TAOS, NM: filled me with longing, excited my every cell, and animated my speech to sometimes annoyingly loud tones.

There was a sort of magical calm in the air, like good things have happened there to good people, that haven’t always had good things happen to them. The kind of place that makes you believe in the possibilities you see and feel. Those wild and unconventional ideas that your rational friends and logical family scoff at.  Things that you can’t necessarily explain but that you deeply know.

The air was crisp and we met Patty. A woman with so much life running through her veins it could make a bored person instantly tired, or a grumpy person a little bit irritated. Her chirpy tone unpretentious and real; her zeal for hospitality and life bubbling up and filling the whole reception area.

We got to our room. A cozy southwest cabin with a tiled little bathroom and the worlds shortest hot shower- two minutes of warm giving and then the cold invitation to get the hell out.

That night I held my breath just to pretend that I had the ability to stop time in its tracks; just to remember to feel that Taos spell and deep excitement that stirred my soul.

There I sat, a bag of ice on my ankle (a little stumble taken earlier in the day that was totally, utterly worth it) eating chocolate covered cherries by the handful and soaking up the silent moments. With me, those silent moments are few and far between. But it is in that quiet space that the energy of the trip is felt – that utter bliss, that state of total release to what may happen, that letting go of comfort zones and daily rituals.

Life on the road. Endless possibilities, unfamiliar surroundings. There is something so damn freeing about not knowing what you will encounter. At the same time, that fear of the not knowing can creep up into your lungs and catch you short of breath.  Do you ever find yourself wanting so badly to know what lies ahead that you lose a few moments of the present?

We grasp to answers and certainty in almost every single situation.  It makes sense that we crave comfort.  The moments that I found myself dead set on  knowing what to expect in the next city, or feeling in control of my future, I smiled with the knowledge that there is peace in the letting go.  There is certainty only in the uncertain and the love that I felt in that Taos air is something I can feel at anytime, in any place.

New Mexico cracked my heart open.  As every single trip has done lately, this little bit of travel made me believe in the incredible power of the present moment and the overwhelming force that love can generate. And reminded me of this (yet again):

 Be in every experience for the entirety.  

Final thoughts from the road: You have your entire life to be rational. You will get reminded to take your head out of the clouds by most everyone you encounter. There will always be doubt, to-do lists, anxieties, a longing for love, and that innate human fear running through you.

So why not __________? (dream, dare to love, try something new, take a trip, forgive……)

XO,

Hali