After a week and a half on vacation in Vegas and Portland, Oregon, I arrived back at LAX shortly after 9am on Monday.
And this is how it went from there:
The traffic was horrible, I was nauseous from motion sickness, and the cab driver’s air conditioning wasn’t working.
I was sucked right out of my vacation back into a giant mess of emails and paperwork to sort through.
I opened my email at work to discover my intern quit.
My assistant coach didn’t show up to help me teach my kids classes.
And, that evening one of my friends pushed my button and frustrated my attempts at communication to the point of exasperation.
But it’s all good. Because I’m a good traveller.
Last weekend I attended the World Domination Summit in Portland and had the pleasure of hearing Jen Lemen and Andrea Scher of Mondo Beyondo speak. At one point they asked us to share a story with the person sitting next to us, a story of a time where we felt authentic. We were to pick out and share the feelings and values we had when we were truly being ourselves.
I shared a story of travelling in Nepal. I consider myself a good traveller. When things go wrong I don’t call them “wrong,” I take it all as part of the true experience, I take it all in stride. I say to myself, “It’s all good.” I told my partner a story of getting horribly lost in a giant rice paddy and how it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever experienced. I was lost, trapped even, and yet brought to tears by the greenness of the nature surrounding me and the strange sense of freedom in being completely lost.
After we shared our stories, Jen and Andrea asked us to pick out a word or phrase representing the feeling we experienced as our authentic selves. They asked us to write it somewhere on our body. My partner wrote on my wrist, “It’s all good.”
I looked at the writing on my skin and suddenly I could picture the tattoos I’d always wanted. I’ve been trying to figure out the perfect tattoo for years. Now I knew. What I have recently realized is, what I love about travelling is not necessarily where I am visiting – it is who I am BEING when I travel. I am open, spontaneous, adaptable, extroverted, creative, adventurous…and happy.
When I had this realization, I made a commitment to be a good traveller EVERY DAY of my life. And sitting there on Sunday in the conference, staring at the writing on my wrist, I realized what would be the perfect reminder.
At the end of the day I said some goodbyes and whipped out my phone to Yelp the nearest tattoo parlors. Needless to say, there are not many open after 6pm on a Sunday night in Portland, Oregon. After an hour of walking I located one.
The artist and I talked and designed my tattoos, and in roughly 8 minutes per arm, they were done.
Left: RAIN & GREEN THINGS
Right: GOOD TRAVELLER
What I am committed to having in my life and who I am committed to being in my life.
I feel all too often women are prone to falling into the victim mentality. We want to tell people stories about our days. We like to complain and play too much the martyr. We make ourselves feel better by succeeding in spite of adversities, so the adversities must loom larger and larger.
But if my self-worth is defined in relation to adversity, I can never be free from adversity.
And the truth is, it’s all a matter of perspective.
Because here’s the real truth about my first day back in LA:
The traffic was no different from normal and with the windows rolled down the breeze felt wonderful on my face.
The emails and paperwork were requests from the people who trust me for advice and coaching.
It was better that my intern quit sooner rather than later – for both her goals and mine.
I had a great time coaching the kids. They are lovely creatures and I got to have them all to myself.
The frustration with my friend was completely my invention. And the truth is, he is a fascinating and utterly unique presence in my life.
It was all a gift, all these things that went “wrong,” to test me on my first day as a good traveller.
