I have a secret: I am truly living!
With a summer spent enjoying each moment of my days, rich with family, friends, and special memories, I was able to reconnect to my passions, rejuvenate myself, and reinvigorate my zest for the here and now.
My heart and mind have been grounded, mindful, thankful; I feel as though I am being true to myself and enjoying my time on this earth.
I read a lot this summer: happy stories, sad stories, true stories, helpful stories, mysterious stories, nostalgic stories….There is such power in storytelling! The connection that a reader, listener, viewer can make and experience is other-worldly. There were a few stories that were so important for me to experience at this point of my life; the stories were timely and they were the teaching tools to this road of acceptance and living!
Tears. Cleansing tears during each of these stories showed me clarity and got me to this beautiful space in time. On my family vacation, I cried hysterical tears on the Wildwood Beach that had my family laughing at me for sobbing into the pages of JoJo Moyes’ Me Before You. In the Broadway theater, I ugly-cried with my sister and cousin, mother and aunt to the story of how J.M. Barrie created Peter Pan in Finding Neverland. The following week, I watched the seamlessly, beautiful Radio City Rockette’s high-kicking in their Radio City Spectacular and teared up remembering my years performing as a dancer. Then, most recently, I was listening to a book, Arianna Huffington’s Thrive, in which the INTRODUCTION sent me to sobbing chokes about mindfulness, cultivating meaningful relationships, and experiencing the wonder in the world.
Each of these stories had a message, which struck the same chord in me. “Live, Ariana. Stop overthinking. Stop second-guessing. Stop. LIVE. Be here. Be now. Be kind. Be. LIVE. Give. Forgive. Try. Go. Do. ‘Just Live'”.
There is too much sadness, fear, and discord in our daily lives. We have the power to choose happiness, love, and peace.
Choose love.
Choose peace.
Choose to “Just live”.
