It’s been a busy holiday season. After last year, being all alone in Dunedin, New Zealand for my birthday, Christmas and New Years, I have a whole new appreciation for family gatherings and holiday celebrations.

It’s funny; I’ve never placed a great deal of value on family. Not in the ‘I don’t need it’ kind of way,

but in the take it for granted kind of way.

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That all changed last year alone. Solitude

half way around the globe without anyone who knew my name close at hand~

You would think that after having been gone for so long,

and realizing the value of family,

I’d be determined to remain close

now that I’m back stateside-

just the opposite is the truth.

family can make us less than or more than who we are

but rarely just what we are…

or what we’re purposed to be.

In order to fully appreciate this new found appreciation of family,

we often need to be release far enough away

to go be who we fully are

and still realize and appreciate the sweet connection we have to them.

Sounds contradictory but it’s not.

I have to go away from who I was, in order to be fully who I am.

And the beauty?

All that I was still exists.

And it shines brighter, more appreciatively beautiful, from a distance.

I’m finding this true for family

but also

for who I’ve been.

Changing.

in love.

trish