Two years of Melb+! Thank you so much for coming to hang with me! For this second anniversary post, I decided to take some meaningful pictures and share a little bit of my heart with you. The amazing Lauren Watai did the photo shoot I used to launch Melb+, so it only seemed fitting to call on her again. Boy, did we have fun. She captured some amazing images of gorgeous Florida and a whole lot of my heart. I even fell in the water. Not like a graceful dip for the camera. Like a tumble and crash off of slippery rocks and into the water. Keep reading for picture evidence. I chose to wear a dress that needed a new purpose. It sat in my closet unused for months because the life I bought it for wasn’t going to happen.
I have been watching a lot of movies where the protagonist of the movie is stuck between two worlds…. Avatar, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, The Little Mermaid (I have a child at home. Don’t judge me.) It is something I have been thinking about a lot lately because….well…life. We envision this life. The one we signed up for. The one we planned and sacrificed for. The one we invested in and worked hard to create. I’m learning that this is rarely the life we get to keep. There is usually a fork in the road that forces some change in the path or a bump along the way that makes us veer just slightly left.
Other times, though, there is this necessary crossing into a whole other WORLD. A world we didn’t plan on. A world we don’t know and don’t want. A new home we didn’t ask for. A family that looks so very different from the one we hoped to have. It is unfair and unplanned and unwelcomed. I am quickly learning that, however unfair it may seem, staying stuck in the old world that is no longer viable has its consequences. Imagine standing on a bridge between your two worlds.
You look back and see that your old world feels comfortable and familiar, but lacks oxygen. It no longer holds your purpose. It contradicts your truth. You look ahead and you can see glimpses of the new world but nothing feels steady or stable.
Nothing feels familiar or safe. So you stay. Stuck between what you’ve lost and the fear of moving forward. Stuck in grief.
The only problem is that staying stuck for too long comes at a cost. You see, your new world is flying by like one of those time lapse movies of a flower blooming or a sunset fading in seconds. You are missing it. Life stops for no one.
It get harder to breathe in your old world and you start to understand this isn’t a choice. It’s a must. Even when the bridge is tarred in grief. Steps forward are a must.
The good news is that as you take steps of faith forward, the time-lapse slows down and you begin to see there are flecks of beauty, bits of hope, moments of laughter, and so much love.
Today, it is my prayer that if you are reading this and feel stuck, we can take steps together towards the life we didn’t plan on and find the joy we weren’t expecting. Take in the moments and feel the world around you.
Even when we crash into the ocean in the least attractive way possible.
Hugs!
Melb+
