vivaciousness for life
This magical, solitary place is where my husband proposed to me, in one of our favorite places on earth. On the bank of this stream and expansive field, surrounded by mountains and deep sky as far as you can see.
I created this little tune last week. I thought it would go nicely with these words. Feel free to listen while you read. 💗
(If you are reading on a computer, this will be simple; click play, and it will just play as you scroll. If you’re reading on a mobile device, pressing play will open this recording in a new tab, so you would have to have two everyday magic tabs open to read and listen at once, sorry!)
What is vivaciousness for life?
I think it’s waking up to the wonder all around you, being fully aware of the beauty and blessings in your life, knowing yourself and your dreams and your potential.
I think it’s being willing to step out boldly into the world, towards the biggest, craziest, scariest things you deeply want and towards the truest, warmest, most lit-up version of your life. In the big ways and in the simple ways.
That’s tough work. It’s courageous.
There’s no way around it: you have to be willing to work really hard.
I think you have to be willing to feel everything life has to offer, from the highest highs to the lowest lows. You have to be willing to lean into that instead of run away from it; you have to be willing to stay. You have to practice choosing optimism and positivity. You have to be willing to put in effort and time and repetition, over and over and over, determined to not quit.
You have to find joy and pleasure. Delight and fun.
You have to be a good human. You have to be kind and generous to the people around you.
And I think you have to be willing to embrace the suck. Because with the greatest joy in life, there always comes pain and challenge — adversity, obstacles, inconveniences, imperfection — humanity! This is beautiful humanity.
The path to what you really want lies on the other side of — goes straight through — your fears and your very hard work. I don’t think you can get what you really want out of life without being willing to move through your fears and work extremely hard.
Sometimes that sucks. Embracing this truth and letting it be that way is one of the first steps to freedom.
