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There are some things you just know, like… when you picked the right little black dress for that one party. Or, when you picked tots over fries, because really? Tots win every time. Or when you picked the iPhone over… not having an iPhone.
Or that house over the other one, that job over the first one, or that answer instead of this one.
There are times were clarity is so crisp you could bite through it like an apple. When you walk down busy streets with an extra bounce in your step that Classified’s “Anybody Listening” can’t take full credit for. When you smile at the people you pass simply because you can’t wipe that goofy grin off your face. When it’s all you can do not to dance your way from point A to point B (in my case, I was on Michigan Avenue when the spring hit my step).
There are moments in our lives we just know. We just feel from the pores of our skin through the marrows of our bones, we just know we made the right choice. Or at least, the right choice for right now. Because that’s really where it counts, right?
When we chose to pack black shoes instead of brown, walk the two blocks to hang out solo in a busy Irish pub, and get off the train a stop early, just to have more time to walk and take in the city. There are times we decide to cut one trip short to make room for another.
Times when we realize things like how it didn’t just work out that it happened to be a cheap travel weekend, or that there was a Gap down the street when you needed a hat in the rain, or when people change their plotted route to help you find the right train stop.
There are some things in life you just know. Even if you can’t articulate them, even if you can’t even explain them.
It was late November. I was at State and Wacker. Or, more specifically, headed southeast towards State on Wacker, just past the river, when it hit me. Overwhelmingly.
Right that moment, I was exactly where I want to be. Not just in the sense that I enjoy being in Chicago (understatement, I want to rip the clothes off of and do dirty things to this city), but that that moment meant that I had made decisions that led me to this trip, this week – decisions to leave one career path in pursuit of another, decisions to show up and learn something from one of Chicago’s greats, and decisions that brought me here, at what felt like the very beginning of this next turn in my life.
There are moments you just know.
It was November, and I was walking in the cold almost-winter drizzle from my hotel on Michigan Avenue to a small business event with some of my favorite Chicago bloggers. I had my favorite song of the moment coming through my headphones, and I was days out of leaving a secure job for a pursuit of passion over comfort. And while I didn’t know the answers, I knew I was in the right place. I was in the right place at that street corner in Chicago, and I was in the right place in my 26-and-a-half years.
It’s been about six weeks since I danced down Michigan, and I’m finally headed out of this limbo and into the next chapter.
In TWO DAYS, I load up a rented car and head west to Boulder, Colorado for some time of exploring, learning, and growing. I’ve always wanted to spend extended time in a few of my favorite cities, and that journey starts now. I’m a Southern-Belle-turned-Minnesota-girl at heart, but in less than a week? I’m uprooting for a little while.
Wherever you are, be all there.
Well? Right now, I am HERE. And here? Is exactly where I’m supposed to be.
Any particular moment or setting stick out to you in terms of things you just felt yet couldn’t explain? Where were you? Did you start dancing down Michigan Avenue like I did? Will you next time?
Doniree Walker is an aspiring yogini, jet-setter, foodie, and story-teller. She's a writer and geek girl by trade, and a lover and a connector by lifestyle, and is currently obsessed with: train travel, single-serving chocolate milk, and brand new notebooks. Oh, and she's also part supergirl. Wanna be friends? 
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doni i am so excited for you and your move and ah it just makes me so happy how happy you are. and i don't think this post could be any more true about being all there and following your passion, sometimes you just have to risk it to make it and you're doing it and it's amazing.
I tell my kiddos every day, “Today is going to be the best day ever.” And we talk about how having a good attitude and putting a smile on your face- even when your day started out rough- can turn your day into a great one. After all…. Life is all about your attitude. I believe this 100%. I think in my life, I’m in a place where I can teach kids that they are in charge of their fate. As 6 and 7 year olds, they have to learn to make the most of each moment, move on when a friend hurts their feelings, do their best when they’re trying something new, etc. And every now and then, one of them will say something that catches me off guard. Something profound and thought-provoking. Like when one of my students last year commented about Martin Luther King day, “It’s not what you look like that matters. It’s what’s in your heart that counts.” In those moments, I know I’m where I’m supposed to be.
