4 In Travel/ Travel Talk

Rainy Day Coffee with Mary Oliver

I couldn’t sleep Saturday night because I had this Mary Oliver quote stuck in my head:

« Tell me what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?»

What a question to have stuck in your head at 3 am, huh?  I’m at a time in my life that I’m about to make some really big, amazing and life-changing decisions. I’m leaving on the biggest trip of my life in 4 weeks. I’m going to pack everything up and move back to Asheville, NC. I’ve decided to focus on writing a book when I get to Asheville. Plus, I have some other amazing things coming up that are life-changing that I’ll write more on in the future, but to be honest, it has all been keeping me up at night.  I don’t mean that in the negative way that phrase is typically used, but in the I-have-simply-too-many-amazing-things-running through-my-mind way. 
All of this brings me back to that question. I have this clear intention of living a life of exploration. I want to constantly learn, to surround myself with great people, to walk in the mountains and genuinely love this one wild and precious life. I grew so much as a person in 2014 and I learned a lot of things about myself, the way I treat others & the way I allowed others to treat me. I’m nowhere near finished growing, but I am ultimately proud of the decisions that I made. One of those decisions was to live MY life the way I want to – and it has been one of the best, most positive decisions I’ve ever made.
I woke up yesterday still thinking about my life and about Mary Oliver. I went to meet a friend for coffee early in the morning and then stayed for a few hours to write, but I was still distracted by Ms. Oliver. I spent some time reading more about her and poured through her poetry. I became more & more inspired as I was sipping my coffee, and I felt that Mary, was my best friend, sitting with me, sharing coffee and speaking wisdom that filled my heart. 

«Let me keep my distance, always, from those who think they have the answers. Let me keep company, always, with those that say, “Look!”, and laugh with astonishment, and bow their heads. » 

This past month I have been a little bit caught up about the people in my life who don’t really understand what I want to do, people who “care” but don’t make an effort, people who know what I should be doing or people who just bring general negativity to my life, and Mary kindly reminded me that those aren’t the people that I need to focus on. This allowed me to reevaluate who I’m focusing my energy on, letting the negativity go and surrounding myself with the most supportive parents, brother, boyfriend and group of friends I could ever ask for!

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« I want to think again of dangerous and noble things. I want to be light and frolicsome. I want to be improbable, beautiful and afraid of nothing, as though I had wings. »

Mary was reminding me that now is the time to be focusing on new adventures! With Asia right around the corner, I’m focusing on being improbable, beautiful and afraid of nothing. 

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« Listen– are you breathing just a little and calling it life? »

I mean, who doesn’t need a reminder to live your life to the fullest from time to time?

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« Sometimes I need only to stand wherever I am to be blessed. »

This was especially crazy, cool for me. I had told a friend at the beginning of January that I wanted to my word for 2015 to be ‘bless’- that being blessed, to accept blessings, and to bless others were all going to be a priority to me this year, and be something that I’m greatly aware of. I have already been blown away by the blessings in my life and I’m only 33 days into the year. This was just such a powerful reminder that I don’t have to seek out blessings, that I don’t have to travel to Asia, be back in Missouri, or at my apartment in North Carolina to be blessed. I am blessed where I stand, right now, for a plethora of reasons.

IMG_2020 As I finished up my reading and writing at the cafe I found myself filled with a joy, an inspiration and this sense of wonder that I hadn’t had in Missouri in a while. As I drove down old, country roads near my parents’ house, listening to beautiful folk music, watching the rain fall on the outstretched road I was brought to tears. I was just overwhelmed and had to pull off to the side to take photos and take a moment to acknowledge that I was blessed, right there where I stood.

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To keep up with my travels in real-time and read more posts and travel articles I find interesting ‘like’ the For the Love of Wanderlust page on Facebook. Simply click HERE.

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4 Comments

  • Reply
    Paige
    February 2, 2015 at 3:51 pm

    This is wonderful! : )

    • Reply
      PaigeBrown
      February 15, 2015 at 8:56 am

      Thank you! Just one of those days that I felt so inspired by that talented writer and poet. 🙂 Thanks for reading!

  • Reply
    Meghan
    February 26, 2015 at 10:06 am

    Hi Paige,
    I read this post a couple weeks ago and wanted to reply but time got away from me, sorry. When I was first reading this I seriously got the biggest smile on my face because it was in a way a declaration of who you are and what you want and that you were ‘living the life you want to.’ Not that I doubted you weren’t living the way you wanted to live before (actually, quite the opposite: it’s the sense that you’ve *always* been living the life you want that makes me read your blog), but the way you stated it was just … well, awesome. I love that you know what’s important to you and that you’re going to go live that life, other people/external expectations be damned. I’m so excited and happy for you with all the adventures and plans you have in the future and I’m excited to see your authentic life continue to unfold. I’m also so happy for you with regards to your recent engagement and I wish you both the best!
    Meghan

    • Reply
      PaigeBrown
      March 3, 2015 at 2:00 pm

      Thank you so much, Meghan! You’ve been so great to be so supportive of me and my blog for such a long time! Thank you for the comment, and it means so much to me coming from you because you’ve followed your own path and done so many things that I’ve wanted to do! You’re truly an inspiration to me! And thank you, I met him in Asheville and he’s got wanderlust going through his veins too. He’s lived all over the world and we’ve got some pretty big ideas for trips coming up.
      I hope you’re doing really well. I’m not sure if you’re still on the road or if you found a place along the way you’ve made more of a home base for your adventures. I would love to meet up sometime when I get back in the country, even if we had to meet in the middle or something! I really hope to hear from you soon! Xx
      Paige

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