Working To Live

It was the summer of 2006 and I was blessed to be in France at the time accompanying my friend on a law school study abroad program in Toulouse. It was a great opportunity for me since she needed someone there with her and I was always traveling to different countries, especially the city of Paris. This trip was different because we were going to be in France for almost 2 months. Our trip started out in Paris, staying with her cousin and cousin's boyfriend. We were all super excited because aside from spending the summer in Europe, we were there during the World Cup! Not only that, France was advancing through all of the matches. I remember watching her cousin, the boyfriend and all their friends come over and see and feel all their true excitement. They drank, smoked, ate and were happy. They also did this in such small dwellings. If you've traveled to Europe, you will notice that is the case with most of the living situations in the cities. They have enough room for a bedroom, a tiny bathroom, a small living room and a kitchen big enough to hold a small stove and a tiny fridge. They all maintained their happiness and immersed themselves in the pleasures of life. For them that included eating delicious foods, going to the farmers markets, walking/taking the train to their destinations, drinking wine, smoking cigarettes and spending quality time with their friends and loved ones. They even got 3 months of vacation! They never rushed through the great moments in their lives either. I remember going out to dinner one night with my friend, her cousin and boyfriend Fred. We were having wine and I was feeling extra blissful. I asked Fred how they are able to enjoy life so much and what the secret was. His answer in a French accent was, "because we work to live, unlike Americans where they live to work." I never forgot what he said. I always carried it with me and repeated the words trying to fully grasp that feeling and lifestyle. I mean it made sense. No one rushed you out of the cafes in Europe. I could sit for hours in a cafe in France, Italy, Greece, and so on and never feel like my time would be up soon. The server brought you what you wanted, you paid and he basically never returns. The lifestyle is slower and passionate. I remember many people back in the states would say that the people in France were rude and how the service was terrible. I never saw that. I understood it. I felt their passion for that kind of life. I also knew that I was never destined to live to work from an early age.

Growing up my mother and father would always wake up early and remind me that you have to work hard to get money and make a living. Even if that meant choosing a career or job that you didn't enjoy. I started to see the struggle of maintaining that joy due to the financial concerns my parents always had. My mother was always reminding me that we had so much debt and not enough money. I then realized that the only way to bring joy into my life was the freedom to buy what I wanted with my own money. I decided that I was going to get a job at the age of 15, early enough to get a working permit from school. That started a life of many different jobs that were helping me follow certain passions. Those jobs also entailed flexibility to allow the weeks and months I needed every year to travel all over the world. To learn and grow from the Europeans and other countries' ways of life. When I had my spiritual awakening in 2012, my life took on a completely different course. The Universe was ready to start granting me those desires and wishes I had about living a life that followed passion and joy while having the money I needed flow to me. In 2019 I left my corporate job to follow my destiny when I woke up to the Twin Flame journey after meeting my Twin Flame, thanks to my dear psychic friend who delivered the messages I needed to hear. That same year, my sister, cousins, and I traveled to Norway and Denmark. It was the most incredible, uplifting, and blissful experience. We got to see the Northern Lights and take the train and boat to immerse ourselves in nature and their way of living. When we got to Copenhagen, Denmark, I got some answers and guidance. Those countries are magical. My sister and I went to a cafe one day and the table I happened to sit at had a book with the word "Hygge." I read the entire book in one sitting. The word hygge (pronounced hue-guh) is used to acknowledge a special feeling or moment alone, with friends, at home or out, ordinary, extraordinary, but is always cozy, charming, or special. The book went on to also state that Denmark was the happiest country in the world. I knew this confirmed for me that I needed to be in the energy of hygge. I even purchased a shirt to remind me of this when I got back home and maybe signal to others that we needed to find that feeling back in the states to carry with us everywhere. The country was filled with lovely people. We were walking throughout the city and seeing all the men pushing the strollers and kids and families everywhere. So much so that my sister asked one of our servers if there was a special holiday. She said that was the way of life there. That the men were family men and families loved to be together. Was I living in a dream? I knew that was a huge wish of mine. If I couldn't live in Denmark then I wanted to carry that lifestyle with me. To be joyful and harmonious with my own family one day, working to live. This city of Copenhagen was so magical that it sent me away with more love, strength, faith, hygge, and a start to my passion career. It guided me to start my own business creating my own jewelry line of crystals.

