Monday, January 10, 2011

Time Capsule

I've never had a time capsule. I have a fuzzy memory of other schools doing a time capsule from the first day of Kindergarten that you open when you graduate fifth grade or something like that, but I've never had the exhilaration of opening up some mystery package that I made for myself years before. I've always imagined that it would be pretty exciting though. This past week was the first time I felt like I unintentionally left myself a HUGE time capsule in the form of a storage unit of all of my things from when I last lived in LA, which was only about 15 months ago, but feels MUCH longer. It was definitely the most eventful 15 months of my life.

There is a very clear memory of shutting the door, locking it, and thinking, "Things are going to be really different when I get back." That feeling was spot on, but I couldn't have possibly imagined how different my life, my ideas, and my future would look. I actually unlocked the door the day after I landed back in the United States with my best friend Kat because I wanted to get some closure and separation from that life. I took all of what was my stuff out of the shared storage unit and moved it to another unit but didn't really rifle through everything because I wouldn't be back, living in LA until the New Year. That was simple enough.

Fast forward to two month later, when I'm hauling boxes and boxes of books, dishes, towels, curtains, etc., and loading them into my Mini Cooper all by myself and dragging them to my room in an apartment I share with a fabulous married couple. This is when I actually had to open these boxes and remember who I was 15 months ago and where my life was going.

It was really hard and really wonderful, but one of my favorite mantras is, "The only way over it, is through it." So I leaned into it. After a few days of feeling down, I woke up this morning feeling light and refreshed. I am supposed to be right here, right now, this way. I had spent a lot of time deciding what "the plan" was and the biggest thing I learned from this year and from opening up that time capsule of all of my belongings is that I can plan and plan until my face turns blue and that doesn't mean that a year from now any of those plans will come to fruition.

The beauty of it, though, is that means you can be a in a spot a million times better than you had "planned" so just enjoy the journey.

Since this blog was "The Road to Singapore . . . " I guess it's time for a new blog. Thanks to everyone who followed me through Southeast Asia! A new journey begins now. I will post the link to the new blog as soon as I decide what it will be!

1 comment:

  1. Such a wise girl you are, Erin. Congrats on your journey, and the stronger woman you've become on the other side. You are an inspiration to me, you remind me that there are a few things around here that I, too, need to be "leaning into." Thanks, and the very, very best of luck to you in what I'm sure will be the thrilling years to come! xoxo

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