Learning to Float
This summer was the best summer of my life! Sydney, Olivia and I packed our car on July 12th and started driving across the country. We had a few “must see” places and the rest was planned as we went along. I learned more than I thought I would ever learn while on our 3 week journey across the United States.
I learned that:
The top 5 red meat producing states are Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota.
The states that harvest the most corn are Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota and Indiana.
Lists are not all that important.
People in the south are more friendly than those in Massachusetts.
There are more people like Papou (my dad) than one would think.
Just because my phone doesn’t ring for 3 days, it doesn’t mean it’s broken. It means I am on vacation!
My girls and I truly do have a magical relationship. (We already knew this. The trip only confirmed our truth.)
Of course there were many more lessons along the way. The most important thing I learned was how to float. As soon as we started driving through the Grand Canyon, I was sobbing. I couldn’t tell you why. I was just overcome with emotions. I never realized until that moment how much I was clinging to life; gripping onto what I thought would work. My tears told me there is a better way. Let go. I continued to cry at every turn, each site more awe-inspiring than the one before. The next day I woke up at 4:30am and drove to Arches Park to watch the sunrise. I brought my journal and I couldn’t write. I was mesmerized by the view. We craved water. We needed to swim. It was hot. We headed to Glenn Canyon. I watched Olivia floating on her back and said, “How do you do that? My legs always drop.” She coached me. She coached Sydney. At first, I found myself trying. If you have ever taken a yoga class from me, you know how I encourage not trying.
Once I got myself up, I held for a few breaths to make sure my legs wouldn’t sink. And then I let go. Silence. My ears were covered and I heard nothing. I closed my eyes and found myself floating...effortlessly. And I thought to myself, “This is