I love this photo.It was taken about a month after I moved to Minneapolis, in the Fall of 2003. I had just finished up my graduate coursework in Chicago and had decided to take a leap of faith and move up north because I was in love. I had only been to Minneapolis (and the state of Minnesota, for that matter) twice, and had no way of knowing if things would truly work out. What I did know was that if I didn't find out, I was sure I would regret it.
Well, things didn't work out exactly the way I had hoped. The person I planned to be with didn't turn out to be the right one for me, and after a few months I ended up on my own with a broken heart in a place that was pretty foreign, and quite lonely for me. But, after I learned to embrace my life as a single woman, I really enjoyed where I was. I began to see the city I lived in as my home, and not just a place I temporarily lived in as a student. I fell in love with Minneapolis and all the things I discovered about it. There were so many places to go and things to do. I made a point of exploring and setting up comfortable routines in this place I'd found myself living. I made it "mine." During my time there, I worked some interesting jobs, met some unforgettable people, and turned this city, which began as just a random place to begin a dream, into my personal paradise. But, most of all, I learned a lot about myself.
This photo reminds me that it's important to take chances. We might not know exactly what lies ahead, but if we always take the safe route, we might just be missing out on some beautiful and unexptected things.
I think I found it at just the right time. As I embrace my life as a single mother and figure out what lies ahead for the two of us, I need to remember to take take a slow, steady breath and take a leap or two sometimes. All I can hope is that I've learned enough along the way to make it with a bit more wisdom.
1 comment:
Well, as you know, my current, very full life would not be what it is had it not been for a huge leap I took in 1992. I know for a fact that quite a few people thought I was insane (though most of them were too polite to state it that way). On the surface, what I was doing was illogical. I should have gotten a decent job and started establishing a financial base. But noooooo! Theo goes running off to the newly liberated East Bloc countries to follow his destiny (damned impulsive Romantic!).
Funny thing is now I have so much more to lose, and so many more people to take care of (at that time I was only responsible for myself), I have gotten more careful. But I still take that occasional intuitive leap ("Oh, what the heck! Let's go ahead and do it this way. I have a strong feeling about this.)
Intuition is the guide. But the trick is knowing the true voice of intuition (the soul speaking to us) and the siren voices of logic, fear, self criticism, and the rest of that menagerie. And the way you tune into that voice is by listening to your heart instead of your head.
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