I had love and released it. I’ve celebrated love uniting, and I’ve mourned with those that have lost. I was employed, and then I became less employed. I’ve had deep desires of glee, but I’ve also had a lot of sorrow with uncertainties. If anything, the pandemic has reinforced the importance of living with fulfillment and the true frailty of life. We’ve all known that we shouldn’t take life for granted, but did we ever anticipate any of this in our lifetime-masses of individuals perishing from an unknown virus, cities being locked down for weeks at a time, isolating ourselves from friends and family, being fearful of being in close proximity to anyone we didn’t know, wearing masks the moment you leave your home? It’s all been bizarre to think that this is what we have endured, yet, this has been our dreary reality. So while I’ve always held the ones I love close, this past year I’ve held onto them way more tightly. I’ve locked moments in my memory bank, and I’ve held onto the sound of my daughter’s laughter that much closer to my heart.

I’ve done a lot of reflection, deeper reflection than I have in the past, as it seems reflection is continual, and for this I have been shaken-shaken to see that there’s still so much more that I want and can be. I’ve recently read that redundancy leads to boredom, and boredom leads to shattered lives. I am tired and weary of being bored. I am tired and weary of still just slightly ripping apart my box. Yet, what does this entail for me, I am unsure of, but I do know this: While it’s the unknown that I have always feared, now it’s the unknown that I am inviting.

For me to live I need to stop the pattern of wasting my energy and my time. I need to experience life. I need to experience people. I need to experience the realms of the Earth. Too many have lost their lives prematurely due to this pandemic, so they don’t get to re-choose. They don’t get to experience, and so it is my duty for myself, as it’s been a reminder from those that are no longer with us, that if I am to live, I must fully and intentionally dive into living. For it is an honor to breathe. It is an honor to feel free. It is an honor to try and re-try. It is an honor to live a bit selfishly. It is an honor to be.

I personally cannot continually stop my journey prematurely, as we’ve witnessed how easily and rapidly our journeys can unexpectedly cease. Being a dreamer, my head has always been in the clouds, and this pandemic, well, it’s not brought me down. Instead, it’s raised me even higher up to where I can no longer see the ground. Some might feel this is foolish, but for me, this is the present the pandemic has handed me. Let me twirl, and let me stay up in the clouds. It’s peaceful. It’s calming. It’s rewarding. It’s what makes me smile, and it’s where my guidance can be found. For my belief that anything is possible with the life I possess, as long as I possess it, is what has continued to carry me through a time I never felt I’d ever have to endure.

We’ve all been a part of history, you and I, and now the question is: Will you allow all the grief surrounding us weigh you down, or will you become lifted where you believe in your dreams that much more; where your dreams are more of a motivation than before? For you get to breathe. You get to choose, as neither of these options have been yanked from you. We can all stay in a state of comfort and redundancy, but why not become awakened? Why not see your potential and move towards it? Why not allow your head to be in the clouds to give you the guidance for how you want to live in the here and now?

So take my hand. Don’t pull away. Rather, close your eyes, and allow your mind to show you where you want to wander, then open them and proceed to the destination that allowed you to feel free. Now is your time to feel alive, as that heart of yours is still beating. For me, being on Cloud 9 is no longer just a phrase, but rather getting there is now my journey. I am here today, and I proceed. I proceed to live intentionally and to be. This is the ultimate revelation the pandemic has bestowed upon me…