Life is beautiful, even when you're sad.

Stop analyzing the past in order to predict the future.

I am still learning to appreciate the beauty of life. I’m only 33, about to turn 34 (happy birthday to me), after all.

Here’s the present moment truth: this week has been shitty. Just when I thought I could breathe, there I was, drowning again. If I'm being honest, this whole year has been a constant battle. I refuse to show up on here and claim, "everything's great!" when it is not.

Creativity allows us to express all emotions and experiences, not just the high and fuzzy ones. I believe we’re all creative and humans have this tendency to fixate on all that has gone wrong, because we're insane. But when shit goes sour, it doesn't mean there isn't beauty and love all around us still.

Like this sunset.

I was in complete awe of it yesterday evening. Every minute, the colors and shapes shifted as an ever-flowing and evolving masterpiece. I looked up in the sky and saw seagulls drifting in the wind like kites and thought, "I wish I were a seagull, that looks like fun!" For the first time in a while, I felt like a child and giggled at how funny they looked and at the absurdity of my thought.

Sometimes I wish I could be a non-human animal. They live such simple lives. They don't care what other animals think about them. They don't overanalyze every little twist and turn of life. They don't mourn over breakups. The concept of breakup doesn't even exist for them. They just...live.

So, I imagined I was a seagull. Flying gracefully in the sky, letting the wind take me in any direction. I was admiring the beach and taking in a completely different perspective; from above. It was freedom; embodied. As my consciousness drifted back to my body, I took a deep breath and an overwhelming sense of gratitude washed over me.

To be human, is to feel.

Most of the time when we’re deep in the feels, we start to analyze the feelings and why we’re feeling that way. Yes, it’s incredibly helpful and necessary to be introspective and aware of what we’re going through. It’s also healthy and necessary to feel, first. But to go round in circles, over and over again, is not helpful and sometimes we just need to stop—break the pattern.

I was listening to an Instagram live with Melissa Tiers a few days ago. Side note: if you don’t know her work, you should. I rarely say this about people, but her tools are life-changing, yet really simple. Quick change! That’s kinda her thing. Anyway, in this live, she shared “a cool way to take the edge off revisiting an unpleasant moment.” Ask yourself this question:

What’s everything that’s not that?

Zoom out and look at the bigger picture. Think of neutral and uplifting truths, anywhere in the past or future. It doesn’t erase the unpleasant moment that you’re focusing on, but widens your perspective just enough to realize this is one tiny frame in a much larger story. That story being: life.

I found this incredibly useful amidst heart break this week. I kept looping thoughts and experiences in my head, trying to figure out what went wrong. Guess what? It didn’t change anything. *sigh* So after many rounds of crying and anger, I chose to surrender and asked myself a variation of the question above:

What’s everything this is gifting me space to focus on?

A few of those things are: my upcoming trip to Bali, friends and family, this publication, my art, my health, and my business. Those are some pretty fantastic things to focus on if you ask me. In this phase, I’m committing to me.

The next time you catch yourself ruminating on one specific thing (sometimes a chain of things) ask yourself: “what’s everything that’s not that?” Or, you can always imagine yourself as a seagull.

With love from the salty shores of Long Island,
Olivia

I’d love to hear your present moment truth. Share with me in the comments.