Do I need to travel overseas to experience transformation? (aka: a love letter to Saugatuck, Michigan)
photo: Leslie McKellar
People often ask if they need to go on a huge international journey in order to be part of my Brave Journey coaching program or to experience transformation.
The simple answer is no.
The reason I say this is because I believe the key to transformation is really pretty straightforward: it happens when we make space for it.
And the truth is that we can all can do that anywhere—whether we spend a weekend away in a nearby city or we travel halfway around the world.
Growth and change can happen ANYwhere.
Recently, my photographer friend Leslie McKellar and I traveled to Saugatuck, Michigan for her to shoot some photos of me.
Saugatuck is just a short 40-minute drive from my home. It requires no passport, no plane ride, no special packing other than sunscreen in the summer or a parka in the winter.
But my time spent in this quaint coastal town over the years has transformed me, little by little.
✨ A day lying in the sun, journaling and decompressing after a long week.
✨ An afternoon running out my frustrations along the shore.
✨ A sunset swim full of cleansing tears when my heart was heavy with grief.
✨ Summer evenings of cartwheels and laughter with my niece.
✨ Happy hour at Everyday People and long talks with a friend.
✨ A picnic lunch from Farmhouse Deli with a symphony of waves to to help me work out a difficult business decision.
✨ A chance encounter at Phil’s with a woman named Sandy on one of my lowest days to-date. Convinced I had no business being an adult that day, I watched her (a then-stranger to me) look me square in the eyes and remind me of just how capable every woman is. That day I called her an angel because I was pretty sure she wasn’t real. (fyi: I’ve since confirmed she lives in Connecticut, she is in fact real, and I now call her friend.)
✨ Dancing and laughing alone in the rain as I began to feel alive again for the first time in years.
One place on earth that has been incredibly important to my journey is less than 40 minutes away from my home.
All of these days and hours in this place not far from home have brought me healing and respite when I needed it most.
This tiny town called Saugatuck will always have a place in my heart and my transformation story because it helped me re-discover myself and my joy.
My point here is really quite simple:
Transformation happens when we make time to care for our soul.
And that never requires a passport.
There’s no need for an itinerary or a suitcase.
It simply requires our time.
💕
