Tag: expand

Architects

“The core of who you are as a person I believe is permanent, a foundation built throughout the early years of your life. The good stuff however – kindness, selflessness, drive, reason and understanding, all come later. How you choose to decorate who you are is entirely up to you. So be creative.”

-Beau Taplin // The Architect

I’m here. I’m ready. Journeying freely throughout each given day.

The art of reflection is a beautiful practice.  It is a way to remind myself where I have been and the direction in which I want to set foot in. I encourage you to reflect, too.

This time of year I find myself especially focused on reflecting. For me, it is the perfect opportunity to step back and understand the complexities and simplicities of my trials and my successes over the past year. Often times we are so caught up in whatever is in front of us that we fail to make sense of it all. We are never going to be able to get closure, answers or understanding of everything that we experience + that is alright. Some experiences are meant to be a simple encounter at that. To distinguish the difference, I ask myself, “is it going to matter a year from now?”

I lead with my heart, but I will never stop questioning. My passion and desires are rooted deeply in my pursuit for growth. I want my soul to be fierce and free while simultaneously allowing myself to explore the truth that lies within my life. To successfully do this, I focus on three things: understanding myself wholly, journeying presently and being mindful of the key people in my life at each given time.

I want my soul to dance. I will move to the rhythm of love, compassion, understanding and open + honest communication. 

Open and honest communication allows me to diminish distance between myself and others. I am able to effectively convey my thoughts and feelings to both myself and the key people in my life.  I have said it before and I will say it again, my heart thrives on open outpours of love. I love my family who strengthen my heart. I love the one who puts a smile on my face as we grow separately, together. I love my friends and my deep connections with others. I am grateful for the ability to radiate the sensations that these relationships generate in my life.

We are the architects of our lives. Let’s commit. Let’s commit to seeking and pursuing our purposes and our truths genuinely, lovingly and with good intent. The time is now.

May you become everything and more. 

The Tides of Life

13552728_10206545989748558_2111440664_nWriting is my thing. Words are my love language, my outlet to freely express. They are my security and they are my escape. Words are the strings that connect hearts and souls. I am excited to expand my world with you through this new versatile platform. Welcome to twentysomethingchronicles.com!

The phrase “ebb and flow” was referenced to me today and it sparked something in this jumbled mind of mine to write about. I am most at peace when surrounded by water. I find tranquility as I sit on the dock with my toes in the lake or when I am sitting on the beach, watching the planes take off as the sun sets on the horizon. I feel a calmness cast over me just describing it.

Ebb and flow relate to the two phases of the tide.

  • Ebb: the outgoing phase – when the tide drains away from the shore
  • Flow: the incoming phase – when the water rises again

Each phase symbolizing the tides of our lives. Change is the only constant. You will rise and you will fall.

The outgoing phase moves you away from things that are not good for your soul. Like the ocean, leading you to larger, deeper waters. Scary at first, but as you move with the tides you nourish your soul. In this stage, which happens again and again throughout your journey, you will find that you are leaving places and people that you once considered home. Emotionally and physically you fade away from the security of the shore.  But if you move in rhythm, you will not drown in the riptides but rather you will learn to flow with the waves. This phase will allow you to move forward with each new day. Going from one place to another, moving steadily. Living in progression rather than regression.

The ebbs and flow of my journey over the last six months have been one hell of a ride. Rising and crashing against the shore, over and over again. As I aspire to inspire, I am learning to be mindful. Mindful of my intuition, my thoughts, feelings, and actions. Each wave is a new lesson. Some harder than others. But I learned that staying in the shallow end (our comfort zone) did more harm than good. The deep waters are where I want to be. The understanding I have of myself and the journey I am on allows me to grow and be more intuitive to both my soul and the souls of those whom I keep close to my heart. The ebbs and flow don’t allow me to harness hate in my heart. Rather they give me the ability to accept my circumstances and the things that are out of my control which is liberating.

People come into our lives constantly, some stay and others will leave and never return. The flux of people coming in and out of my life has always been challenging for me because I fall in love with peoples souls. That was until I realized that I have the power over who I allow to take up space in my life. Guard your space fiercely, be generous but be intentional about who you allow in. When you do this, you have expectations and standards for the individuals you graciously share your ocean with. Each moving in rhythm to your own ebbs and flow and if you are lucky you will beautifully crash and rise together. You will find that this allows yourself and others to add magic to this time in your life. I hope you embrace the moments when you are drawn away from the shore and immersed into rising water.

“Her soul was too deep to explore by those who always swam in the shallow end” (A.J. Lawless).

Balance

The brain is vast and powerful. Our minds are limitless and enable consciousness, perception, thinking, judgement, and memory.

Our minds have immense control. Our thoughts have power over our attitudes and actions. Positive thoughts lead to encouraging attitudes which result in beneficial actions. I am learning that as I change my mindset my life will progress in the way I want it to. I am not a negative person, I am however a sensitive one. I feel everything. The good and the bad. I carry my emotions and the emotions of the ones I love and care for. I wouldn’t change it for the world but someone very wise once told me that I need to be a swinging door rather than a sponge. I need to allow myself to feel the emotions as I must and then let them go. I am still working on it.

Multiple times in my life I have found myself lost and slightly off track. At these times my head, heart and actions have not aligned.  I have always held myself up to high standards and put myself under pressure to reach and even succeed in aspects of my life. But in order to achieve that, I must find balance. In the chaos of everyday life, it is easy to hone in on a few aspects of our lives and neglect the other facets that need care – including our own physical and psychological responsibilities. The process of creating and maintaining a balanced life may not be an easy task for all but it is important and achievable. I say this because I have done it before and I will do it again.

Personally, finding balance all starts with my mind.  I am a thinker. An analyzer. I like to observe, perceive, and reflect. I can be simple yet complicated. I am calm yet chaotic. I find myself focused and completely scatterbrained at the same time. Paulo Coelho once said, “life has many ways of testing a person’s will, either by having nothing happen at all or by having everything happen all at once.” Over the last few months, life has tested me. Life has thrown many obstacles and teachable moments my way. I did not fail but I did in fact lose balance. My heart was hurting, my head knew that I was losing balance but my actions weren’t changing in a positive way. Chaos can do that to a person. Grief especially can do that to someone.

I share this with you because losing balance can hurt our own souls but also the ones that we love. I encourage you to find balance in the chaos of what is your life. Spend time with your parents and family, make memories with friends, work hard at a career. Adventure. Travel. Expand your horizons by opening your minds. Learn new things about yourself and others. Be vast and brilliant as you all are.