Facebook post on April 11, 2014:
There is a part of me that just wants to pack up everything and go somewhere completely new and start a totally different life. Not that anything is wrong; not that I am unhappy. But there is just this overwhelming, out of the blue feeling right now to just...go. To start over fresh: new places, new people, new experiences. And not like a vacation. Like LIFE.
As I sit to finally write this, it is coming up on our three year anniversary of moving from New York to Orange County, California. Three years! Just wow. I remember when this idea was just a twinkling in my third eye. To say that these past few years have been butterfly-transformational would be an understatement. Who knew that a single point in time would bring what feels like a lifetime of lessons and experiences beyond my wildest imagination—some great, some not so great.
But before I go there, I want to reflect on the entire journey, from our “final” adventures in New York, to settling into our new home, to all of our trips in between. I’ve invited my children to reflect on this adventure along with me; to share their favorite moments, as well as their not-so-favorite moments. It was so incredibly interesting and enlightening to get their perspective on everything. Out of the innocent perspective of babes comes profound insight (and experiences) we adults so easily miss in our aging intensity.
Our journey across the United States was filled with familiar faces, new friends, dreams come true and the unexpected, but most of all, it created an irreplaceable family bond. We laughed, we cried, we moaned, we squealed, we fought, we got brave—and we did it all together.
Many people along the way questioned my decision to move, and rightfully so. It’s not all that common for a single mother to just pick up her little family and move far away from the people they loved, to somewhere with no known family, a few friends, no jobs, no prospects and, uncharacteristically, no game plan at all. Looking back, I really did do this with just faith, trust and pixie dust. Without a plan for what was next—something completely out of character for me.
For those who read my original Butterfly Travels book, I subtly dropped hints and laid the groundwork for this next journey. In fact, my crushed disappointment over the San Francisco non-trip was exacerbated by the fact that it ruined an opportunity to consider Northern California as a potential landing place. The heartbreak over the botched New England trip I wanted to create with my mom—to give her a lobster dinner in Maine and explore Salem close to Halloween time—came from my feeling of failure in being able to provide her with a special trip before we left, with just her. The Disney trip most definitely was a swan song for our family, though at the time, I did not have the clarity to see that it was not the end (as if we’d never spend time and vacation together again? Like, duh!).
As this book will reveal further, I set myself up for a lot of disappointment, and kept wondering if such mishaps were trying to tell me not to move. Though so many signs were pointing to “yes”, I kept looking for the “no”—out of guilt, out of fear, out of indecisiveness. Luckily, I fought against the negativity within, and began a journey that has brought me more freedom, joy and peace than I could have ever dreamed up for myself.
And this is where our next story begins.
To purchase your copy of Butterfly Travels 2, click here:
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For the original Butterfly Travels, click here: https://www.amazon.com/Butterfly-Travels-Transformational-Journey-Self-Discovery-ebook/dp/B00PX6HZNG
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