and what is best for me? At the end of the day I am the one dealing with the emotional outcomes of my life decisions. 

San Fransisco, CA // August 2018

So what I am trying to say, is that if you ever feel like the walls of life are caving in, and you are starting to entertain a new idea that works to reverse previous choices, don’t feel as though you are agonizingly bound to wherever you currently are in life. There is beauty in the fact that we are ever evolving beings on journeys that allow us to learn and apply those experiences in a way that advances us towards what happiness looks like in our individual lives. Realize that sometimes you have to fully immerse yourself in order to assess from the inside whether or not something - a hobby, a book, a job, or a relationship – is indeed the best for you. And if you realize that its time to change course, honor yourself for trying and understand that you aren’t giving up, that instead it is just time to give something new a spin. You should never regret “time wasted” going in one direction if it does not end up being your final destination. There are reasons why we are guided through detours; who knows, maybe without the detour we would’ve hit a roadblock and never made it to where we were meant to go, or maybe the least direct routes are meant to give us perspective in order to fully appreciate the view at the end of it all. It is okay to make u-turns, accidentally take the wrong exits, or even to not heed the signs at all, but it is important to remember to tune into your internal GPS that will respond and reroute you in the right direction. 

Dissolving Differences

One of the biggest things I like to emphasis on this blog (and in life in general!) is the oneness that connects us all. Society often likes to make the differences in life more obvious than the similarities. While reading Only Love is Real, the sequel to Many Lives, Many Masters by Brian Weiss, I realized that some of his words correlated with a woman’s story I had learned while traveling in Israel. The overall message is that we all go through the same hardships; deep down we are all scared, we all want to find love and happiness. Weiss discusses how the soul is not attached to superficial differences (like race, ethnicity, gender, etc.) that often pose as barriers in everyday life. The woman I met in Israel discussed what it is like to live in a country where the majority of people she is spiritually connected to are fighting against the people she is ethnically connected to. 

Haifa, Israel // May 2018

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Brain Weiss, he is a therapist who specializes in past life regression therapy, in which patients are able to recall their past lives and identify life patterns and familiar souls. (Read my post about his first book here.) Through his innumerous sessions with clients, he has seen how diverse one soul’s lives can be – from a British woman of royalty in one life to an Egyptian male healer in another. Weiss writes that in “the course of our lifetimes, we change sexes, religions, and races in order to learn from all sides” (Only Love is Real 98). He illustrates that we cannot have fear, anger, greed, hatred, etc., because we have probably at one point in our soul’s journey, embodied whatever it is now that we view as “different.” The point of life he says is to learn how to love, forgive, be aware, and eliminate violence. Regardless of your religion or if you believe in reincarnation or not, it is hard to argue with Weiss’ points that simply suggest that we place ourselves in others’ shoes and treat people in a manner in which we would hope to be treated if we were in their situation.

Israel has long been in war with Palestine, and while I was visiting, I was fortunate enough to get to go to a village that was inhabited by both Israelis and non-Israelis. A woman shared her story of being a Christian who lived in a non-Israeli village that was destroyed by Israelis, and how she found forgiveness and love in their people when she moved into a main Israeli port for university. She was young, divorced, and her rejection of her somewhat forced marriage through her culture caused her to be abandoned by her own blood. That’s when she was left with nothing, only to find that so many Israelis welcomed her with open arms and offered her a roof, food, education, and companionship. She shared that through her experiences she realized that love conquers all – that no matter your side in a situation, both parties are afraid, both parties have a right to their beliefs, and both parties are just trying to protect their own happiness and health, which she believes doesn’t have to be at the expense of others. 

Rosh HaNikra, Israel // May 2018

Lately, I have been quite observant of how often we rely on the differences between ourselves and others to characterize, when we should be focusing more on similarities or attributes such as one’s humor, kindness, generosity, etc. If we empathize with the feelings and familiarities of those around us, not only do we broaden our repertoire of experienced emotions, but we open up our heart to allow others to also enter and understand our lives better. Weiss’ discussion of patterns across multiple lives and how we can break destructive cycles through the recognition of such patterns, inspired me to want to focus on the breaking of cycles within this life that we currently know, regardless of whether or not we have insight into any of our soul’s past encounters. It is time that we break the pattern of guarding our hearts against others, ignoring what we all share as a human race, and being blind to the wonderful connections we have the potential to make with people, no matter how diverse their lives are compared to our own! 

