I want to get to that spot. You know, the one just at the edge. Near the top of the hill. On the crest of the most inspiring sunrises and seductive sunsets. The air warm but not suffocating. The sky whichever shade of blue you’d like to imagine. Day or night it’s beautiful. It’s quiet. It’s a sanctuary. Dogs and cats and squirrels frolic among the wildflowers. You’re with your beloved. Either within your soul or in this physical reality. And there’s absolutely nothing that can tear at this moment. This absolutely perfect moment made perfect by all the terrible events that laid before it. This moment of perpetual bliss that once seemed infinitely far. It’s here. It’s tangible. It has a smell. It has an aura. It has a feeling. It wraps itself around you with a kind of homesick spirit, kind of like how you’d embrace a long-time friend. “Where have you been, my child?” The earth will whisper. And the best thing, she won’t even need a response. Embrace the light, whether cast from the sun, moon or stars, and let yourself glow. Glow until you begin to shine. And then ride it all the way home.
For me, my place is Raffaldini vineyards. It’s a small place out in Ronda, North Carolina. Little slice of Tuscany out in the middle of nowhere. Forty miles west of Winston-Salem, the vineyard’s backdrop is the foothills of the great smoky mountains. June 11, 2021, was the day I unplugged and allowed myself to feel complete and utter bliss. I was struck with the imagery, row by row of lush grapevines, beautifully marbled browns and tans comprising the stonework of the walkways, the garden paths. I’ve been chasing that feeling since. How can I feel like that more consistently, while making others feel seen and heard. How can I grab the hand of another? What can I do to bring comfort to other individuals struggling to find some reprieve from life’s hectic nature? Who should I be? Whom should I create?
Imagine an overstuffed chaise lounge, pocketed safely in the corner of your bedroom. Or library. Hell, wherever it feels old and witty. Just tucked in. Where it feels secretive. Where only bewitched souls and magical beings exist. I asked if it was like working towards the sunny spot. The spot that warms you. Not just to your skin. But down to your core. That warmth of “ah, this is it.” That patch of heaven in your home is sweet. Shining bright enough to warm but not offensive to the eyes. The word cozy feels like it’s just settling. She would write out her curiosities and wonder what magic could exist if she just believed. Just sang with her heart and only with the unconscious of her mind. Tapping into what she says is Pride Rock. What she knew she was going to have to do. She wanted to be a lion. what profound things that spoke upon her soul. She wanted to sing, dance, and act. To play a musical instrument the best in her school. Heck, the best in her district. And she could have done it too. Oh, what she could have done if she just did what she was good at. And did it fearlessly. Maybe we shouldn’t be telling our kids that they’re the best. Ya know? Like maybe that is a bit of pressure. How do you build up their self-esteem without making them sound like a proverbial hero? Maybe “you’re special, to me.” Maybe that’s what we all need. Just one person. One person that just gets you. Whole-heartedly. Passionately. Lovingly. Crazily transparently.
