You know that feeling you get when joy overwhelms you?

I just took my first plane ride in over a year and it was what freedom feels like. 

I'm not sure I needed the plane to fly! 

For someone who likes to move and travel as much as I do, it was ironic that for my first trip out of the gate, I traveled to a deeply spiritual place that honors...of all things...

Stillness.

Joshua Tree National Park is a place where time doesn’t seem to move, yet growth is constantly happening, and under the harshest conditions. 

Have I simply been running to stand still?

(Yes, that's a U2 reference for all you fans. I still have my concert shirt from 1987!!)

This tree is the epitome of resilience.

Standing firmly among the elements, providing life for the many beings that rely on its existence, it grows ever so slowly into its unique shape and form. 

It was a trip of extremes. 

As the photos above show, pausing AND playing.

Snow one day (!!) and then hot sun the next. 

The winds were dramatic and yet the Joshua tree's branches are unmoving, each branch firmly reaching out as if in a cry for hope.

A form of prayer. 

Resilient and unnerved. 

I am making an out loud promise in this email to return here every single year to remind myself of this stillness. 

And the resiliency each of us has within us. 

And the PAUSE that is so important for each one of us to take, especially when busy, to reflect on our quickly passing lives. 

I write a lot about the importance of PAUSE and PLAY and this one very brief trip not only brought me to pause more often than usual, it also helped me channel both my "mover" and "explorer" play personalities.

What are your play personalities? Are you living them? Do you pause to reflect with gratitude for all that you have and all that you are? How will you take time to play and pause this week?

I invite you to do both! Email me and send me a note to tell me all about it.

I can't wait to hear from you.

With fierce love,
Alison