Life beyond the highlight reel ✨

Last week, Justin and I spent a surreal week in Oahu, Hawaii. 🏝️

This trip was part celebration, part transition, both logistically (jet-lag adjustment) and emotionally: a well-timed opportunity to take a beat and a few deep breaths before stepping into a new chapter of our lives together: one where we set up a second home-away-from-home in Japan.

And of course, the highlight reel was absolutely beautiful: sunsets, sunrise walks, ocean views, incredible food, movement, rest, laughter, and moments where life genuinely felt almost too good to be true.

But in those moments, I also always find myself curious about what doesn’t make the highlight reel:

….disrupted sleep; an inconvenient UTI and last-minute telehealth appointment for antibiotics, unexpected big feelings to match the equally big moment: namely, uncertainty + vulnerability. Even some tears that showed up seemingly out of nowhere.

But that’s not really so unexpected when I reflect further. After all, it’s not as though simply because we take a vacation, our feelings take one too. 🤷‍♀️

This version of the song “Paradise” from the Apple TV show (watch it, thank me later) has playing on repeat in my head land heart lately: there’s something about the melody that feels both hopeful and haunting at the same time.

I looked up the story behind Phil Collins writing the original song and came across this quote:

“Sometimes I write because things like this are bothering me…but at other times the songs just creep up behind me and write themselves.”

Sometimes life is like that, too. No matter how intentionally we may try to live, some feelings just have a way of sneaking up on us. In those moments I like to remind myself that nothing has gone wrong. It’s ok to feel deeply aware that you’re living inside beautiful moments…while also still experiencing the full emotional texture of a meaningful, complex life.

No matter where we go, there we are. 🌊