I don’t know why I took so long to write an update about my Florida vacation. Maybe it’s that I haven’t accepted coming back home to Washington yet…I have been a little under the weather ever since I got home from Fort Lauderdale and have of me thinks it’s mental sadness of leaving. It was my third time visiting my friend Dianna since she moved there. We’ve been best friends since I was 19. We used to be with each other every single day and having her so far away is really hard for me sometimes.
A couple weeks prior to my vacation I was talking to her about how I missed the sun, I missed the beach, I missed her….then she sort of just said “Well you should be here then”…and I said you’re right I should…and so I did. Best 4 day vacation in a long time. I told her all I wanted was to run, do yoga and be on the beach and see her family and pugs. That is exactly what happened. We took full advantage and I have a bunch of pictures. We went swimming, had green juice, went paddle boarding, went running, had dinner at her fam’s house and talked a lot about life and our dreams.
I am from Hawaii originally-that’s where I was born. I grew up in Kaaawa on Oahu and our house was literally right on a road that separated us from the ocean. Right behind our house was the mountains. Every single day of my little childhood was spent on the beach swimming or burying myself in the sand, or climbing the mountains. When I wasn’t doing that, i was catching chameleons and calling them my pets. I have four little brothers and grew up lifting every single rock or brick around the house or neighborhood to find new bugs and were completely fascinated. In the younger part of my life, my main dream was to become an entomologist-a person who studies bugs. Of all dreams to have, I wanted to study bugs haha.
I loved animals and bugs, I loved the ocean and nature, I loved my family and was always incredibly close with my brothers and I had great compassion for everything that is life.
I still am that person.
I still see myself when I visit places like home, or Florida.
I still see the glow in my heart when I am on the beach( not just to tan but the glow of smelling the ocean and feeling the sun on my body).
I still see my compassion for other people in my life and in my family.
I still see that compassion when I spend time with Dianna’s family and I treat them as my own.(I realize in life I do this with most people).
I still see my love for nature when seeing lizards race back and forth in front of me on my runs. I live in fascination most days of my life.
It’s hard to come home this time of year. I accept it and I love the Pacific Northwest, but I sometimes have these needs for what I remember….which is living in tropical weather and the ability to really get outside everyday. I find myself latching to the hot yoga rooms here in Seattle like I’m some sort of lizard outside of its natural habitat.
I realize I am not the average female, I yearn to always be fully connected and I yearn to be outside most the time. Coming back home I am grateful, but I know in my heart I have big things ahead in my future….If i let go my fear to being greater than I am today:) Here is a bunch of Florida pics to come. Namaste.