How Perspective Plays a Role in Dealing With Personalities

One of the beauties of life is that there is so much variety to it. Life breathes through the green shards of grass beneath our feet to the tiny microorganisms we often ignore, and of course, takes the form of humanity. At the level of humanity, life reaches a whole new scope of complexity. We are exposed to and interact with people who hold different opinions, react to situations in diverse ways, and overall behave in manners unlike our own. Sometimes our encounters with people who are wildly dissimilar to us, or even with people who we are close to who don’t always meet our expectations, leave us feeling unsure of ourselves and can cause frustration or confusion at a personal level. In an effort to make interactions with others as positive as possible and to mitigate any potential negatives, it is important that we keep our perspectives in check.

Maui, HI // June 2016

When taking on the world and all that is in it, I think it is easy to see things only through our own personal lens, using our uniquely individual sights and feelings to define what is “normal.” However, the fact of the matter is that we as individuals do not represent the entirety of this universe, we have it running through us, but we are all a special combination of its characteristics. This means that when we enter into a situation involving others, we need to step back and process the idea that not everyone is a perfect replica of ourselves and that we need to keep an open mind to others’ potentially different approaches. By avoiding turning to our default setting of using ourselves as a standard, we also dodge the disappointment that would come with the other person not meeting our expectations. Essentially, the goal is to expect people to be different and then be pleasantly surprised if we resonate with them more than we previously thought we would, or can at least view the situation as broadening our own perspective through trying on someone else’s lens.

We have to learn to accept people for who they are and recognize their own individual patterns in an effort to better understand the healthiest way to interact with them. If we know someone tends to air on a side much different than our own, we are at least then in the headspace of “okay so-and-so often times feels/reacts like this…,” and we can adjust our own advances in a way that is conscious of the other person’s habits. Often times in my own life, I have to remind myself of other people’s tendencies so as to better handle the situation and not get disappointed when the other person feels or acts in a way I wouldn’t. Trying to understand why someone has the viewpoint that they do also supports smooth encounters; for example, sometimes we need to be more sensitive to the other person’s background or current life circumstances. 

Maui, HI // June 2016

All in all, with everything in life, I think it is important to take away the positives from every situation, so we generally should approach interactions with others as an experience to learn more about ourselves, as well as expose ourselves to the glorious array that surrounds us. Sometimes this diversity can lead to a sense of loneliness or confusion when we have repeated interactions with people that we don’t seem to completely click with, which is why we have to acknowledge everyone’s individual place and perspectives in this world. Don’t be afraid to be yourself and let your light shine as to attract others of your same vibrations, all while respecting other people’s different colored lights in the process of making new connections!

Snowy Search For Strength

This post is inspired by my latest travels to the charming city of Québec, Canada. Rather that start in chronological order, I'd like to skip to the very last moments of my vacation where we only had 10 minutes to make our second flight's gate after our first connecting flight was delayed. There we were, running through the Montreal airport, clad in our big snow boots and snow coats, heavy backpacks and suitcases in tow. I'll spare you all the details of our terrible experience in Customs and jump to the point where I race up to the gate and collapse over the desk while desperately offering up my passport and ticket to the agent, only to have her say, "Madame don't worry, we haven't starting boarding yet." And that's when I realized: why did I ever doubt that the universe wouldn't have stalled the plane for us so that we could be exactly where we needed to be?

Québec, Canada // March 2018

The entire trip got me thinking about how grateful I am that I have the opportunity to see the world and follow my dreams, which then got me mulling over the age-old debate of luck vs. hard work. Throughout our explorations everything found a way of working out and it felt like things seamlessly fell into place or were justified through later little karmic experiences. As I reflected on everything, I came to the personal conclusion that life is a balance of both "luck" and hard work. (I put luck in quotations because I truly believe that life is simply a blueprint of what the universe has planned for you, so everything is exactly as it's meant to be… hence we don't get lucky, we are fortunate!) Essentially, we all have the power of the universe working behind us, but it is also up to us to acknowledge the full potential of this power, surrender to it, and do our part in the physical world to achieve the full effect of our goals.

