On letting go so you can actually enjoy your life

It's been a minute since I last posted here. Life got full, in the way it does, and then I went to Florida to see my family and came back with a lot to think about.

This trip did not go as planned, starting with a delayed flight that nearly made us miss our connection. We ended up cancelling and rebooking on a different airline just to make it work.

Once we landed, the days were full. A twelve hour day at Epic Universe with my partner, sister, nephews and mom, who kept up with every ride and every line without complaint. Family time in Hollywood that ended up being louder and more chaotic than I expected, with multiple generations under one roof for a week.

I had a picture in my head of what this trip would feel like, calm, slow, restorative. That is not exactly what greeted me. I felt that disappointment for a while. Then I reminded myself that feelings are like waves, they come and they go, and I let that one pass instead of holding onto it.

And once I did, the rest of the trip was genuinely wonderful.

We found an Argentinian spot on TikTok called Julieta Bakery and it did not disappoint, delicious food at a great price. My mom, my grandmother and I went to the Hard Rock Hotel Casino in Fort Lauderdale and had the best time playing slot machines together. I reconnected with a friend from my teenage years, which was such a treat. And we went to a Lebanese restaurant in Weston called Habibi Tah that brought back such specific, fond memories of my mom and I eating kibbeh, tabbouleh, baba ganoush and hummus together back in Caracas.

One morning we went to Haulover Beach and the coastline was covered in sargassum, not exactly the postcard image I had in my head when I pictured a beach day in Florida. But a few feet out, past the seaweed, the water turned completely clear and blue. I kept thinking about that the rest of the trip. Sometimes you have to walk through the mess you weren't expecting to get to the part that's actually worth it.

That is what this whole trip turned out to be. Not the version I pictured, but a real one. Loud, chaotic, occasionally frustrating, and ultimately full of the kind of moments that actually give life meaning. Time with my mom and dad. Time with my sister's kids. A meal that tasted like my childhood. A few feet of sargassum standing between me and the water I came for.

I'm learning that letting go of the plan is sometimes the only way to actually be present for what's real.