This is such a beautiful quote by Rumi and one that deeply resonates with me. What I have learned is that through this way of being, it allows us to return to a childlike curiosity. Remember growing up when we had such a sense of constant WONDER?  It is through the seeking, asking insightful questions, trying things that we have intuition around and seeing how they FEEL, that we begin to understand how we want to evolve to live our most interesting, joyful, purposeful lives.

Over the past year I have been more intentional in practicing patience.   I learned more about the importance of this and how to cultivate it from an incredible virtual personal growth experience called Chrysalis that I was a part of, which supports women in transition stages of their life.  Not only was this group a supportive way to be connected to inspiring women while I was solo on the road, but it also acted as the constant reminder I needed not to rush into what is next in my future as it relates to how I may evolve how I live and work.  So often we want to get to the destination.  This is natural human behavior.   But what I have learned by being on #vanlife, is that the practice of patience is where peace and magic happen.  It is how we learn to be kind to ourselves, to live in the moment, to not be tied to the outcome but to truly enjoy the journey in what unfolds.

On the road there are daily things that happen that can really test one’s patience.  I’ve had my fair share of them!  My van getting stuck in the sand in Utah, my heater breaking while in the snowy cold of Colorado, my pipes freezing, finding mice in the van (three times!), my outdoor shower propane tank bursting, my shower heater breaking and taking weeks of cold showers, my key fob battery randomly stopped working…just to name a few mishaps!  So, I’ve really had to practice patience through these daily occurrences.  I’ve learned to control my emotions and solve these challenges, trusting that there was a higher purpose for me to learn how to.  And then it hit me, that it did all happen for a reason because as I learned to not be frustrated by these, to laugh at them, and then solve them step by step.

Through this mindset, I am now able to solve things with more ease and it has opened me up to then bigger ways of practicing patience for ways that serve my relationships with others, my life visions and generally how I show up in the world.  I continue to try new things all the time.  Often the most challenging thing is just starting.  Taking that first step. The biggest first step for me in this transformative journey was deciding to buy a van.  It just started there.  I had an idea to travel around the country, to connect with myself, nature and loved ones, and be in support of them.  I knew that I would learn so much along the way, but I admit that I had a lot of fear around it.  How would it feel to figure all this out on my own?  What do I need to be aware of as a solo female traveler to be comfortable?  How do I figure out where to go and park at night?  What do I need to know to even manage a van (I have never been very technical or mechanical!)?  All of these questions could become paralyzing.  So I just started with the first step.  I started to look online on Craigslist, Facebook groups, and used conversion van trading sites to explore my options.  And as I started to explore, I started to learn.  As I talked to more people, I learned more.  And soon enough, I bought a van, so now I was in it!  And from there, the next steps became clearer.  I learned to feel more and more comfortable asking for support as I went and almost two weeks into my journey, I had already gotten past all of my initial fear.

This experience has been beyond transformative already.  It has helped me step back from how I was living and learn what feeds me on a daily basis.  It has helped me learn more about others, what they need, and have compassion for where people are.  It has helped me better understand myself, what my gifts are and what I can offer to others.  And it has helped me envision a bigger dream for my future and how I can live fully in my purpose and be in service to others to make an impact in peoples’ lives.  I don’t have to have all the answers at the moment, but I am being patient and trusting that by letting the flow of the universe guide me, it will become more and more clear with each step.