Cultivating a Beautiful Relationship with Pain

Pain is growth, though it may not feel like it. Pain stems from our experiences and perceptions - i.e. feeling lonely, not being seen, rejection - but manifests in different ways - i.e. depression, sadness, anger, frustration. Learning where our manifestations of pain stem from enables us to cultivate a deeper relationship with it. Pain brings us closer to finding our truth – allowing us to peel back the layers of conditioning, programming, and trauma. It enables us to feel the depth of our own lived human experience, and heal. With this acceptance, we are able to see pain as beautiful and human, and feel the catharsis that pain elicits.

I want to go beyond simply accepting pain, I want to embrace it like it is my child, but also hold boundaries with it, as I would with my child. Pain, for me, is a catalyst for creation, only if I do not fall so deep into the trenches of it. So, when I am at my lowest, I allow myself to cry – with a resounding sense of peace and hope – and then release, slowly digging myself out of the trench to see the light and feel the lightness.

Through continuing this process, I know its purpose – I am growing, I am being cleansed, and I will be rebirthed after each period of pain into a newer, more authentic version of myself. A version that I can accept more lovingly, even if it less accepted by the world around me.

How Expression of Our Truth and Vulnerability Can Shape People and the World

In our purest form, we are broken due to our nature/nurture, and conditioning and programming. And nothing about this is wrong in any way. Being broken can open us up to the most beautiful possibilities. And if we could all come together to revel in our mutual brokenness, imagine what we could create.

Imagine having the deepest understanding of your truth and insecurities and where they stem from, and having space to express that in an open forum. Imagine laying all your cards out on the table and having someone do this for you in return. Imagine understanding others’ truths as coming from a place of themselves - their conditioning and programming - and not you. You’d be cleansed and free to express yourself, knowing that it’s only your own thoughts (not others’ perceptions of you) that can bring you down.

Now, imagine using these insecurities and expression of self and truth as a propelling force for action - how we could shape cultures and the world with this new inbuilt tolerance system. When we do our inner work, we can organically improve others’ wellbeing, as we begin to approach conversations from a place of compassion and empathy. When we come from a humble place of knowing ourselves, with the higher level understanding that nothing is actually right or wrong and that there is no black and white, we can be shifters.

If I had to have one life purpose, it would be to create this space for myself and people, simply thru my being! I have fallen short many times, getting caught in the day to day hustle & bustle and movement. But this is why this it is a purpose with no timeline - I will continue to refine myself to be the most inclusive, best version of me and channel this energy to empower others to be the most authentic versions of themselves. So we can naturally create a world in which we feel more comfortable to live in.

Career Pivot Post College Graduation

***THIS WAS MY FIRST POST IN 2017 - SO MUCH HAS CHANGED SINCE, BUT KEEPING THIS HERE TO SHOW EVOLUTION OF MY THINKING***

Hello, I'm Mira!! I have struggled so hard with this first post. But I am finally here and ready to detail what this whole blog is about. It may be confusing to some people, but bare with me as I work on finding the words to depict/summarize all my thoughts into one blog post.

I have traveled and generally moved around A LOT at the ripe age of 22, and am so grateful for what I've learned from my experiences. I lived in Dallas my first 18 years of life, traveling to many countries with my family for vacation. Then, I moved to Miami for college for four years. During my college experience, I was blessed to have had THREE study abroad experiences (two summers in Galapagos and Cape Town and one semester in Spain) and one spring break volunteering in Guatemala for a pre-health/med organization called VIDA. Not many can say they have been to so many countries in such little time, so I am more grateful than anything to have had parents that gave me this opportunity. If there is one thing I have really gained from traveling and life exploration in general, it is that there is something so humbling about constantly moving and meeting new people. It forces you to come closer to your true, authentic self.  It has taken me a while to get to the place I'm at right now where I just decided to drop everything post-college graduation and move to Australia on a Working Holiday Visa. I know, that if I didn't have those previous experiences, there would be no way I would be sitting alone in this WONDERFUL book store on this lovely Thursday evening in Sydney, Australia writing my first blog post. It's truly amazing to see how every step in your life is contingent upon what you've done in the past. I am still learning so much sitting here, and am by no means an expert on traveling and living authentically, but I really do think I've gained so much and now feel like I am ready to share my life with the world. I hope that this blog and my reflections give me a creative outlet to discover more about myself and feel empowered, because I ultimately want to empower others. I also am aspiring to be a better writer through this. 

