Semana Santa Part 1: Begin Again

Semana Santa started on Saturday, with a quiet weekend in the city and a short trip to Lake Atitlan.  But on Saturday morning, it seemed to me it started in exactly the wrong way.  It started not with an epic adventure worthy of my last months in Central America, and not with my “best friend,” and not with the person I once convinced myself that my world revolved around. 

But as it turns out, this Semana Santa is not about showing off my travels or adding another country to my list.  And it’s not about spending it with anyone in particular. 
This Semana Santa is about me.  About finding myself again, the person I once was.  
And the first three days have been perfect. 

With the help of two very good friends (whom I think I had sort of forgotten were such very good friends; we’ve seen so little of each other this year), we filled Saturday, Sunday, and Monday to the brim with goodness.  Kenra and Becky and I went out to brunch, we munched popcorn at the movies, we adventured to an adorable part of the city and found new places to fall in love with.  We sampled craft beer and watched the moon come out, we ate wood-fired pizza amidst giggles, and we finished the night wrapped in the dusky lights of my favorite café/bar in the city—a place which is full of old memories, but in a good way, not a painful way.  Then Becky and I traveled to the lake, and even under hazy skies, we marveled at the view across the water, found a patch of sunshine to laze about in, ate more delicious food, and embraced being single and all the possibilities that holds. 

And then, upon returning home, Kenra and I watched the most perfect movie.  If you’ve never seen Begin Again, I highly recommend it.  Beautiful music highlights this incredibly poignant story about staying true to yourself, finding yourself again after life throws a curve ball (or more accurately, when the people in your life change their minds), and loving what you do.  And the final shot—the final smile—that’s what is leaving me most happy tonight. 

My sister arrives tomorrow night.  And though our time together will be much too short, I know that it will be filled with much laughter, much beauty, and many many memories to be made. 
Cheers—
to Semana Santa
to staying true to yourself
to the good life
to you




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