Filling your Cup: Travel as Inspiration

What has been filling your cup?

This is a question I ask myself and those around me frequently. Creating an integral, intentional life requires fuel in the form of inspiration and wonder.

Taking the time, energy, and effort to fulfill tend to our inner well can seem counterproductive, but it is the quickest way move where we want to go.

Travel has always been a way that I recenter myself, gain inspiration, and build connections for the next chapter of life's journey.

You know that sense of wonder when you are someplace new, and through a random flow of events you experience something completely unexpected and magical?

That's connection with source.

This winter, I was blown away by incredible connections, experiences, and art on a road trip across the US and a handful of weeks in Guatemala.

A painted street in San Juan, Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

But perhaps even more important than the expanded horizons and inspiration of seeing what is possible in the world is the journey of meeting oneself on the road.

This trip was threaded through with a deep sense of trust - in myself, in the world, in the process of the journey.

Showing up and being present, especially when it required patience, opened up doors to parts of myself that I had only seen glimmers of existing.

Now that I am integrating back home, weaving those parts of myself into daily life has become the practice. New inspiration for the way I desire to approach my work at the studio and boutique weaves with expanded possibilities of projects I would like to pursue.

If you're feeling the desire to fill your cup, here are some questions I ask myself to help me take action:

1. What is lighting up my world right now? Are there any glimmers of opportunities that I am thinking about or want to explore? Things I want to learn?

   
   

2. When was the last time I felt deeply alive? Was it a place, a person, an activity? Is there some way I can bring that into my world now?

   
   

3. What were my dreams as a kid? Who did I want to be? What did I want to do? Is there a step that I can take towards doing one of those things now?

   
   

4. What experience am I longing for? Is there any place, food, or activity that I know sparks my interest? A song that touches my soul? A piece of art that inspires me? A place in nature that makes me feel at home?

In whatever small way you can, see if you can take an action towards something that arises when you ask yourself these questions. You already know the answer, the question is just whether or not you want to follow it.

Enjoy!