For this post, I've decided to just share something that I wrote in a letter to someone. I feel like it sums up my experience so far pretty well and was something that I wanted to share with you all.
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Suffice it to say that I am exhausted, but I'm exhausted from being challenged, so I think that's a good thing. The challenge of JVC encompasses all things, literally every aspect of your life, but in doing so it forces you to reexamine every aspect of your life and who you are in it, whether you have integrity in remaining dedicated to your character,what parts of that character you even want to stay dedicated to and what parts you don't love so much. There is nothing familiar about this experience, but I am realizing (actually I kind of just realized it, like as I am writing this sentence right now) that maybe we shouldn't just push through unfamiliarity, blowing by it on the way to a new life that feels comfortable and familiar. Instead, maybe we should focus on the vulnerability we feel and embrace it as a chance to hyperfocus on who we are, what parts of us remain stable when a situation feels unstable. These parts create a character. These parts are our gifts.
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The only other thing that I wanted to mention comes from a personal struggle of mine that I've identified, and it's the struggle of being present - being mentally in a place that I am in, whether I have chosen to be there or have been required to. It was a phrase that my yoga instructor mentioned last night in class as a call to refocus:
"Nothing else, just this."
Say it to yourself the next time you find yourself wishing you were someplace else. I found it so important and profound, and at the same time so relievingly simplifying of this concept of being present, and I just wanted to share that as well.
All my love,
Liz
