Weege Works Creative

After graduating college in 2016, I took a three week trip abroad with some friends. It was by far the most exhilarating and rewarding experience I have ever had. Three weeks in Europe?! I could easily say that it was the trip of a lifetime, but wiser me knows that there are more experiences on the horizon.

For the last two years I have called Charlotte, NC, home. I took a leap of faith in the summer of 2021 and ran into the kind of, sort of, known/unknown. Charlotte offered me a lot of experiences, both truly magical and beautiful, and devastatingly heartbreaking. To say that I have grown immensely in the last two years is an understatement. I have grown more in this time than I have in my entire life.

Even as I write this, the looming veil of the unknown creeps closer and closer as this Charlotte chapter ends, and a new beginning awaits.

It reminds me a lot of 2016 and being abroad. One of my absolute favorite places to visit was Ireland. More specifically, the Cliffs of Moher. We rented a car only one of us could drive ( who doesn’t love a manual) and drove 3 hours to the coast. We honestly weren’t sure what to expect. Along the way we stopped in Limerick for authentic fish ‘n chips, saw the walls of Bunratty Castle, and fell in love with the sheep dotted, rolling green hills of the Irish countryside.

It was so overcast and windy when we got to the cliffs that it felt, almost eery. That was confirmed when I saw the statue on the trail that commemorated all those who had lost their lives on the cliffs. It was a very powerful moment, to feel the presence of that much energy – the sadness and desperation of those who jumped, and the relief for the end of pain.

And while that feeling carried me along the trail, it was almost immediately replaced by hope. Photos can sometimes only show exactly what we see. Great photos will elicit the FEELING of what was seen. The sheer magnitude of beauty and power stretched out before us, was unlike anything I have ever witnessed before.

Hope. To look out across the water and see an endless horizon, as daunting and terrifying as it possibly can be, felt a lot like hope. Throughout that entire trip we found ourselves in situations where we had to fly by the seat of our pants, and truly let the universe guide us. We had to let go of expectations and plans, and quickly learned how to be genuinely present as those plans fell apart before us. We missed trains, bought the wrong tickets, almost missed more trains and had to walk ten cars to get to our seats with all of our luggage.

The fear of the unknown can be the most terrifying feeling we think we’ll encounter. But actually taking that step forward to the edge, into everything that makes us uncomfortable, leaving behind everything we THINK we know, is even scarier.

To trust in yourself and that of a higher power is the biggest challenge of them all. It takes courage to make changes. It takes bravery to face your fears. And it sure as hell takes both to believe that even though you may not know where you’re headed, you trust that wherever it is, it is in your highest good and it will be exactly what you need. Letting go of control is the jumping.

Two days after my 34th birthday, I lost my job. Two days later, my roommate and I had to give our 60 day notice at our house because we could no longer stay there. With no clear direction for either of us, as we had both lost our jobs, there was ( and still is ), an overwhelming fear of, “what comes next?” So when I find myself losing my faith or spiraling out of control, down some rabbit hole of beliefs that aren’t mine, I think of Ireland. I think of those cliffs. I think about how there is something far beyond anything that I could possibly imagine on the other side of that water, somewhere far beyond my wildest dream. I remember what it felt like to be fully present, to let go, and to trust that what I need will always find me, if not in the ways I expect.

I think of the cliffs. I think of the rays of sunlight that broke through the darkness to show us the light; the hope. I don’t know where I’m headed, but I trust that it will be one hell of a beautiful experience. It is always, this, or something better.

The Adventure Dish