I'm 30 and...

Hello all and happy Monday!

I'm currently in Western Massachusetts in a giant house while my friends make French Toast and I can see the lake and beautifully crisp trees in the distance.  We just got back from a chilly morning walk in the woods.   Music is playing, coffee is brewing and people are laughing and it makes me effortlessly happy to be surrounded with so much love.  Being 30 is so far so great!

Before meeting up with friends, I spent a few days in Boston alone and it was such an important and liberating experience.  It makes me realize that solo retreat experiences are so healing and important.  I rented an apartment and decided in each moment what I wanted to do and interacted with strangers and saw live music and danced and just did whatever felt right and it turns out, I actually really enjoy my own company.  I feel safe within myself and am becoming closer to me. I missed public transportation so much and learned again how meditative the train can be.  

For me, it was fascinating being in a city that I spent my late teens and early 20s in again. It was beautifully revealing.  I felt older, wiser, more self-assured and the familiar background gave me evidence of my changing self.  It was lovely.  There used to be so much self-criticism and self-judgement, self-analysis and future thinking going on that I often missed out on the present moment.  Now, as I step into greater self-acceptance, I am learning to be more present and aware; to dance without thinking, to take in art as if through my whole body.

My friends and I sat around a dinner table the night of my actual birthday with a huge salad and some sweet potatoes and all shared our intentions for the coming year.  It was astonishing to me how open, present and emotionally mature we have all become.  We voiced things out loud that were sometimes tough and talked about our various inner experiences.  As we are all learning to become more present and accepting of ourselves, it leaves so much more space to connect and hold space for one another.  Honesty, and conscious communication are then more available.  It's healthier.  It's more mature.  

I'm really excited about this coming year; of stepping into a new decade of life.  Knowing myself more and being kinder.  I am so grateful for what is unfolding all around me and feeling extremely blessed.  I'm going to get back to the scenery for now and post more next week.  

Sending love,

Brooke