As I sit here in the grass on a beautiful, sunny Thursday afternoon, I’ve got nothing but gratitude in my heart.
Even through all the bullshit — here I rise.
After walking through the woods in the hottest part of the day (note to self: time these better), I found shade and let myself settle. I’m watching the trees dance in the distance, waiting for the breeze to roll in. That pause — the space between stillness and movement — feels like home.
I close my eyes and suddenly, I’m transported back to a much younger, much more naive version of myself. Sitting outside in my parents’ backyard on a hot summer afternoon. Lost in thought. Staring at the clouds, feeling how small I was in this vast, complicated world.
I remember reflecting on the chaos around me — the fights, the tension, the ache. At the time, I genuinely believed I deserved it. When pain is consistent and normalized, you don’t always have one moment that changes you. It just… is. It shapes you quietly.
What I’ve come to believe is this: so much of our success — in business, in love, in life — is directly tied to our sense of worthiness.
Do we believe we’re deserving of peace? Of money? Of joy?
Or are we still carrying someone else’s story that told us we’re not?
So often, growth shows up without warning. No roadmap. No safety net. It doesn’t knock first. Sometimes, it finds you in the dark. Sometimes, it drags you through it. Either way, you emerge changed.
Even when life is moving forward, even when things are technically “working,” we can still question everything:
Do I deserve this?
Am I really capable?
Is this the right path?
Are these the right people?
Am I making this decision from confidence — or fear?
Just a few months ago, in the middle of navigating life, an opportunity landed at my feet — to go on an adventure. To drive across the country. And truthfully? I had no business leaving at that moment.
But something in me said go. I did, and I came back a different woman.
There were so many moments on that trip that felt otherworldly — like I had crossed into a different dimension or unlocked a new part of my soul I didn’t even know existed.
But one moment in particular stays with me.
I was driving over a mountain pass, 9,000 feet up, in the middle of a snowstorm. I pulled over, stepped out of the car, and stood in six inches of snow blanketing the road. I closed my eyes, let the snow fall on my face, took a deep breath, and just… let go.
When I flew back home and stepped off the plane – everything was different. Everything.
**********
I was on my way to meet a client. It was a beautiful day — clear skies, warm sun — but something inside me still felt off. Like there was a heaviness trying to rise to the surface.
In the weeks leading up to that day, I had been moving through a kind of fog. Yes, I had reentered my life as a different version of myself… but this was a new different. One that came with deeper confidence, clearer direction, and a fierce drive to define success on my terms — not anyone else’s.
That morning, as I drove, I played a song on repeat — Open Up My Heart Again by Equanimous and Harmony Sunshine. And for the first time in a long time, I felt so alive. So in alignment. So grounded in who I was becoming.
It was as if the fog had finally lifted — and just like that… clear skies.
And it didn’t stop there.
In the weeks that followed, something kept building — inside me and around me. The clarity, the confidence, the momentum… it all started compounding.
And now, here I am — standing at the edge of another shift. Another version of me preparing to rise.
I’m about to embark on a journey I once saw only in the distance. The kind of thing I’d imagine and think, “Wouldn’t that be wild? Wouldn’t that be fun someday?”
And then one day… it showed up. The opportunity presented itself. No big announcement. No fanfare.
Just a quiet opening — and something in me said, fuck it, I’m in.
“And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.”
— John Muir
See you on the flip side.
XO,
Laura
