Nexus

Dear Reader, 

I hope this letter finds you well. 

Maybe you are nourishing the buds of Spring 🌱

Watching the dewy leaves as the highly anticipated rays of sunshine prepare to make their grand entrance 💧

Or maybe, you are basking in the cooler night breezes. Embracing the slight chill in the water. 

Change is coming. 

It makes me reflect on the turning points of our lives. 

Can you, Dear Reader, remember them in your own life? 

Maybe your mind is drawn to an unexpected event, a big choice you had to make. Perhaps it is a person or place you think of…

***

When I first travelled to Asia 4 (shocking) years ago, I underwent a change. As most basic white girls do when they head to that part of the world 🤸‍♀️

I try to think, was it summiting a peak in the Himalayas? Was it touching an elephant for the first time? Watching the stars from the remote jungle? 

Maybe it was taking myself off on secret adventures. 

Or nearly dying (sorry mum) a million times over. 

I know when I started to see the change. But the turning point happened slowly. 

Noticing a problem. Then accepting it. Then choosing whether I could live with that problem. Then deciding that I could not. 

And so I left. 

And I have never regretted it. 

And as I watched the ripples in my Favourite Ocean, in the middle or nowhere, alone on a tiny island, I saw my reflection. 

Not the person I was. But who I was to become. 

I saw fearlessness. Bright colours. Connection. 

***

This time 4 years ago, I was undergoing the most physical and regimented physical routine of my life (apart from a couple of fairly challenging days in Nepal, and post surfing accident in Sri Lanka).

10 hours of yoga per day. 25 days.

Minimal food. Minimal anything else. Except for some daily swimming. 

Hours of sweat, endurance and breakthroughs. It was incredible.

The magic of course came from the extended discipline that followed. But that itself was a physical turning point. 

And though there was an unprecedented amount of needless squabbling (in which I was not involved), it was nice to spend so much time with a big group consisting predominantly of women. 

And fundamentally yogis (although some of them were terribly mean to each other). 

I realise now that it was something that led to me wanting to return to Ubud one day, just for yoga 🪷

Which, any of you avid Gallivantress Letter Readers will know, is something I did end up doing. It came about in the weirdest of ways…

But would I have ended up there if my Nepalese yoga course had not been cancelled post-covid? 

Had I not ended up in Bali, had I not fallen from the scooter, returned to Sri Lanka… fallen in love? 💞

I wouldn’t have searched for that remote job. 

Nor would I have done all of the things that have led me to this exact moment. 

***

The stardust is forming its own little sun, ready to shine any day now. 

Of course, when those first few rays hit your skin, it gives you a beautiful feeling of life and warmth ☀️

This time, it will be like no other. 

So I invite you, Dear Reader, to reflect on which turning points led to where you are today. 

Close your eyes…

Look carefully at the ripples of water… what things do you see? And what do you feel? 

Can you learn anything from that? 

Maybe you feel a little warmth as you reflect. Realising what little spouts of magic have secretly paved your way 🧚‍♂️