Ahh the adventures of a solo trip to Sedona, Arizona.
You never really know why you are pulled toward a particular place or decision, but watching it unfold into what it was meant to be is one of the most incredible things to witness.
I have been making the effort to follow what my heart or “gut” has been telling me to do. So basically, listening to my body more. Back in November, I was drawn to hastily book a trip to Sedona. I didn’t ask questions. I just did it. You know you have to implement these things to actually see if it works, right Kristi? Right.
What came after that I never could have thought up myself. With my first flight out there being cancelled, I felt tested to see if I was really serious about making this trip I have been dreaming of. So, I told myself, “you can only measure what you’ll lose, and not what you’ll gain”.
Boy, am I so happy I followed through. I realized I didn’t want to make spending way more money a thing to stop me from experiencing what ended up being one of the most pivotal trips of my life.
I don’t think I’ve ever felt safer in a situation judged as seemingly “unsafe”. As the days went by during this trip, I felt more and more comfortable and trusting that no matter what happens I am safe. That seems to be a pattern that popped up a lot this week.
Going into this, people felt the need to warn me and say that I shouldn’t hike or travel on my own. Silly me grasped onto that for just a minute. A friend of mine in Sedona actually said to me, “Why the hell would you want a hiking partner!” HA! Needless to say, every hike I went on I went solo and extremely happy I did. I found a connection to myself I was not expecting. I learned very important things about the way my inspiration works, and about the effects a certain environment does for my productivity and overall mental state. Not to mention, the incredible people I got to meet along the way!
The things that I have been envisioning for my life started to lay out in front of me. A place I can hike daily, ride horses, see the sun, and feel creative flow. It hit me when I hiked to Devil’s Bridge and sat down to paint at the overlook. I became instantly grateful to be living exactly what I’ve been dreaming up for years.
They talk about the energy of Sedona. The magic that happens there. I’m positive I was struck by it.
I don’t credit it all to Sedona’s magic, though. There was a lot of work I’ve had to do on myself leading up to this that has shaped my life. The question often arises, “how are you so genuinely happy and how did you get to being able to do what you love for a living?” I just decided I wouldn’t settle for anything less. I knew there was a way to love the life I live, so I started on that trail early. It’s been one of the tougher hikes, but the view is worth it. The key is to truly love every bit of it. Even the slick, straight up, shaky leg rock scrambles you have to take to get there. Take a moment as you’re looking up to pan the rest of scenery and be grateful for the whole experience. That’s the beautiful part of it all. There’s a different view at every part of the trail. That’s a little piece of what has made life more playful for me.
Here is a journal entry I made on the way back to Michigan from the trip. I thought it was a fun progression of awareness and working out some thoughts and feelings that came up:
“I am currently sitting in the airport, waiting for my delayed flight back ‘home’. I took some big leaps this past week coming out to Sedona, AZ on a solo trip and some AMAZING things happened. Beautifully orchestrated synchronicities throughout the whole week just unfolded before me. I have been envisioning a place like this to live in my whole life. A place with easy access mountainous hiking, sun, horses and art. I was offered a place to live here with trade in helping take care of the horses and just trail ride all day long in the mountains and I would be able to paint freely and hike as much as I like 😍
My heart aches and I get flashes of anxiety thinking about going back to MI. I already took another leap, and at the moment I am set to come back out in a little over a month and live here through the summer. But now that my flight has been delayed and I sit here I just don’t know if I should take an even bigger leap and just stay... (I know I should just meditate on it 😂) There’s fear of what I will do in regards to transportation and about money if I do stay because technically, right now, my work and truck is in Ohio. But that’s just a silly belief. I am mostly typing this all out to you lovelies because I need to just get it out of my brain and into words. Even now, as I’ve progressed through writing all this down I’m becoming clearer. I feel like Kyle (Kyle Cease) when he was writing his book 😂
I guess I have a fear that if I do go back “home”, I will fall back into my old pattern and just settle back into the comfort of what my situation has been there and never come back to what my heart has been pulling me toward. I think it will actually be a beautiful test for me to go back and tie up the loose ends in MI and then really commit to my heart and show it that I can be strong and stand by what it wants, even though I had to leave for a short period of time. Ahhhhh. That feels soooo gooooooood 😍😍😍 Thank y’all for listening!”
Shortly after I wrote this, I got on my first flight to Minneapolis and ended up getting stuck there due to weather. Another circumstance that could have been looked at very negatively in the past, but I just trusted that was what was meant to happen… because it did. You can either be miserable or joyful in these situations, either way the situation doesn’t change. I ended up contacting a friend in the area about a possible couch I could crash on because I wasn’t going to be able to fly out until the next night. She was so amazing to have found a place for me to stay! And I totally made an awesome new friend out of it all. Like heck yeah, life!
This just scratches the surface of all the beautiful things that happened in just this short week. I found great new lifelong friends, a possible new home, and insanely happy memories.
If there is something that is calling to you, I truly believe it deserves to be listened to and acted upon. I have found, things tend to just work out when you do. And remember to be grateful for all of your experiences.
So, thank you world. For everything.
Oh, and good job, Sedona. You stole my heart.
Love,
Kristi
“The world is my canvas, and my life in my masterpiece”