48-hour heads up for a spontaneous trip to Florida for a Seek Discomfort video
Long time no see, but we are back at it!
As John Steinbeck said, “I cannot write hot on an event. It has to ferment. I must do what a friend calls, ‘mule it over,’ for a time before it goes down.”
That’s usually how I do my writing. An experience happens, I take time to reflect on it, and then a week later I write about it. But when life suddenly picks up the pace, so many experiences come so quickly and I’m struggling to carve out that time for reflection.
Perhaps that is the reason for my lack of recent posts. Not a lack in experiences, but rather too many experiences happening too quickly. But there’s no time like the present to put share this story, even if it’s not as in-depth as I wanted it to be.
As I type this I’m sitting on a plane staring out the window. I commit to writing this story in the 3 hours it will take to touch down in New York (embarking on another adventure). Fermentation ready or not, sometimes putting out something is better than putting out nothing. Here we go…
48-hour heads up for a spontaneous trip to Florida for a Seek Discomfort video
On a regular Wednesday afternoon in April, I received a message out of the blue from Ammar Kandil. One of the founders of the YouTube channels and worldwide communities of Yes Theory and Seek Discomfort. You’ve surely read about those channels and their impact on my philosophy of life, in past posts (like going Paragliding with my Uber driver and seeing the Iceman Film premiere where I met Ammar.) In his message, he asked if I had a few minutes for a quick call.
The thing was, I was currently on a Zoom call with my Toastmasters mentor, Ron. I wanted to jump out of my seat when I saw the message. But I pushed it out of my mind and got back to rehearsing my Toastmasters speech with Ron, which was coincidently about my life story and about the seek discomfort (Yes Theory’s motto) way of being. Except I don’t believe in coincidences.
See, I met Ron through my friend Ahmad who works with Seek Discomfort. Then Ron encouraged me to join Toastmasters so I can become a better storyteller. Here I was, about to live another story to tell. It all comes around full circle. Nothing happens in a void.
Immediately after I finished my call, I got on a video call with Ammar. He asked if I was free on Friday, to go on a trip to Florida with another Yes Theory team member, Dez. We would be filming an episode about the importance of accepting challenges in life and embracing them, for that’s where growth lies. We would be attending the event, Creator Clash, and being part of announcing a special collaboration with another creator. (The video comes out on the Seek Discomfort channel this Sunday, May 21, so I won’t share spoilers.)
That’s all the info I was given. The night before the trip, my plane ticket reached my inbox. The next morning I was up at 3:30 am heading to the airport. I didn’t know what we were doing, who we were doing it with, where we were staying. Nothing.
I think the video will show you the experience but I want to share a few things I learned from it:
The energy we radiate gets reflected back to us. Dez was just a stranger before we met. But after just 5 minutes in the car, we could tell there was a deeper connection there. Call it serendipity, coincidence, or luck… started to happen. One where magic seems to be around us in simple ways. Like we were singing Taylor Swift’s Champagne Problems when out of nowhere a car drives by us with painted letters on the windows that say “champagne problems”. Or that we were both in the middle of re-reading The Alchemist. Or that we both grew up in Florida. Except they aren’t coincidences. They are signs. It’s the universe saying, “This is your sign!!”
“Expect the unexpected”. It’s the attitude Yes Theory and Seek Discomfort remind us of. Interestingly enough, Dez said even she didn’t know what to expect from this trip, but to “expect the unexpected.” I sprang from my seat and pulled out my journal. On the plane I had written this, “I am excited. I am grateful. I am clueless. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but the one thing I can count on is to expect the unexpected.”
Travel doesn’t have to be about a destination. It can be about a very simple experience. As soon as Dez picked me up from the airport she said we were going straight to a boxing class. I didn’t know an inkling about boxing. Honestly, it had always intimidated me. Surprise— it was incredibly fun and empowering. I’ve since started going to boxing classes every week back home. We don’t have to travel to an exotic destination to explore more within ourselves. It can be as simple as going to a boxing class or painting class and trying something new within your own city or embedding it into your travels.
On the last day, we decided to post to the YesFam Orlando group to see if anyone wanted to meet up last minute. 10 people showed up!! All of us are strangers, and now can consider them friends. We instantly clicked. Everyone from different backgrounds, cultures, and lifestyles, just bonded so incredibly fast, unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed. The energy was just there. It shows the power of true community, where people share similar values despite different backgrounds. Trust and friendship are unspoken, but felt deeply.
The Magic of Life. This one deserves a whole post of itself. Perhaps I will write that soon. But as Dez and I drove to the airport and reflected on the experiences of the past three days, the serendipity, the new friendships, the challenges we accepted, the growth, the laughter. The universe has a way of conspiring to help us achieve what it is our heart's most desires and what is aligned with our personal legend. What is meant for us, will find a way, when our energies are aligned and our hearts are open. That’s the magic of life.
I still don’t know exactly why Ammar thought to invite me to go on this trip with Dez. We had only met once last year very briefly for no more than a minute. But I guess the universe has its reasons. A one-of-a-kind friendship came out of it too, with Dez. A friendship I know will last a long time.
The beauty of a spontaneous trip like this is that it wasn’t some crazy destination. It was about trying new things and making new friends along the way. It was a reminder we have the choice to sprinkle our lives with new experiences, no matter how small. It’s your world, after all.
Sometimes the most meaningful transformative moments of life happen when you least expect them, in the place you least expect them, in the way you least expect them…If you are open. That’s the magic of life.
BONUS story: Another funny thing was that just two weeks prior to this trip, I had somehow ran (literally) into Alex (hi Alex!) who had been on a Yes Theory video switching lives with a stranger from around the world. I had never met Alex in person but we had mutual friends and had exchanged messages before. I recognized him on the trail as we passed each other, then we ran some miles together as if we were old friends. It was the exact same trail the Yes Theory guys had run in the video years before.
Feeling nervous and excited for the video! Don’t know how it’s going to showcase our trip, as the most magical moments weren’t caught on camera. But I hope this story here rubs off on all of us to accept challenges, to make our own challenges, to meet people along the way, and embrace the unplanned parts of our lives. Stay tuned for the next story… completing a 50K ultramarathon.
Love this and needed it at exactly this time! ❤️