These last forty-eight hours the universe has been sending me a strong message about the "trip".
This is how it all started twenty-six years ago. I was sitting in an undergrad psychology class in my first year of university, at The University of Western Ontario, when a girl that I had only randomly smiled at in class who sat behind me, tapped me on the shoulder and said "I have this poem that I think you may enjoy", and she handed me a copy of it.
Just like that and very randomly.
The poem is titled "The Station" by Robert J. Hastings.
That was a few years before I met my husband and best friend of now thirty-one years. I shared that story with him of the random poem gifting and he loved it so much, and also loved the message that the poem had to offer us.
It became our mantra for life. It's all about the trip, not the station. Not the destination. But rather the trip to get there.
Rewind from the present day back to our wedding day. Unbeknownst to each other we had both written our favourite verse of this poem into our wedding speeches to each other. "The true joy of life is the trip". Once again a sign that we were travelling on the same path to the same destination whilst living the same mantra to get there.
Some days it's hard to live that way all these years later with the everyday craziness of life with kids and careers, but it is a good reminder that is always present in our minds and also hanging on our wall to this day.
Here is another powerful story that ties all roads back to this mantra. I'm at hot yoga yesterday and the teacher starts her class with a personal story or anecdote each time which I love. She told us about her ritual of brewing coffee and how a friend of hers wondered why she put so much effort into her coffee brewing ritual of making french press coffee in this day of instant pucks you can just pop into your machine and presto - hot coffee.
You may ask, is this cup of coffee the trip or the destination? Grinding it. Smelling it. Seeing it. Tasting it. Then enjoying it even more for having had the ritual of the experience. That is the enjoyment we are talking about. That is the trip.
I spend an inordinate amount of my waking hours in my kitchen. I have my own coffee brewing ritual which I take great pride and excitement in and quite frankly every meal I make is a ritual to me. It is my journey of healthy food prepping that gives me the most pleasure when I see the nourishment waiting for me, my family and friends ready to devour.
This passion is why I started Clean Kiss so that people can get that same pleasure out of the clean personal products they use on their faces and bodies too. I know that is why my yoga teachers' coffee story really struck a chord with me.
Here's my final sign that inspired me to write this blog post today. I love to listen to books on my phone while I drive or walk the dog through an app called Audible (check it out if you haven't heard of it). I am listening to a book called "You're a Badass" by Jen Sincero and she talks about how people say "I'm good, but so busy" as the new "I'm fine thanks" response. Busyness is worn like a badge of honour. Sounds like people are not so much enjoying the trip but rather just focused on getting to the final destination as fast as they can without being present or consciously aware of the day to day enjoyment that surrounds us.
So I asked myself today, what am I going to do with all of these very obvious road signs telling me to slow down a little and enjoy this journey of life I am on? Clearly I couldn't ignore it so the first thing I wanted to do was share it here and the second thing I decided to do was tell my husband of my revelation. If anyone was going to help me to slow down and enjoy the trip it is him. He needs to be enjoying the trip with me, as our pledge to each other and our family just like we made all those years ago.
Enjoy the trip, your journey. It is cliche indeed but life is too short to wish it away. The destination may not be worth it if you didn't enjoy the fun of just being here. Don't wish it away. The true joy of life truly is the trip.
About Clean Kiss
We create 100% Natural and Organic, Canadian artisan handcrafted products that are simple and pure for your body, face, hair and home. Our specialty is anti-aging premium skincare, all natural deodorant, and products for curly hair.
We are 100% Vegan, GMO free, Gluten Free (and free of all unnecessary garbage!) and Leaping Bunny Certified (meaning we never test on animals and neither do our suppliers). We also proudly give a portion of our sales to help homeless women and their children to get back on track with housing, education, and financial support.
