listen to your peaceful thoughts

Happy Monday! I hope you had a fantastic weekend. Last week I posted a video recap, which came after a post last Monday on recognizing your need to stay and create your own fresh start and a post on Wednesday about being a survivor and realizing how much you’ve overcome already.
I love exploring new places, which I’ve written about before, and this past weekend I escaped LA for a getaway in Santa Barbara to celebrate Fiesta after a fun-filled Friday night out. I had such a fun weekend that when I came back to LA on Sunday afternoon, I felt totally rejuvenated. I've been to Santa Barbara and Montecito before with my family, but it was nice to go back and explore the area on my own.

I love the beach. Ever since I was a small child, I spent my summers down the Jersey Shore - first in Wildwood then in Beach Haven and finally in Ocean City. There’s always been something about being near the ocean that makes me feel calm and at peace. The trip I took to Costa Rica a few years ago to surf is still one of the most peaceful, fulfilling trips I've taken. I even got a tattoo of an ocean wave on my ankle when I first moved to LA as a gift to myself. I realized pretty early on that I am someone who most likely needs to reside on a coast within striking distance of an ocean, so lucky me that I get to reside somewhere as beautiful as Southern California where the Pacific Ocean is the most stunning shades of blue. Santa Barbara, especially, had such a calming effect on me that I feel like I need to make the trip more often (it was so easy with no traffic!).
Things in life become a lot more clear when you stop, take a breath, and slow down. Living in a city and in a culture that is so attached to its electronic devices, there’s constant noise, constant lights, and constant stimulation. I love that there is always something to do in a city, but sometimes all the commotion and the hustle and bustle gets to me. I joked with my parents on the phone that I notice a pattern in myself in that I can hit the ground running hard for about six months before I need an alone-time getaway.
And being alone and away for even just a night gave me an incredible amount of perspective. Do you ever notice the type of thoughts you have when you’re happy and at peace - once you’ve escaped all the noise and all the external stimuli of the world around you? You can just allow yourself to sit and soak in the stillness.

It’s amazing to me the things people think about when their minds are at peace and how certain ideas or people can pop into your head when you feel truly like yourself. Something as simple as running errands becomes a lot more exciting when you find yourself smiling because you’re not even thinking about the errand at hand but about something else entirely.
I’m thankful for those little moments that feel like secrets or like inside jokes with yourself. I love seeing a smile dance across someone’s face because they’re thinking of someone or something that makes them happy. We all need more of that in our everyday lives: true, pure, simple happiness. We, as humans, have a tendency to overthink the things we really care about, but once the dust has settled and our minds aren’t spinning wheels, it’s amazing the peace that comes with realizing one’s happiness and realizing that there’s someone or something in our lives that can inspire that in each of us.
Thank you so much for reading, and, as always, if you have any pressing questions or if you want to discuss something further with me, feel free to subscribe below or reach out to me on the “contact” page. I’m so grateful you're here and that I’ve been getting a lot of really challenging questions and even better feedback from a community all over the world. I couldn’t do this without you! So THANK YOU! I’m here for you, and I love hearing from you, too! You’re the best, and you have everything you need inside of you! Please believe it! Starve your ego, feed your soul - and follow your heart!