In 2020 the whole world was hit with a pandemic. There was so much confusion and fear that rose within the world. I saw it as the light and path to my freedom. In 2022, I followed my angels' guidance to sunny West Palm Beach, Florida. I was born in Tallahassee so I figured this was my angels' way of physically and spiritually allowing my ultimate "rebirth." Shedding the layers that no longer served me. Shedding my deep rooted pains, fears, and insecurities. Yes, these layers had been shedding like a snake already for the last few years, but this was to be the grandest, purest of them all. Just like the layers to an onion. I started working at a restaurant and broke through more insecurities and allowed myself to finally be free and authentically me. I talked to everyone and anyone I could about this Twin Flame journey, that I'm a licensed Reiki healer, the energy healing I bring to my work and others around me, the crystals I work with, and the law of attraction. Nothing was off the table. I began to work 11-12 hour days and felt excitement. I have never in my "old" life liked working more than 5 hours. I was getting dressed, putting on my makeup and jewelry, finding cute outfits, and getting excited to meet all the people coming into the restaurant. I also discovered that my double shifts were allowing me to lose weight because I was walking almost 5-7 miles every shift. It was about 7 weeks into working there on my day off at the beach when it hit me! Freds words about working to live. I was actually working to live! I enjoyed my shifts with my soul tribe coworkers, shopping, going to coffee shops, cooking, learning new recipes, meeting so many amazing people, and going to the most beautiful beaches. I was literally living like I was on a permanent vacation. How could I not when everywhere I went felt like I was in Hawaii. Even the color and temperature of the beach was dreamlike. I also realized that I was truly ready for my own family. It was during a conversation with a coworker. I had taken a couple with their infant to their seats and she asked me if I had kids to which I told her no. She replied, "oh you are so lucky that you don't." I felt so sad for her. She just started this new life of motherhood and was basically telling me that it's a miserable life. All I could think was that this poor woman didn't live her hygge. When I shared this with my coworker, he said that he understood the woman because your life is over when you have children. I believe this to be the words of people who are not truly fulfilled. In my world, having children is when a new life begins both literally and figuratively. I told him that I knew I was ready to have children and give time to them and my future husband because I have been blessed to have done everything and anything I have wanted until now. I've done it all and I haven't missed a beat and was ready for creating more. As I am typing these words, a loud train is going by one of my favorite coffee shops, shaking the building and my seat. I love the way my angels and the Universe send me huge confirmations! The day after speaking with my coworker, I heard the lyrics to a song that I hadn't heard in years. It was from the song "Young and Beautiful" by Lana Del Rey. I used to work out to the remix version often but this time the lyrics sang to me loud and clear to confirm the exact words I used the day prior with some additions. "I've seen the world, done it all, had my cake now...diamonds, brilliant...channeling angels in the new age now." I was also, in the words of Abraham Hicks, ready to be ready to be ready. So, I want to encourage all of you out there to continue to hope, dream and have faith. Believe that EVERYTHING you want is trying to make its way to you. Look back on your life and see all the ways of how so much of what you wanted or didn't want made it's way to you. Remember that this is an inclusion based Universe and it only grants a YES to what is wanted and what is unwanted. So wouldn't it be in your best interest to only focus on what you want rather than what you don't? The caveat here is that you do have to experience the unwanted to know exactly what it is that you DO want. Then milk it as much as you can. If you are patient and open to the signs and synchronicities that follow, you will live a life that dreams are made of. You will be guided to passions, projects, and places that will excite and drive you. The key to living your best life is in always taking the path of least resistance. This is also known as the path of most allowance. You may take some detours along the way and you may experience some bumps on the road, but these are still leading you on your path to victory! As the Universe opens its doors for you, enter with faith and appreciation. Allow yourself to walk in and experience what it actually means to work to live.