Next Up! South Carolina

R&R - Rest & Realizations

Days 5-9

“On the road again…” -Willie Nelson & Eleanor David

I’m off to South Carolina, another home away from home. For the next week I’m visiting my aunt. Another travel hack if you’re housesitting. You can choose a location close to family for more wiggle room with your itinerary.

This week was VERY relaxed. Not much to report on. I connected with a friend and bought a gym pass at my old stomping grounds. Next, I settled into my aunts home in the room I used to stay in, overlooking the lake. A familiar feeling of peace filled my whole body.

Our time was spent with conversations on the dock, cooking and plant shopping. She’s revamping her late husbands garden. My uncle passed in 2015, so that was a nice outing we had to spruce it up. :)

In the mean time, I’ve been seeing clients, working out, and writing a lot. I’m really enjoying this aspect; documenting my travels, choosing photographs, and exploring my ideas through writing and podcasting. It’s been a great time! I’m wondering how to keep the flow when I transition into a new schedule. I know I’ll figure it out.

Oddly enough, I talked on the phone quite a bit this week. I had two friends call and discuss my most recent post on Marilyn Monroe and Kim Kardashian.

I’m in a novel phase, because I’ve decided to be more open about my thoughts and theories. I’m expanding from fitness to cultural commentary. I believe what I’ve learned can help create meaningful conversation and implement effective change.

Yes wonderful, except for one thing… I’ve been changing the tone of my online presence, and creating new associations for people to think of me. Quite a nerve racking decision.

I absolutely love my personal process of researching, learning, connecting the dots, and even creating content with the perfect imagery. But the element of publishing it for the eyes of the internet… that I’m still getting used to. I’m nervous and concerned and sometimes it feels like I’m talking into a dark abyss.

Feedback is everything. And I have deep gratitude for those who share. It’s an odd space to experience profound realizations, and operate under guesswork if the impact will be the same for others.

A deep part of me knows I have a voice in this space. But there is an aspect, that wants to make sure it’s received. When that’s unclear, I’m not sure how to proceed, doubt infiltrates and I tend to stall out. Social media isn’t the best metric for how profound the takeaway is. I only have an idea of where I am when people are bold and/or generous enough to share.

I took my biggest risk discussing these two women, and flopped around about the next step. In the middle of my mental teeter totter, two friends called.

One granted me permission to expand and go deeper. He lifted my spirits. Not only did he pay me kind compliments, but he saw me. I could tell he knew what I was getting at. Somehow he had the vision for my big picture without me having to spell it out to him. He told me I didn’t have to shorten or simplify in the name of the algorithm.

It felt like he was looking at the same masterpiece I was and said, Eleanor there’s a lot more to this landscape than the two flowers you’ve been mentioning. I think you should tell others what more there is to see.

A pressure valve released.

My second friend had an in-depth conversation with me about power and respect, and closed with “you always make me think differently.”

Bingo.

That was it. Exactly what I needed to hear.

---

I listened to someone give a brief description of light. She said, light will travel forever in space, for an infinite amount of time. It’s only when it bounces off an object does the light’s function take place.

I admire thinkers, inventors and visionaries who pursue beyond the naysayers. But I’m thankful for my friends, and their reminder to continue. I could be talking to the dark for all I know. But it’s when someone says “You’re really onto something…” a shift happens. They become the surface my light reflects on.

So here I am in SC. Not much sight seeing. But the lake always offers a new sight to see.