This is a story of the universe, made of several moving parts.

Part 1: Two weeks ago, in a guesthouse just outside of Nairobi, Kenya, I was messaging with a man whom I “dated” last year. We had very little in common except our love of travel, which essentially consumed every conversation we had over the course of our long-distance non-relationship of sorts. During our conversation, he asked me what normal life would consist of when I got back to LA, to which I responded, “Good question.” He told me he was trying to figure out how he could travel the world for a year – his dream. I responded in my very hippie-dippie attitude of late, “I think you just do it and trust that the universe has a plan for you and you’ll figure out the rest along the way…”

Part 2: (Same day) The answer to his good question has been on my mind a lot over the course of the last few weeks. For reasons I can’t entirely explain, but potentially because on the day of our conversation we are on the brink of a new moon, without even his prompting, its been on my mind all day. I know I need the semblance of a plan and I come up with this: When I get back to the States, I need to set some time aside to do some soul-searching, read a few inspirational books (Cheryl Strayed first and foremost) and then go somewhere peaceful, alone, where I can be inside my head and really figure it all out. The short-term plan. As for the long-term one – I’ve got an inkling. Mainly, I keep coming back to two things, or rather, people: Carrie Bradshaw and Cheryl Strayed, the latter being the motivation behind the book I know I need to read. It has something to do with the evolution of this blog, specifically the response I’ve received from readers to this From the Heart series.

Part 3: (Later that night) I’m thumbing through my Facebook feed and come across a post by Cheryl Strayed where she writes, “Woke up thinking about how we make changes in our lives on the deepest, most personal level. I’ve been trying to make a few of those changes in my own life over these past several months and I’m humbled by how gigantic it is to do the smallest things differently. . .I’m also encouraged by how good it feels to DO that tiny gigantic thing. To follow through on what you know you must do in order to be happier in your life. It’s a journey not a one-time event, that’s for certain.” I screen shot her post and send it to my sister in Washington DC, with the text, “Love her, want to be her.” The text is consistent with my thoughts of the day. As for her post – thats the universe at play, working its magic.

Part 4: (Sometime in the wee hours we can safely call early morning – insomnia is a thing in my life.) I decide to check my blog email, which I rarely ever check. But since the universe has been busy, its entirely fitting that when I do check it, I’ve received two of the most beautiful messages from readers entirely in line with what has been ruminating in my mind all day. And I cried. I cried because it brings me a happiness I never quite anticipated that I can share my life in writing with others. I cried because in their messages was the realization that there are so many women going through the exact thing I’m going through, having the same experiences, heartbreaks, revelations, growth. But mostly I cried because if there was even a sprinkle of doubt in the advice I gave earlier in the day (the part about trusting that the universe has a plan for me), the events of later washed it away like a monsoon. And just like that, the universe bestowed upon me, not the answer, but better: a nudge in the direction of my future.

What will normal life consist of now that I’m back in LA? The life part is a mystery I’m content not knowing the answer to. The honest part is that I’ve got no answers to all of the difficult questions in my own life – I don’t know when my next paycheck is coming; I don’t know where I’ll be calling home in 6 months; I don’t know if my heart is going to feel as damn broken as it has felt in the last five years. The beautiful part is this: I’m here now – on the threshold of a constantly evolving life, a constantly evolving me – and its frightening and its exciting and its exactly where I am meant to be. The universe has a plan for me and its unfolding quite magnificently every single day. This last year has not been perfect. But by god, it has been the best year of my entire life! And all because I let go, stopped trying to control everything, and put a little faith in the universe. So it seems the best I can do for myself every day is be grateful for this blessed life that I can call my own, whilst keeping my eyes peeled for the signs that are pointing me in the direction of an always better tomorrow.