Take a little trip…
A couple of weeks ago I took a little road trip home. Home is a small migrant farming town in Southwestern, Idaho, named Caldwell. Because of Covid 19 I was limited on the things I could do and people I could visit, so I decided to take a little cruise. If ya’ll don’t know what a cruise is it’s when you get in your car, put on your favorite music, drive a little below the speed limit and just enjoy the ride. A cruise is meant for you to be one with your music, your surroundings and your thoughts. To just BE.
My cruise was through my hometown, listening to songs of my early teen years and reflecting on my life. Where I started, where I am and where I want to be. I cruised past my childhood home. Reflecting on the memories of good times and bad times. The hard work my parents put into building a home for the Valdez familia. Their hopes and dreams invested in each one of us four kids. The basketball hoop my father put in for me still stands, way too high for regulation. Made me laugh and realize that no matter what my parents tried the best they could. I cruised the streets where my homegirls/homeboys and I had nothing better to do but walk throughout the city to get to the next persons house just to chill. I cruised past the basketball courts and baseball fields were I spent most of my summers learning the art of winning and the art of losing. I cruised past the schools that helped mold me into the resilient leader I have become. I cruised past my home I lived in during my failed marriage, where I learned both loss and resiliency. I thought of my family, old friends, mentors and lovers who helped create who I am, Sophia Valdez.
You see I am a deep thinker. A Pisces, water sign, who often gets lost in an ocean of daydreaming. An example: for my 9th birthday my mom bought me the Michael Jackson tape, Heal the World and a Walkman. I swear I listened to that song on repeat and cried. Cried about how big our world is and how it’s by chance that we are born into poverty or wealth and it all seemed so unfair. I still think deeply about the way the universe brings things and people together to create this thing we call life. I love meeting new people, learning new ways of looking at the world and growing in what I choose my world to be. I love that we get the opportunity to learn and unlearn as we see fit, to go about life and just BE who we are and to BEcome who we want to be.
This brings me back to my cruise. I thrust 35 years of life into 20 minutes of driving around my hometown, and what I gained from my cruise was immeasurable. The opportunity to bring myself to my roots and to thank the universe for where I have been and where I am going. To be grateful during a time of uncertainty in the world. To recognize that everything I have and ever will have lies within. When we connect with something larger than ourselves our third eye opens, restoring faith, hope and trust in our self once again.
