Serendipity, luck, or a product of our own creation? š®
A case for bravery. šŖ
How I ended up here on the Baja California Sur all feels rather serendipitous.
When Paulās February workshop in Iceland got postponed, we decided that I should take 10 days away, and then he would. We chose my dates and, on a whim, I ran them by two friends. Within a day, Stasia was āin.ā We began to look at destinationsāPortugal, mainly. But then we decided to go somewhere that wouldnāt give us a hassle with extra COVID testing upon arrival (I apparently wasnāt thinking about the hard time Iād have getting home). š
We landed on the idea of Mexico. Stasia randomly suggested the Baja, with plans to fly into San JosƩ Del Cabo.
Remarkably, the other friend Iād pitched the trip idea to said, āWould you believe it? I was invited to a wedding in Cabo San Lucas that same week!ā
Unleash: Three women. Airbnb. Ten days. La Paz. šµ What. A. Time.
Iāll never forget the evening that we hiked to the mirador overlooking Balandra Bay. We serendipitously found ourselves there just in time for sunset. As we hiked to the viewpoint, the sky transformed into a gradient of purple, pink, and yellow. Sidelight from the setting sun illuminated the cacti of all varieties, which lined the trail and sprawled across the rugged landscape. The earth, almost peach in colour, glowed as if burning off the warmth of the day.
And once the sun finally set, the colours cooled alongside the air. They deepened and darkened until, the next thing we knew, we were hiking under the stars. āØ
Thatās how I fell in love with this coastal desert, with its pastel hues that mask the harshness of the land, the dry air and cool breezes. And with those stars aligning above me, I felt that, yes, serendipity had brought me here. I felt lucky to be here, to have the flexible schedule and lifestyle to ātake offā when others could not, and to be able to work from anywhere.
But I also love what author Glennon Doyle has to say when people tell her sheās lucky.
The braver I am, the luckier I get.
Trust me, I had many reasons not to get on that plane in Calgary to come here (my paying subscribers got part of that story in my last Letters Home š but I touch on it in When You Donāt Recognize Yourself). My Instagram account certainly doesnāt reflect what I was really dealing with behind-the-scenes when I was posting videos of gorgeous sunsets and toes in the sand. And when I got the alarming news, the day before we were due to leave Mexico, that COVID was still being detected in my system, weeks after Iād been sick, I honestly wasnāt sure how many more curveballs my system could take.
I hit rock-bottom.
But, hereās where the bravery/luck comes in.
In the aftermath of that news, I choked through tears talking on the phone with my husband and, bless his heart, he said what I needed to hear: āWell, one option is to offer to pay the $5,000 fine and insist on your rights as a Canadian citizen to come home. Or, you can take that weight off your shoulders, stay the extra eight days, and make the most of them.ā
My body was trembling as I faced my options. And though I missed my kids like crazy, thatās when I realized that I wasnāt yet ready to go home. That, for all Iād been through in the past few months, I needed more time to heal, process, relax, and decompress.
As a mother, with a husband who travels a lot, this was an absolutely rare occasion, and I knew it.
But, let me tell you, I needed to be brave. Thankfully, I had my two friends by my side (another serendipitous event, when our initial test results didnāt come in on time for us to fly). I could barely see straight and they helped me research my options.
And hereās what bravery looked like: It looked like accepting I wouldnāt see my family for another week. It looked like booking a boutique hotel for three nights with the plan of figuring out my next steps later. It looked like watching my friendsā taxi van pull out of the hotel parking lot to take them to the airport without me. It looked like finding my way to my new digs, heading out to get groceries, and settling in for a few days of work catch-ups. It looked like travelling in Mexico alone. It looked like changing accommodations for the last four days and deciding to do the thing I knew was best for me: booking into a 5-star resort when I found a sweet deal on rates. (Trust me, I asked myself if I was being ridiculous).
That meant no more eating peanut butter on corn tortillas for dinner. It meant oceanside views. Because when youāre in Mexico, you might as well be by the sea.
I could have wallowed, felt cheated, and tried to keep things dirt cheap out of guilt of being out of the country longer. But, instead, I gave myself permission to be brave and therefore became the luckiest woman on the planet.
I thought that evening hike overlooking Balandra Bay was the pinnacle of my luck here in Mexico. But it turned out to be the beginning of a magical time, and one Iām not sure Iāll ever fully comprehend.
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Whatās caught my attention latelyā¦ āØ
I think Iāve previously sent a link to another podcast featuring Dr. Hillary McBride. But this one on The Next Right Thing, How to Make Embodied Decisions, was exactly what I needed to hear at exactly the right time (thanks to my sister for sending it!) After feeling like Iāve been at war with my body, it offered me some really helpful reminders.
Check these out tooā¦ š
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Lights to Guide Me HomeĀ - Join my list to find out more about the travelogue/memoir coming out in Fall 2022.
The Wonders That I Find - My childrenās book is now available! šæ I also welcome reviews.
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