On the Other Side

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The beautiful thing about having mountains pretty much in my backyard are views like this one above peeking out from behind my favorite wine bar, Tibetan shop, bookstore, oyster bar, and rooftop patio.  However, to really appreciate the magnificence and stature of the Flatirons as we see them in Boulder, and their teeny tiny small place in the greater Rocky Mountains scheme of things, you have to step back.  You have to get east a little ways, towards out of town, at least on the other side of the Foothills Parkway, to really get even a tiny idea of the scope of those little foothills.

Hindsight’s 20/20, right?

If there’s anything I’m learning now, these days, this April, this spring, this YEAR is that it takes time and distance from any given situation to really start to grasp it’s relevance in your life.  It’s awesome the clarity that comes in retrospect, isn’t it?

I mean, one minute you’re in this (any) situation that could be one of thousands of things: painful, blissful, confusing, maybe even a little boring and totally insignificant-feeling, horrendously torturous, brilliantly amazing, and the next moment?  You’re on the other side of it wondering how you got there in the first place.  Wondering what to do with that what just happened feeling you’re suddenly digesting.  And just as the farther east you drive out Boulder, the better view and perspective you get of this giant backyard mountain range of ours, the farther away you get from just-on-the-other-side of said situation, you start to see the bigger picture and how and where you fit in all of it.

People are never accidents

A year ago this very weekend, Nicole and I jumped our new and vibrant friendship offline and off the phone, and headfirst into a whirlwind weekend in Minnesota that included crotchless jeans, sake bars (turns out she doesn’t like sake, oops), improv theater with my family, matching tattoos, massive life planning, big dreaming, and bringing to life what had ignited our friendship in the first place: a desire for the biggest, fullest, most colorful lives we could possibly have our hands on, settling for absolutely nothing short of that, and pushing each other to define what that meant and then stop listing it and start LIVING it.

A year ago this very weekend, I started setting some very specific intentions for my life, even if I didn’t realize it then.

Jet-Setter and Yogini-in-Training

I spent last summer traveling like a crazy person.  I went to Alabama to spend time with my family, came out to Colorado to visit a friend, met 25 other bloggers in Vegas, went to Chicago three times, Los Angeles two and a half times, and saw 36 hours worth of New York City.  I made it a point to learn that independence and to push my comfort zones.

I grew comfortable in my own skin and in my own decisions.  I made the decision to go through the Yoga Teacher Training program I’d been considering for years.  I made a commitment of over 20 hours/week on top of a full-time job learning how to teach yoga, learning the history of yoga and all its ins and outs, and learning more and more about myself.

On the other side of the last 12 months

If my life is like the Rocky Mountains and these last 12 months have been my Flatirons, when I step back and look at that bigger picture, I see specifically a year full of adventure, exploration, self-discovery, and the openness for loving and inspiring relationships.  But then I look on either side of that year, on the years before it and in the present, and I see how it fits with where I am and what I’m doing right now.  I see why last year was so important to where I am this year.

Nicole and I pushed each other to define what we wanted out of life and to pursue that.  I defined that I wanted a life rich with meaningful relationships, knowledge and experience in the world around me, and an outlet for a wordy creativity called writing that I couldn’t let go of if I tried.

Always moving forward

And this year?  The life I’m living is a direct result of the decisions I made, even though – especially though – I didn’t realize their impact and significance at the time.  The people and opportunities in my life are moving in directions that fall right into step with mine, that aren’t necessarily the same but are complements.  I think some might call this being in sync with the universe or something.

It’s such a simple albeit powerful revelation for me: each situation and time period in our lives prepares us for the next one, and it’s exciting to not simply keep moving forward, but to step back and revel in the magnificent role our hardships and brilliant adventures play in our bigger pictures.