I have this happy place. I store it in my mind and my heart, and I don’t think anyone will ever be able to take it away from me.
I go to this place when times are tough, and I honestly must say that I am truly blessed to not have experienced many tough times in my life. Sometimes I wonder why I am so lucky. Most of the time I think my life is too good to be true. Occasionally I am just waiting for the ball to drop. But what I’m really thinking? I think tough times have a lot to do with our attitude. It all depends on how we look at the situation.
I have always been a worry-wart. Always. Even when I was 7-8 years old, I would worry about things I couldn’t control. What if my parent’s got into a car accident on their way home? What if one of my brother’s got hurt?
Growing up, bedtime was always a really rough time for me. If I couldn’t fall asleep I would get extreme anxiety, which would just keep me up for hours, worrying about not sleeping. Just imagine how much my parents loved this.
Luckily for them, now my husband gets to deal with it.
These days, I have learned to deal with my anxiety better. Perhaps it came with age? Perhaps it came from marrying a man who loses his mind if there is a solitary crumb on the carpet? And I mean that is the sweetest way.
No matter what the situation may be, many nights I fall asleep dreaming on my happy place. There is nothing more comforting in the world.
Every summer in August, we go to Boyne City, Michigan and stay right on the lake.
Both of my grandparents are from Michigan, and my great-grandparents had a house in Boyne City. My dad vacationed there when he was young, and he continued the tradition with us.
I love this place more than anything. It may stem from how much my father loves it. It is a place he is always excited to go to, a place where he is completely relaxed, and in my eyes, the most like himself. And a place where he is at peace.
In Boyne City, I don’t feel like I need to be doing something. I am completely content just sitting outside reading, looking into the lake well into the evening.
It is also where my true love for James Taylor’s music stems from. We drive to Boyne City – a nice, long 10 hours or so. These days we take more than one car, but growing up, we were all shoved into an Explorer. We would leave in the middle of the night so we didn’t drive my parents mad. And almost the entire way there, we’d listen to James Taylor. To this day, there is no other music that comforts or stirs emotion in me like his.
I’ve never felt at peace like I have there. It’s as if I offer everything up and just be.
And while just being is what I love most about it, one of the best parts is how closely my family bonds there. Sure, one time we almost died (literally) on a pontoon boat. And another time my Aunt Lisa (Hi!) almost burnt down our condo while sterilizing bottle nipples.
But it has all been worth it.
And I am never ready to go home. I am always ready to go back.
So when I find myself struggling with anxiety, or wishing things were different, or just needing to relax, I transport myself there. I can smell the air and feel the breeze and remember everything about it. It comforts me like nothing else.
What is your happy place?
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