Cali, my place of revival

California was everything I had hoped it would be.

It was green, it was gorgeous, it was full of flowers and fair weather.
It felt like a place where fears disappeared and negativity dissipated.
My mind was so full of hope, love and beauty, I had no room to worry about everyone's thoughts and opinions of my life.
What a break.
I spend too much of my time caring what others think about me, my choices, my life. Way too much time. And my recent choice to join my husband and his band on the road, has had it's fair share of naysayers. If I'm not constantly working to ignore it, it can start to wear on me.
California was just far enough away that I couldn't hear the naysayers voices anymore. It was freeing.
I realized while we were there, that this is why I'm teaching myself to have an internal lotus of control (meaning, being controlled by my own values, thoughts & opinions rather than others) This freedom that comes from giving up the impossible task of pleasing everyone with the things I do...

This is why I'm working so hard to learn these new philosophies: because they allow me to be a better mom, free to pick flowers in Cali when my "kids should be in school not traveling the USA", they allow me to be a better wife, supporting my husband in his dreams, his passions, his purpose even if he might be "too old to be chasing such irresponsible endeavors" and they allow me to be a happier me, living my own dreams of traveling, seeing, smelling, tasting all the good this world has to offer, and sharing it with my loving family.
We are living a good life.
I realized an important thought when I left California; if I heard about a family doing anything possible to stay together while daring to pursue their purpose, I wouldn't label them as irresponsible, I would think it's awfully romantic and I would be proud of them for valuing family and dreaming big.
So I'm living a life I would be proud to see someone else live. Why not be proud of myself for living it? Why let other people's opinions affect mine and cause me to doubt myself.

No longer. 17 year old Meg has started talking back to 29 year old Meg and reminding me to live our dreams, be glad Mark is still so romantic after 12 years and stop letting spectators of my life influence me from living it! All the chit chat really means is that I'm living interestingly enough to spark conversation.
I hope you all get a chance to find your own California and figure out what YOU want out of life, and then create it.

It's so simple. We get one life. Don't waste it, please. It's such a great big beautiful world we were given to enjoy, chock full of hope and beauty and joy and above all, love.

The fear of human opinion disables; trusting in God protects you from that. (Proverbs 29:25 MSG)