I ask myself sometimes - "Would you have envisioned doing what you are doing right now, 5 years ago?" The answer is almost always a resounding NO... and I now see that as a good thing.
I went through a period of self-pity (as I'm sure many of us do) where I lamented the current state of my life vs where I had imagined I would be. It's easy to get caught up in the negative aspects of reality vs expectations but rarely is it useful.
I am now trying to practice the simple act of being open. Simple but hard to do. There are many other words that describe this same concept - mindfulness, acceptance, letting go, etc. - and we will all connect with what resonates best with us, but for me, the lyric from a Jason Mraz song (see post title) opened my eyes to it.
I think we are all longing to live the life we were meant to live but don't feel like we know how. That's where being open comes in - trying to not be attached to expectations set by yourself or others and showing up for what is meant for you.
So, what does this all have to do with a blog about travel and photography? Well, in my life, a lot! I've known deep inside for a long time that I feel most alive when being exposed to new experiences and places. This might not be true for everyone - in fact, I know it's not since I have a couple of children who definitely did not catch the travel bug from me. For them, the rooted feeling of "home" feels right. And that's fine.
Photography is a form of focused meditation for me. While many people think that you are not able to be in the moment if you are busy trying to get a good photo. I disagree. For me, the act of really "seeing" the scene helps me to be very present and studying the composition and light draws me into the view.
So I will be doing a lot more exploring and wandering with no preconceived ideas of what should be next. And capturing my journey with photos and short written accounts.
What will my life be like in 5 years? I don't know - but I know it will be what was meant to be.