I remember having a pretty amazing moment on Michigan Avenue myself. But for me, this whole year has been a series of moments where I suddenly realize all over again that I am exactly where I need to be. From the outside I'm sure it seems a million times less than perfect but for me? It's just right. It's a wonderful feeling.
I get this feeling about once a week driving to work. I take this beautiful big interstate past protected forests and watch the fog blanket the hills and actually say, out loud, “I can't believe I get to live here.”
I remember having a pretty amazing moment on Michigan Avenue myself. But for me, this whole year has been a series of moments where I suddenly realize all over again that I am exactly where I need to be. From the outside I'm sure it seems a million times less than perfect but for me? It's just right. It's a wonderful feeling.
I tell my kiddos every day, “Today is going to be the best day ever.” And we talk about how having a good attitude and putting a smile on your face- even when your day started out rough- can turn your day into a great one. After all…. Life is all about your attitude. I believe this 100%. I think in my life, I’m in a place where I can teach kids that they are in charge of their fate. As 6 and 7 year olds, they have to learn to make the most of each moment, move on when a friend hurts their feelings, do their best when they’re trying something new, etc. And every now and then, one of them will say something that catches me off guard. Something profound and thought-provoking. Like when one of my students last year commented about Martin Luther King day, “It’s not what you look like that matters. It’s what’s in your heart that counts.” In those moments, I know I’m where I’m supposed to be.
This is so sweet- I'm so glad that you're so certain about this being the right place for you- and from everything I know about it and you, your instincts are great. I can't wait to hear about how in love you are with this place.
While reading this post I could actually see you dancing down Michigan.
I smiled while reading this; I imagine you smiled while writing it.
I can't even say how thrilled/proud/excited I am for you and of you.
congrats on your next chapter, my friend!! so excited/happy for you!!
this is great:
There are moments in our lives we just know. We just feel from the pores of our skin through the marrows of our bones, we just know we made the right choice. Or at least, the right choice for right now.
—
TOTALLY relate to this!! My “epiphany” happened at the end of a struggling relationship. It took a year to percolate but I'm FINALLY headed to Asia in my next chapter. It amazed me how a year ago, I wrote an entry about how I could just 'feel it' in my bones that I needed to travel. Volunteer to travel or just travel! “i know i need to take a journey… something life changing and life altering, bold, independent and amazing.” Reading that just inspires me!
This is so sweet- I'm so glad that you're so certain about this being the right place for you- and from everything I know about it and you, your instincts are great. I can't wait to hear about how in love you are with this place.
While reading this post I could actually see you dancing down Michigan.
I smiled while reading this; I imagine you smiled while writing it.
I can't even say how thrilled/proud/excited I am for you and of you.
congrats on your next chapter, my friend!! so excited/happy for you!!
this is great:
There are moments in our lives we just know. We just feel from the pores of our skin through the marrows of our bones, we just know we made the right choice. Or at least, the right choice for right now.
—
TOTALLY relate to this!! My “epiphany” happened at the end of a struggling relationship. It took a year to percolate but I'm FINALLY headed to Asia in my next chapter. It amazed me how a year ago, I wrote an entry about how I could just 'feel it' in my bones that I needed to travel. Volunteer to travel or just travel! “i know i need to take a journey… something life changing and life altering, bold, independent and amazing.” Reading that just inspires me!
“Wherever you are, be all there.”
I think of you, and this quote, so often.
Haha remember how I called you from this street corner?
–
Doniree Walker
http://doniree.com | @doniree
via iPhone, forgive the typos
“Wherever you are, be all there.”
I think of you, and this quote, so often.
Haha remember how I called you from this street corner?
–
Doniree Walker
http://doniree.com | @doniree
via iPhone, forgive the typos
First of all, tater tots. RIGHT ON.