So I guess I'll start with the question: what is "unity amidst diversity" and why am I titling my page this? This phrase holds so much value to me!!! It pretty much incorporates different aspects of life - small scale or large scale - that ALL people at their core can say they enjoy. While each individual human brain has its nuances, there are universal aspects of life, such as music, nature, and sunshine, that bring all people together and I find that so beautiful. These aspects increase serotonin and happy feelings in our brains. Now, among all these different components, there are of course discrepancies depending on personality, but as a whole, I can confidently say that something like an ocean with a mountain backdrop is a pleasant experience for ANYONE, regardless of race, religion, etc. What I've noticed, while traveling and settling in places, is that we (me included) some times focus so much of our attention on what divides us as people that we seem to forget how similar we are at our core. My goal for this blog and LIFE in general is to capture moments that we take for granted in our happy states, so that when we are in our not so happy states, we can choose fall back on the simplicity of life. I keep going back to nature, but I mean, think about it, nature is made up of five core elements that all interact with one another (earth, water, fire, wind, and space). We are made up of all of these elements in some way, shape, or form and because of that we are social beings - social with nature and the world around us. We pretty much NEED to interact with nature because that allows us to feel balanced and grounded in this crazy and wonderful adventure we call life!!

As I was leaving Dallas to come to Australia, I had so many thoughts and had difficulty organizing them. Now that my "culture shock" is over (I say that as a joke because Australia is literally so similar to America it's ridiculous), I feel like I can reflect and truly start this journey. I just graduated college in May 2017, and got to spend 5 lovely (didn't look at them so positively at the time) months with my parents living at home. Can you imagine what it's like to leave home for four years and experience so much independently and then come back home? I mean, I literally spent my last semester abroad in Spain and solo traveled a lot. Going from that to what felt like high school life was what I called in the moment a digressive transition phase. All my other life transitions indicated progress - such as moving to college from high school, moving to an apartment from the freshmen dorms, working jobs to try to understand the meaning of financial independence, and moving to another country for a whole semester. And then coming to Dallas, I felt like all my progress had dissipated with the snap of a finger. NOT the best feeling, but amidst what I thought was digression, was soooo much progression. I spent 5 whole months reflecting on my life experiences - again not many can say they've been able to do that in the hustle and bustle of what we call life. I came back to US thinking I was going to spend a gap year working in the pharmaceutical industry, because that was my college track the whole time, but man was I completely wrong. I distinctly remember how empty I felt the moment when I got back to what people call the "real world". It wasn't a good feeling, but definitely so necessary, because it made me realize I didn't want to go into pharmaceuticals. Pharmaceuticals is great for a certain type of personality, but absolutely not mine. I am so into holistic living and preventative health, and pharmacy for me, specifically drug discovery, which WAS what I was interested, was on the total other end of the spectrum. I had heard about the Australian holiday working visa (which anyone between the ages of 18-30 can get just so you guys know) from some travel friends and I had a friend I made in Cape Town who actually was doing it. I talked to her and a couple others and then spontaneously applied and in two weeks, I had a visa that made me eligible to work and more importantly, PLAY,  in Australia for a full year. I quickly signed up for two jobs in hospitality (barista and bartending) in Dallas because 1) I needed the funds for my flight and first two weeks here, and 2) That is most likely going to be the type of work I do on the holiday work visa, since you can really only stay in a profession for 6 months on this special visa. So basically, in the span of two weeks, I changed my whole path and track, and the funniest thing was that I really only stressed about this INSANE change for a couple of days. That's it! That's the beauty of having so many life transitions - you become used to it and then feel so adaptable, spontaneous, and ready for any experience that comes up. I could go on and on about some crazy, spontaneous, unexpected experiences I had solo traveling, but I'll spare you the rant. Those experiences will probably just come up in later blog posts anyways. 

So now, here I am in Australia, looking for a job and apartment and living out of one suitcase in a packed hostel. And guess what? I feel wonderful and myself again, and so inspired. I could not imagine doing life any other way. This is exactly how I want to live right now - it's spontaneous, adventurous, risky, liberating, and absolutely empowering. As I mentioned previously, I want to somehow empower others, but in order to do that, I must feel empowered myself. And I do now - I really do. It's so beautiful, and I am ready to empower others through my blog, adventures, and life, so please please follow along.

Let me clarify one thing - this blog is NOT a travel blog. Yes, it will incorporate my travels, but it is more directed towards the human experience as a whole - what it truly means to live life. I could technically keep these revelations and reflections to myself, but why not share how I feel with society and see if people can resonate with my feelings? I am the type of person to absolutely thrive off of connections to people and the world, and I love listening to other's stories and being heard myself. My social connections and interactions have contributed to my idealistic internal world. I love my brain because of this, even though I overthink, analyze, and stress. 

My long-term dream is to build some sort of foundation/organization that allows people to live and be their authentic selves without judgment, so that we can get past social obstacles of life and focus on how we can shape the world in our own unique way. So I will blog about experiences I have with other individuals, the world, or organizations/businesses, that I think have a positive impact on humanity, and also my own personal reflections and poetry. Please follow my journey and reach out to me if my thoughts resonate with you, because I love sharing perspectives and relatability.