The ripple Starts With Me

Last week I posted a picture and said I was off to a hot yoga class.

Nothing earth-shattering.

Just me taking a shower, putting on makeup and going to yoga.

The next day, when I arrived at another class, I saw an old friend I hadn’t seen in 10 years.

She was there for her very first yoga class.

At 67.

And she told me she came because of my post.

The post that I almost didn’t make.

Because who cares that I took a shower, put makeup on and went to yoga?

She did.

And that stopped me in my tracks.

Yoga changed my life.

And maybe now it will change hers.

We started talking, and she shared that she is in the beginning stages of the divorce process, just as I was a few months ago.

I’m still navigating my own divorce and all that comes with it.

Two women, unexpectedly reunited after 10 years, both standing at the beginning of a new chapter.

I couldn't have planned that if I tried.

Sometimes I wonder if I’m oversharing.

I wonder if people really want to hear about my life, my divorce, my yoga, my struggles, my discoveries.

And then something like this happens.

That little bit of transparency.

That little bit of vulnerability that I put out into the world.

It reaches someone.

And I realize that maybe I don't need to know who is listening.

I just need to be willing to share.

Connections are all around us.

And connection has become one of the biggest parts of my own healing.

Yoga gives me a connection to myself through the breath, the movement and the meditation.

It gives me connection to my fellow yogis and to a community.

There is connection with family.

With friends.

With my community.

And then there are the connections we don't even know are happening.

I think of it like throwing a pebble into a pond.

You throw it out into the world and watch the ripples spread.

Sometimes the ripple comes back to you in the form of a friend you haven't seen in 10 years.

Sometimes it reaches someone you may never meet.

Sometimes someone comments on social media and tells you that something you shared made them feel less alone.

And sometimes they never say a word.

But maybe something shifted for them anyway.

Maybe they tried the yoga class.

Maybe they made the phone call.

Maybe they finally admitted that they aren't happy.

Maybe they took one small step toward the life they want.

We rarely know the impact we have on other people.

That's why I've decided I will continue to share with transparency and vulnerability.

Not because I think everyone needs to know everything about me.

But because I believe there is value in being real.

In saying, “This is where I am.”

In letting people see that life doesn't always look neat and tidy.

That starting over can be messy.

That healing isn't linear.

That you can be 67 and walk into your very first yoga class.

Or 63 and begin creating a completely new life.

It's never too late to take the next step.

And maybe that's the lesson for me.

The ripple starts with me.

I don't get to decide how far the ripples will go.

I just get to decide whether I'm willing to throw the pebble.

And being quiet was never really a part of who I am anyway.

Every report card I got for 12 years remarked on how “chatty” I was.

Maybe they were onto something.

Maybe being chatty isn't a flaw.

Maybe it's one of my gifts.

So here I am.

Still talking.

Still sharing.

Still throwing pebbles.

And hoping that somewhere, someone needs to see the ripple.