Well I’m back, with strange tan lines.

I spent the past week wandering Daytona Beach, hitting up some great restaurants, and cruising the coastline. And battling jetlag. It was a much needed adventure.

And by “much needed adventure”, I mean I’m overloaded, at another crossroads in life and very much needed to step away for a few days, like pressing the mental reset button. And I got to catch up with one of my best friends ever.

As you may understand, 1.5 years into a pandemic in the northeast US has led to me forgetting so many of my social skills. I leaned heavily into social media to compensate for lack of human interaction, and although it’s helped me keep my sanity, I still noticed having lower confidence in dealing with strangers and it seems as if my wit has slowed a bit. It was so strange how I was caught off guard by that.

And to realize all this in a place that never shut down, that was a little intimidating.

I was in good company though.

I think the biggest (positive) shock to my perspective was visiting a Buddhist temple, and then later walking the beach at night, listening to the waves crashing and watching lightning flash in the distance. To feel so small, my vision dim, and rely heavily on sound and the feeling of the electrically charged salt air around me, that is fncking magic.

That’s when I was reminded of what it felt like to completely let go and live in the moment, without a care for what the rest of the world thought.

I thought I had retained that quality through everything, and I have to an extent, but I seemed to have slipped somewhere.

I needed to be reminded of who I am and what drives me in life.

What are those things?

It’s not entirely clear. I can’t simplify them to specific labels. Or hashtags.

It’s the thrill of the adventure and experiencing new things, with someone I trust completely, that stir up these feelings of sheer joy and healing. I belong to the world.

This trip reminded me of all the things I love in life, that I had been missing due to the pandemic, etc, and helped shift my focus back to the things that are most important to me.

And with the renewed perspective, I can now start getting my sh!t together and figure out where exactly I want to go from here.

It’s going to be a lot of work, but I see lots of cool things ahead.

And I’m excited to make them happen.