True Freedom = Only Carry-ons

As many of you know, I’ll be flying home tomorrow to spend time with and support my family. (I’m looking forward to the hugs, laughter, sunshine, and southern food too!)

I love to travel. Love it. And what I love almost as much is planning the trip - booking the flights and choosing the seats, researching hotels, learning about the logistics of being in a new place, and figuring out what I’ll need while I’m there. I look into the weather, terrain, voltage requirements, and events or festivals happening during my stay. In short, I get to build anticipation, and my creativity opens up as I plan to embrace and experience a new space for a little while.

Last week, I quickly did a bit of research to check flight availability and prices. I tuned into my intuition and found my flights. It felt totally aligned, and so I began the process of booking. But halfway through entering my details, I had to stop - I realized the transatlantic flight did not include checked baggage.

My first response? I got really annoyed. Why would you send someone over an ocean and not include a bag to carry what they need for the journey and time in another land? It seemed ridiculous.

And then I took a breath. I asked myself what I really, truly needed for this trip home.
The answer? Very little.

And I had to laugh. My heart opened with the realization that I’d be going home literally without baggage - and it all just felt pretty perfect.

A few years ago, I returned home for the first time in a while (Covid times), and I wanted that trip to be as light and joyful as possible. So I set an intention -

I decided I would go home without labels, roles, or identities.
I wouldn’t be the oldest child, daughter, sibling.
I wouldn’t show up as the Jennifer I was when I was 4, 7, 14, 19 years of age.
I wouldn’t react in the same ways that once pulled me out of my center, ways I would second guess or regret.

The baggage I left behind on that trip was the baggage of fixed identity, determined and set in the past. And while I could sometimes feel myself wanting to revert to old ways of reacting or feeling, I allowed myself enough space and time to discern a better response - the best words, the most aligned reaction.

I healed so much within me.

And so this time, I’m holding similar intentions: heading home unburdened by the stories of the past, or the expectations of who I should be. I’m meditating on what else could evolve, as I return home light - knowing that all I want or need will be there for me, without expectation of how it "should" be.

Over the coming days, I invite you to meditate (with me) on these themes:

• If I released the relational constructs - the expectations of how to behave based on another - what would it be like to simply be me?

• Without the roles I’ve played, what could shift in my thoughts, words, or actions, when I’m no longer playing a part?

• What would it be like to enter an event or a conversation without bringing old trauma responses or projections into it? What would I be able to see, feel, or hear differently, more clearly, more truly?

• How much lighter would I feel if I set down old burdens, released the loops of thought from my mind, and allowed myself to stand tall and show up as I truly am? What would be required of me to do this more, each day?

I believe that on the healing journey, self-liberation is the first step. And it’s a powerful one.

Take some time today - each day - and ask:
What could I liberate myself from in this moment?

You won’t just free yourself. You’ll free those around you, too. That’s true compassion, on every level.

I’m sending each of you blessings for liberation. May you release yourself from all that you carry.

-Jennifer