Returning to my roots

I’m playing with a concept of slow travel. What does it mean to travel slow? Does it have to be some far off place to be considered travel? Or can it be as simple as taking a subway to a new coffee shop, or visiting family in your home town? 

What comes with slow travel?

At first I thought it was a way to simply move mindfully and without pressure to stick to a schedule. To intentionally have quiet, reflective, and meditative time with the environment you may be in. 

This is true, but I’m also realizing slow travel includes the opportunities for growth through challenge.

As an artist and healer, I’ve been on a path of personal growth not just for my own sense of getting to a better place, but also as part of my lifestyle. The reflective moments bring so much inspiration to me. The information I receive while going through a challenge, inspires what I create and helps me to better serve my clients. 

As I continue to share about my travels, it’ll be interwoven with what I learned on the inner journey. Sometimes my travel experience will be more external, and sometimes internal.

When I went to Vermont to be with family, I had an opportunity to choose love

While having a few days to enjoy winter in Vermont, and revisit important places to me, I had an even deeper visit inward. Family has so much to offer in the realm of personal growth. They trigger us from past wounds and show us what needs to be healed. It takes heart centered focus to accept the medicine. 

As soon as I landed, I was already invited into a negative energy of impatience and frustration. I let someone else’s energy impact me instead of holding my own. Once I was there, it lingered off and on throughout the week.

When I landed, I didn’t want to talk with my sweet mother who picked me up, I wanted to be left alone. I had no capacity to celebrate the reunion and listen to her joyful shares. The next morning I sat on the couch and continue to have hard thoughts on my family for their imperfections. But internally attacking and avoiding interaction is not kind. Acceptance and love were the only steps forward. 

Every time I felt anger and fire build up in me, I tempered it with focusing on love, acceptance, and gratitude. I wrote a very powerful reminder to myself. One person in a high vibrational state can consume and transmute any negative energy in the space. The key is to not let the negativity get to you. 

Understanding my resentment, frustration, and the walls around my heart – brings me even deeper into my childhood of course. But let’s save that for my private journal. 

Being able to return to love helped me to see and appreciate my home and being with my family. I knew it was a gift. My heart began to feel softer and full of gratitude. 

Looking back, I see how important it is to strengthen the resilience of your heart and the surrender of its walls. With gratitude working its magic, I was able to enjoy some beautiful moments just in time for my birthday celebration. 

The sweet tenderness of my heart by the end of the week was a beautiful segue into the next leg of my journey to Harmony New Jersey.  Stay tuned for the magic of Harmony Mountain House.