I don't remember what day it was or where I was or even why the thought came at a certain moment, but it was right around Christmas last year – so about 2.5 months after Eddie and I got back together – that I just got a sense that we were going to be all right. Just… there it was.
Like tater tots, I suppose.
LOVE IT! So true Doni – I actually just wrote a post about really looking back on who you are and what makes you you- and you know- you are the first person that came to mind. Whether it was breaking out our skirts one the first 50 degree day in Wisconsin – or sitting on benches talking rather than heading into class- we always knew what we wanted. We just took a lot of detours before figuring that out!
LOVE YOU! Enjoy CO!
First of all, tater tots. RIGHT ON.
I don't remember what day it was or where I was or even why the thought came at a certain moment, but it was right around Christmas last year – so about 2.5 months after Eddie and I got back together – that I just got a sense that we were going to be all right. Just… there it was.
Like tater tots, I suppose.
LOVE IT! So true Doni – I actually just wrote a post about really looking back on who you are and what makes you you- and you know- you are the first person that came to mind. Whether it was breaking out our skirts one the first 50 degree day in Wisconsin – or sitting on benches talking rather than heading into class- we always knew what we wanted. We just took a lot of detours before figuring that out!
LOVE YOU! Enjoy CO!
i envy you. i never know of anything for sure.
Yes!!
Remember how I adore you?! Today is moving day right?
SO EXCITING!
Sent from Nicole Antoinette's Pretty Little iPhone
i envy you. i never know of anything for sure.
Yes!!
Remember how I adore you?! Today is moving day right?
SO EXCITING!
Sent from Nicole Antoinette's Pretty Little iPhone
It's funny that I read this today, on the day where I post my resolutions because one of them is to “be all here.” No joke.
I love this for you, Doni. This is SUCH a fantastic adventure, and I cannot wait to hear all about your new life in a new city because you're going to be exactly where you need to be. Keep on rocking it, lady!
Love your blog!
I have had a select number of moments like that but I think the ones I remember the most vivdly are the ones where I suddenly realized that what I was doing was not working and I was going to change it right then and there. Powerful stuff!
It's funny that I read this today, on the day where I post my resolutions because one of them is to “be all here.” No joke.
I love this for you, Doni. This is SUCH a fantastic adventure, and I cannot wait to hear all about your new life in a new city because you're going to be exactly where you need to be. Keep on rocking it, lady!
Love your blog!
I have had a select number of moments like that but I think the ones I remember the most vivdly are the ones where I suddenly realized that what I was doing was not working and I was going to change it right then and there. Powerful stuff!
I had a moment after about three months after moving here. I was heading home from somewhere, and I came over this hill where you can see all of the peninsula… and I just KNEW that I was exactly where I was supposed to be. It's so hard to explain, but somehow this place became home and I became home in my skin.
Beautiful post. Absolutely beautiful.
I LOVE that! I remember going up to Duluth, MN frequently in college, and while it was never 'home' to me, it was home to one of the most important people in my life at the time. There's a hill you come over when you enter the city and you can see the Aerial Lift Bridge, and the whole port around that part of Lake Superior when you come over the hill. It's breathtaking, and I just always remember feeling such a sense of peace when I got to that part.
Thanks for the kind words
I had a moment after about three months after moving here. I was heading home from somewhere, and I came over this hill where you can see all of the peninsula… and I just KNEW that I was exactly where I was supposed to be. It's so hard to explain, but somehow this place became home and I became home in my skin.
Beautiful post. Absolutely beautiful.
I LOVE that! I remember going up to Duluth, MN frequently in college, and while it was never 'home' to me, it was home to one of the most important people in my life at the time. There's a hill you come over when you enter the city and you can see the Aerial Lift Bridge, and the whole port around that part of Lake Superior when you come over the hill. It's breathtaking, and I just always remember feeling such a sense of peace when I got to that part.
Thanks for the kind words
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