Ok, here goes. What a day. Woke up at 3am to catch a 5:50am direct flight to Phoenix. Got to the airport and had to unpack my suitcase twice because I was over the weight limit. And if you have traveled at this time in the morning, you know the airport is busy and the lines can sometimes be long. But I made it work, just had to unpack my shoes and some t-shirts to get under the 50-pound limit. I got to sit in the Exit row so had plenty of leg room and got super comfy. I brought several books with me because if you know me, I read a LOT. And since the car accident back in September 2022 I haven’t been able to read much with the head injury I endured. So, I started reading ” The Power of Letting Go” by John Purkiss. What a great book! I will share more about this book later as I do want to share many of the concepts shared with many of those close to me. It’s a powerful message that needs to be shared. I arrived in Phoenix at 8am and it was already 103 degrees. I had lunch plans in Prescott, AZ at noon so I had time to kill. So, I ended up at a neat little park right by the Phoenix Zoo. I sat in the sun, soaked it all in even the heat, and finished reading my first book of the trip. Then I headed north to go meet my ex’s aunt and uncle for lunch. I got to spend about 3 hours with them today talking about our families and going through the tragic loss of my marriage. They have been so very supportive of me throughout this process. And I’m so grateful that I had the opportunity to sit down with them and have a good conversation about what happened with their nephew (my ex). They shared a lot of insight of the family dynamics that we see, and helped provide some comfort that even though things seem so very estranged with my Ex’s family and with my children, that there is hope for the future. I needed to hear this because I not only lost my marriage, but I also lost a whole family that my kids and I have not been a part of for almost 2 years now. It hurts. I miss them terribly. And yet, I have no idea how to even begin to repair all the damage done. It guts me that my kids have lost this side of the family also. So, here’s to hope for the future. While at lunch, a good friend from high school had seen that I was going to be in Sedona and had sent me a private message. He lives about 20 minutes away and wanted to meet for a drink. I recognize that once again I’m avoiding the whole being alone thing that is the whole reason why I came here. But of course, I’m not going to turn down the opportunity to see him and catch up 🙂 So once lunch was over, I had about another hour drive to make my way here. My therapist had shared with me to be very careful on Highway 17 that takes you into Sedona. It’s one of the most breathtaking drives that I have seen. Red rocks everywhere, hills, clouds, and massive thunderstorm brewing, lighting, and I was heading straight into. I find it very ironic the massive storm I drove through to finally get here. So much lighting, you know the kind that you know hit the ground in the distance somewhere? And it was a lot. Monsoon season is here, and I saw rain coming down like I have never seen before. And then of course, it was pouring for about the first two hours I was here. But I relate this storm to the storm that I have been stuck in for a while now. I’ve been in the heart of a massive storm for way too long and here I am, stuck in the storm again. Once the rain cleared up for a bit, I took a walk and took some amazing pictures of the sun going down. And then I saw the massive white light in that the sun was finally peeking out of the storm clouds shining so bright. It was like finally a break and all the beauty of the day was making its way to me. My friend picked me up about 7:30 and we went to the Airport Vortex. Sedona has many energy vortex’s here that my therapists have shared with me before arriving and encouraged me to visit as many of them as possible. We hiked up some red rocks, and I got to walk around this energy vortex. I did notice that it took my breath away. I felt a deep sigh of relief that started from my feet on the ground all the way up to my head. I know it’s hard to believe if you have not experienced anything like this or if you’re not into energy that you project into the world and carry within your person. But tonight, I felt a bit grounded to the earth and a release. It was wonderful. And I got to experience it with my friend. We did some more hiking and ended up sitting on top of some red rocks that overlooked the nightlife of Sedona, the light of the sunset to the west and another massive thunderstorm brewing in the east. We sat up there for hours, drinking beer, reminiscing about the good old days of high school, all the stupid shit we did together. Talk about going down memory lane tonight. It was such a nice surprise to have this time with him tonight. When he dropped me off at my hotel, he took me down a road right next to where I’m staying, and we got out of the car to do some stargazing. I saw the Milky Way tonight. Have you ever seen it with your bare eyes? It’s such an astonishing thing to see. He pulled out an app on his phone that you can point to the sky, and it will tell you what you’re seeing. We stood there for almost 15 minutes just looking at the stars. So, after being up for almost a full day now, I’m bushed. I’m ready to sleep so that I can get up tomorrow and go dig into my soul. Wish me luck!