Living in the Present: Family, Growth, and the Beauty of Coexistence
While you can’t control (nor would you want to) the perspectives of others, you can focus on optimism, highlight the opportunity, and use positive language to inspire. We painted a vision of a happy future for everyone if we all collaborated with good spirits.
The last days of August are here, and we’ve just returned to our home base in Ireland after spending a few truly wonderful weeks on holiday in our motherland, Greece. This year’s trip was different in many ways—some of which I’ll share in this post, while others will be saved for future stories.
When I first introduced this blog, site, newsletter—whatever you want to call it—I intentionally included a section on family. Over the years of my adult life (and even those earlier years, though my memories there are a bit hazy), family has always been at my core. For many years, it acted as a kind of negative gravity, pulling in and projecting a lot of internal and external toxicity. But during my years of transformation, it became a lighthouse, guiding me toward hope for a better future.
In every context, family continues to offer me learning experiences—both through examples I’ve learned to observe, recognize, and avoid, and through new areas I’m eager to explore and experiment with. This example reflects more of the latter—a better version of myself that I’ve come to embrace since finding the strength and courage to begin healing old wounds, even if only indirectly.
End-of-summer reflections have always been my thing, but this year, one experience stands out above the rest: for the first time ever, we spent our family vacation with my parents-in-law—a journey that added a new layer of meaning to our time together.
