Day 1: It’s Sunday at 5:26 a.m., and I am leaving my casa. Stopping for windshield wiper fluid like my father asked me to, Dunkin’, then peace out Chitown. It feels weird to be going away alone for a week, especially to a place that’s not Florida, and I felt myself tearing up a couple times. Interesting.
2:40 p.m. Finally stopped fucking pouring. I’m about an hour away, and I’m very much ready to be there. The drive itself has been gorgeous for hours, but I should probably accomplish something more today since it stopped raining.
4:58 p.m. I’m here! The drive up to where I’m staying was like 20 minutes of driving way up and along the edge of a cliff.. horrifying when you’re not expecting it, but absolutely gorgeous. I found a Mexican bar for dinner, watched some Blackhawks, and chatted with a Dominican Republican who was super into deep dish pizza. I also stopped at the most adorable little market in the fucking world for some shit, then sat on the balcony and wrote this crap up 🙂
Day 2: Happy Monday! It poured all night, and I slept like a baby.. but then it continued to pour, so that put somewhat of a dent in all my outdoor activities. I had a very relaxing morning – made breakfast and coffee, worked a little, finished a movie from last night, which made me bawl and definitely shouldn’t have, and journaled on the patio. Due to the rain, I decided to go on a recommended scenic drive (Roaring Fork), so I did, and it was closed. Cool. I was able to find another drive (Newfound Gap), which I started, but didn’t finish. It was gorgeous – took me high up, beautiful viewpoints, rocky walls with mini waterfalls – but after 10 miles of the same thing, you get kinda over it. I also needed to come back to get some more work in and have my therapy session.
Monday update: That night, I went to SkyLift Park, where I took a ski lift up to the sky deck and a very long suspension bridge, where I saw some of THE most gorgeous views of my entire life (see videos at the bottom). The man who took my picture was absolutely convinced that I was 23 and not 31, so that was pleasant. I also almost (genuinely) died on the drive back up to my place because there’s not even remotely enough lighting going up there, and the turns these cliffs expect your car to make are ridiculous. I turned earlier than I was supposed to, so my car decided to keep going backgrounds even though it was in drive or park. After putting on the E brake and getting out, I saw I had about a foot to work with before the wheel fell off the road and onto the cliff path. Somehow I managed to go backwards enough the other way that I had enough room to correctly shoot my car up the right way. At the end of that, I was surprised to realize that in that moment, I was scared to die, but as soon as I was able to turn, I was really pissed that I didn’t. Ain’t that a bitch.
Day 3: Tuesday morning, and it’s fucking cold. I woke up in a pretty shitty mood, so it’s not convenient that I can’t really go outside yet. As I’ve been doing every morning, I pulled up a YouTube video to help flip myself around and get me going, and this morning, one I came across was a speaker who said the following: “Since you’re in the same ‘here’ as I am, I’m going to tell you that every single thing you say, can be either positive or negative – both will impact me, and the tone in which you say it, will make sure to live in me long after it’s been said.”
It really stuck with me because, prior to hearing it that morning, I had actually been thinking of all the people who had disappointed me, and I was getting furious at myself for allowing anyone else to have that kind of power over my me. In an effort to change that mindset, I decided to work on some gratefulness (thanks Tony Robbins!) and thank three people outside of my closest circle who I’m incredibly grateful to have in my life. I’ll do that individually, but they also deserve a mention here, even if not by name. JT: A friendship that started unconventionally, but has remained cross country strong for 8 years now. He’s one of the few people that won’t take my shit, takes the role of a big brother even though we’re the same age, and is there day and night if I need a loving ear. JS: Although it took a few years before we got close, I’m so incredibly grateful that we did. There’s been a number of times this dude has talked me off the ledge, even if I’m bawling coming off it. I hope we continue to build our friendship because it’s people like this that I need around. AN: Although I’ve known her in a professional capacity for the last four years, I still forget to behave like an adult with her, but luckily, she usually lets it somewhat slide. I know how different my life would be right now if I didn’t have her insane support, and I could not be more grateful to have her in my corner. That’s all for this post. Raise your hand if you’ve even gotten this far.. Part 3 coming up!
Whatever you doing is absolutely on spot.I’m always proud of you.koke !