In other words, we are fortunate that the universe provides us with the opportunities that it does and ensures that what is meant to be will be (like making sure your plane is just as late as you are!). But the second that we realize that we have the power to change our perspective and statements from "I wish/hope/want" to "I will/am," we activate our "hard work" portion by harnessing the power of our self will to align with the magic of the universe that acts as the tail wind pushing us towards these goals that we have now affirmed we will dedicate ourselves to. I personally used to say, "I want to be a blogger," "I want to travel," etc. and for a while I was stuck in a rut feeling like I wasn't living my life like the person I wanted to be. Finally one day it hit me: there was no reason other than the fact that I was treating these things as hypothetical "wouldn't it be nice" statements instead of saying "I am…”. The entire time I had been sitting there aimlessly wishing was time that I wasn’t going out and realizing that I had all the tools in front of me (thank you universe!) to fully actualize my aspirations. I needed to make the decision to live purposefully because it was just a matter of me not running through all the wonderful doors that had been there, opened in front of me the entire time. And the funny thing is, is the more doors you say, "I am going to run through you" to, the more doors that seem to fly open on the other side. 

Québec, Canada // March 2018

The moral to this story is that even when life feels like you are buried under heavy clothes and baggage, do your part to run and the universe will make sure that the door (or in my case, airplane gate :) ) will be open for you in the end! I know I talk a lot about our individual power, but it's so true that we all have the power within us to manifest our dreams and desires. Be patient and know you aren't alone, trust in yourself and the universe around you!

Allowing for Imperfection

Although I continue to write about the importance of staying positive, I know that at times it can be hard to see the light in every situation that we face. Sometimes as humans we cannot help ourselves from feeling sad, distraught, discouraged, or hopeless. This post will aim at helping to overcome the tougher times in life and acknowledge our natural feelings.

Maui, Hawaii // July 2013

We cannot always predict what life has in store for us; life is a journey of ups and downs. Even the most positive of people can experience the other end of the spectrum of emotions. When life throws something at you that evokes within you some sort of sadness, grief, confusion, or anger, it is important to not get frustrated with yourself. In my own life, if I find myself extremely distressed by something, I can sometimes fall into a pit of upset. However, it is important to keep in mind that we are inclined to react to different situations in certain ways, so in order to ease our experiences through challenging emotions, we must remind ourselves that such experiences are temporary and that we do have the strength to persevere. During life’s less happy times, the key is to acknowledge what we may be feeling, and with that, acknowledge that there will be more good times ahead just like there were before we fell into a more melancholy time. This goes along with trusting that we have divine guidance for our life path and that sometimes we must go through some tough times in order for life to fall into better place.

Maui, Hawaii // July 2016

I think it is important to also recognize that although we might not always understand the situations we go through or feel like we have the power to persist, these are feelings that come naturally to most of us and we are not abnormal in any way. Even when it feels tough to stay positive and push through, just allowing ourselves to live out our validated feelings and knowing in the back of our minds that we have the potential to return to a life of optimism, is an act of staying hopeful. I know that often times it feels as though once one bad thing happens in life, things spiral into a pattern of negativity, but we must try our best to release the little annoyances and find the little things to be happy about.   

The next time you are faced with a trying situation, don’t get frustrated with yourself or with life. Or better yet, know that your frustration is valid, but that it is not the only thing you can feel. Within us all is divinity that is there to guide us if we just listen and trust. I cannot stress enough how supported we all are, even when we are physically alone. Our souls all harness the energy and power of the universe that is available for us to tap into at any time. Life will throw what seem to be bumps and unfairness along the way, but we must look at life with multi-perspectives and realize that both the good and the bad times in life are temporary.

Maui, Hawaii // July 2013

I would like to end this post with a mantra that someone very dear to me enlightened me with. It helped me heal in a time of unexplainable darkness that I truly did not ever think I would get out of, and regardless if you have ever resonated with the feelings of a deep depression, these words are an important reminder for all points in life.

“You are worthy because you exist, you exist because you are worthy.”