Moving Back to Miami after Eight Months Traveling Abroad
Adapting to a new place is strange. It can feel scary, uncomfortable and even frustrating.
I spent the last eight months living abroad. First in Italy then Amsterdam, I attended classes in breathtaking Florence during the week and traveled the world on the weekend.
Moving back to America, especially Miami, was a strange adjustment to say the least. I felt like skyscrapers, highway systems and oversized American dinner portions slapped me in the face at once!
I felt agitated every time my polite smile was returned by a strangers glare, annoyed by the omnipresent designer branding and oversized sunglasses and driving on highways felt foreign and uncomfortable.
The overall energy of the people in the city felt competitive, unwelcoming and fake.
Embracing or accepting something we hate is hard to do because oftentimes we seem to be too wrapped up in the hatred to see around it.
It’s impossible to accept circumstances for how they are if we attach judgement to the circumstance; in this case, utter disgust.
When I was able to take a full 24 hours for myself, alone, doing things that made me feel good, the city around me started to fade and my inner world started to grow.
Cultivating comfort within, in an uncomfortable environment, is only difficult if you are wrapped up in your surroundings.
Grounding is a beautiful technique I use to reset my focus within; on myself, my feelings, my desires and my state of being.
I do this by giving myself love, performing acts that carry out the priorly stated priorities.
GROUNDING EXAMPLES: For myself, I may dive into skincare or take a bath, for my feelings, I may lift weights to release frustration or lay by the sun to relax.
For my desires, I listen to what my body tells me, not what my mind plans. I honor my intuitive signals to cancel plans and draw or take myself out to a fun cafe or sign up for a weird club I usually wouldn’t.
I trust my intuition blindly and willingly with absolute trust, blissfully in recognition of its power. This is why miracles are a common occurrence in my life.
It’s important to understand that recognizing how perfect life can be has the reverse effect… you start to watch how perfect your life becomes.
I honor my state of being by putting my phone down and watching the sunset, going for a walk without earbuds in, putting my feet on the earth, meditating, listening to music- basically I create a space where I feel grateful to be in the moment.
Reconnecting with ourselves is work, no doubt, especially when we get caught up in the routine of someone we’re not, habits that stray from our morals and environments that don’t support our growth.
After a full day of ‘lights out reconnecting,’ not acknowledging anyone else besides ME (myself, my feelings, my desires and my state of being), I feel like I am seeing Miami with a fresh set of eyes.
Everyone here, without my judgement, is just being themselves as best they can. They are ‘fitting in’ in their perfect way, reacting to their environment and adapting to this society.
I am no better than them, in fact, with judgement I am worse!
I am now able to let them be freely themselves, with as many bright designer bags and massive black sunglasses as their closest can hold, because now that I am grounded back in me, I am reminded where the focus is.
My life is about me. It is about my growth, my path, it’s about what I love and what makes me laugh. Everywhere I go and everyone I meet is a crucial part of that journey.
Judging anything or anyone, on any step on the way, makes for an unnecessarily uncomfortable ride.
Why judge when you have the option not to? We all know it’s not the destination, is the journey that counts. So it’s time to embrace taking the scenic route and taking in the view, whatever the view may be.
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