Flying Solo with Butterflies

One of the reasons I chose Arizona as a place to explore for 6 months was the ease of getting in your car or hopping a cheap flight and experiencing places I've never been or haven't experienced enough of.  I've now been to San Diego - one morning, I put on my running shoes, grabbed my phone and credit card and walked the city for 8 hours.  It was amazing.  I just got back from a last-minute excursion to the Grand Canyon.  Words just cannot describe.  Not just the beauty, but of what happened to me while I was there - all the way through my soul and into the middle of my heart.

Traveling by one's self can be liberating and a helluva ton of fun.  You do what you want to do when you want to do it - no one is late or bitching or having a breakdown because their hair doesn't look good and/or their ass looks big.  Since I've been hunk-less for so long, I barely remember what it's like to travel with a man, but I do remember they don't like shopping so much.  And I love to shop.  This all being said, I love to travel with other people - as long as they don't get on my last nerve.  My daughter and a handful of my friends are the ultimate joy with which to explore - we go with the flow and take it all in while having a freaking blast.  And you don't get looked at like you're plagued with a mental illness or a flesh-eating disease when you tell the hostess that there is just one for dinner.  And I swear to the Big Guy Above, if I hear "how is it that a woman like you is traveling alone?" one more ass-slapping time, I'm going to poke someone's eyeball out.  I really won't do that or I will be dubbed certifiably insane and probably get in some trouble with the law.  What I really do is answer:  "Because I can."

But for all of the people this weekend who looked at me funny sitting by myself, eating dinner while listening to a guy play a brilliant guitar and singing Willie and Kris or the couples and groups I passed on the hiking trails, I'll make a bet of a trillion dollars, none of them experienced what I did.  I was sitting on an outcropping of rocks, reflecting on life and a gorgeous, yellow butterfly started fluttering around me.  I wished it to land on me, because somewhere I've heard that is good luck, but she flew away.  I continued on my hike and I was literally thinking about how I wished she had chosen me as her landing pad when I saw her (or her twin) fluttering in front of me and I said outloud "Well there you are..."  And do you know what?  She came to me and landed on my stomach, drank some sweat from my bellybutton and flew away.  And I broke down in tears and thanked the universe for allowing me to be a part of such beauty and for keeping me in awe of what this life offers.

This is a Doing What I Thought I Knew - because my life after this has been altered in such an inspiring way.