aren't these guys just the sweetest-looking family? after knowing them all for a couple of years now, i can say that they are just as wonderful as they look, and grace is just as full of life as any five year old should be. we had a really fun shoot last weekend at the franciscan monestary, which is incredibly lovely if you've never checked it out. it was actually our second shoot--the first was lost when my house was broken into last spring. erin and rob, were so understanding about it and after missing two shoots due to rain, we all agreed that the fourth time is the charm.
this was my last shoot before i leave town. tonight i'll take a plane to frankfurt, tomorrow another to bangkok, and finally another to chiang mai in the north where i will probably collapse on my hotel bed and only rouse myself to eat some of this delicious food i've been hearing so much about. i've been saving up my magazines for the lat month and even bought a special neck pillow in the hopes that i can sleep on some of epic journey. when i finally land, i'll finally be the world's center of thai massage and hope to soak up as much as i can in the ten days that i am there before traveling on to another adventure of leading a yoga retreat in bali.
so obviously, this trip is a dream come true. sarita and i talked about it for years. it felt exotic and far away and like it was something that someone else did. yet we're making it happen. like all big dreams, we just had the take the first step--finding our mountain retreat center in the middle of a green jungle and writing them an email to see when they were free--and the rest just happened from there. it was a lot of work and promotion and faith, but the actual steps were pretty logical. when i see it as just doing the next right thing, it makes me feel like the world is open to us, beckoning us even, and that all we have to do is stay focused on what we really want.
there will be 12 of us total, stepping into this retreat and other asian travels. who knows what will come of it? one of my students decided last-minute to come to my yoga retreat in costa rica this last march. he had a wonderful time and ended up falling in love with a beautiful swedish lady on the retreat. since returning, she's already been to dc twice, and he has plans to go to sweden. it's really exciting to me to hear about it and a healthy reminder that when i invite people to go along on my dream, it will give them the opportunity to go for some of their own.
so what's your dream that feels a little bigger and bolder? what's the one the makes your a little bit nervous? say it out loud. take a deep breath. what is the first step you could take? let it be something really small like writing an email or doing a search. take another deep breath. now take the step. see what happens next and know you are brave in even just thinking about this stuff.
i know myself and know that i probably won't blog until i come home, but if you use instagram (and you should because it's so fun) then my username is gracedplace and i'd love for you to follow me and see some photographs.
also, save the date for this next dream retreat with yael the last weekend in september:
