"Babe, let's go on tour!"
I tried waking up my boyfriend in the middle of the night. I felt like Raven getting a vision from the future and I was so excited to tell him about it.
He was already passed out, but I had been up for a few hours playing out a scenario in my head. We would ditch the apartment life and hit the road. Go from city to city to travel, explore, and promote his music. We could pick up gigs in those cities and stay in cheap hostels or use the couch surfing app. How exciting and adventurous that would be!
I kept having this feeling that I needed to do something big.
I was tired of the same patterns we were in. Not because I was bored of them, but because I felt like this isn't the pattern we're meant to be in. We keep struggling to pay the bills, and we're working to get by. Meanwhile the things I love to do has been put on the back burner the past few months in favor of working more to make money to pay stupid bills.
I realized I had found my way back into the rat race. I had already learned this lesson before when I quit my 9-5 because I wanted more freedom and time to do things. Sure, I'm still doing my freelance thing, but as far as living paycheck to paycheck and having no time to do things I want, I was back to where I was before just slightly different.... so wtf?
That's when the idea of completely re-evaluating my lifestyle came in.
I needed to make some changes, some BIG ones if we wanted out of this "rat race" feeling.
I really thought hitting the road was gonna be our way out.
But Oscar wasn't sold on the idea of being homeless while we were on tour (understandable lol). But he agreed we needed some big changes so we can start getting ahead instead of just keeping up.
We started playing around with ideas that would cut our monthly cost of living. Ideally, we'll downsize our lifestyle temporarily so that we could enjoy our time more, and enjoy our money more. We could go do things like travel, and focus on the things that make us happy.
We decided to get rid of one of our cars. Saving money on a car payment, insurance, gas, will save us at least $500 a month. We also realized moving in with roommates would cut our rent down around 40%. These were some really good ideas that would help us save up, invest in our craft, and start getting ahead.
But these changes also felt super uncomfortable.
During this time, I started really noticing butterflies. For some reason, they kept popping up in my awareness. I would see them, see pictures of them, or hear about them in a meditation.
I started to fall in love with what they represent. They remind me about the changes that are necessary to turn you into a beautiful new version of yourself. I also slightly envied their freedom, fluttering in the wind, and going wherever they wanna go.
So now, whenever I think about the big scary changes that are happening, I think of the butterfly. It reminds me to embrace changes and adapt to the situation with grace. I embody the spirit of the butterfly, and I think of how beautiful my life will be after this metamorphosis, and the freedom we'll have. Suddenly, change isn't so scary but actually very necessary to grow.
Try it! Next time you get anxious about something coming up that feels like a big change, meditate on what it would be like to blossom out of your cocoon with a new sense of freedom!
Comment below what you think.
Until next time,
xoxo Judy