soul sunday: lessons from sweden

As I write this, I've just returned from a month away in Scandinavia and the only term I can think of to adequately describe what I feel is brave. I always knew growth requires an expansion of one's comfort zone. But I had no idea how brave I was, how strong I was, or how creative I was until I navigated the streets of Stockholm with no other compass than my internal GPS redirecting me moment by moment toward spaces of expansion and self discovery. And what I found to be the "miracle grow" for my bravery was the balance to seek just enough familiarity to feel safe but always enough adventure to tap into courage.

In practice, this entailed a morning of finding silence and stillness in space followed by my favorite jasmine tea. With peace as my engine, I was able to step into a very non-linear exploration of the city with no pressure to find anything specific.

Over time, I learned to come back to this deep trust that what was meant for me would find me. Moment-by-moment, I learned to ask myself,  "what do I need right now?"  Then, just like that, the tiniest shift, the 1° pivot, or the reclamation of bravery ended up being the redirect required from my internal GPS to find what was looking for me all along.

In fact, if I'm going to be honest, the more organic the cue, the more powerful the discovery. It took courage to turn left, when Google Maps told me to turn right. But this reclamation of agency over where I knew I needed to go, led by energy [not logic], is what I learned to trust.

As I boarded my flight home, my most valuable assets did not end up in my luggage. Yes, more than a few packages of Swedish Fish made their way into my bags. But the souvenirs that have no price tag on them because they could not be bought are: a deep commitment to simplicity, a new-found appreciation for presence & an addiction to finding beauty [in the wabi-sabiest moments]. My suitcase didn't weigh more than 50 pounds though because what I left behind are: the back-breaking weight of pressure, fear driven decisions, and urgency to perform. It's too heavy to continue to carry around with me. So it got composted in the streets of Stockholm.

And now if I notice the feeling of the weight of that energy we're culturally conditioned to carry, I am hereby committing to a long [Scandinavian summer] pause in order to bravely reclaim alignment once more.