You know how they say “Wherever you go, there you are”?

And you know how that’s supposed to be a way of saying that changing your environment doesn’t make a difference because you’ll still be the same person?

Well, based on my past 2 years of lived experience, I disagree.

Two years ago I moved to Miami guided by a constellation of synchronicities and heartbreaks.

If you’d asked late 2020 me if I was happy I would have given you a resounding yes with a big smile and a side of dimples.

But then I moved to a place where Vitamin D is available 364 days a year and nobody is trying to be appropriate.

A lid popped off that I wasn’t aware had been tamping me down for the bulk of my life.

The cultural richness and variety seeped into my cells and something inside me began to thaw.

Instead of feeling like my size was out of proportion to the body of water I was swimming in, I suddenly was relieved to find I was simply a fish in a plenty big pond where none of the other fish really cared what I was doing.

But the other fish? They were inspiring. Shiny. Dreaming big dreams. Letting me in on things behind the scenes that I hadn’t been exposed to before.

Just being around them made things possible for me that wouldn’t have been otherwise because my proximity to them changed my outlook and, therefore, my behavior.

Take a look around your life.

Who are you hanging out with? Where are you hanging out?

Do they/it do it for you? Are they expanders or contractors for you?

I know not everyone can move 3,000 miles away. Quite frankly, I didn’t even know I needed the change until I was months past the move.

But we can all change our environment, even if it’s just a throw pillow or putting our desk in a new position. We can all minimize time with the people who drain us and maximize time with the people who feel like sunshine.

Nothing just is what it is. It can work better for us. Sometimes we just have to change what and who we’re spending time with to unlock what we need most.

Love,

Kate