Denise M
Photographer, writer, traveler!
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Travel and Wellness Change makers ✊🏽 🐱 & 🐶 parents We are a couple who believe that travel, challenging yourself and authentic and real connections with others is the key to living a life of wellness.
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Instead of asking myself what I want my home-to-be to look and feel like, I have spent most of the build basing it off of other builds that I really like. I also want to come together with Reed and create a vision that is based on what we both want our home to feel like. Reed and I will offer up ideas left and right, and as we go, the ideas get more and more out there and by the end, we are laughing so hard that we are in tears. It’s nice to break from the stress and rigor of a project like this and remember to reconnect and have fun!
About a month ago, my best friend, Devon, told me that he would be visiting his partner in Lebanon. Very quickly his plan to travel to Lebanon to visit, became him buying a one-way ticket and promising to return in a few months. I have always been intrigued by what lies beyond North America, a part of the world that I have called home for so long, but I have to admit, there are parts of the globe that I know very little about. They have remained grey areas on the world map in my mind, and Lebanon would most likely have remained that way if it wasn’t for my deep desire to understand the place that my best friend would soon call home.
About a month ago, my best friend, Devon, told me that he would be visiting his partner in Lebanon. Very quickly his plan to travel to Lebanon to visit, became him buying a one way ticket and returning in a few months. At the time, I didn’t want to believe that to be true, so I basked in the pretty thought that he was visiting and did n’t but a round trip ticket because he was going for an undetermined about of time
I was talking to my counselor the other day (a sentence I say a lot), and I was telling her about my negative self-talk. I thought that after I wrote the post “Compassion Is Key: Words from my 16-year-old self that still ring true today” or 11 Steps to Eliminate Negative Self Talk OR How To Eliminate Your Inner Critic that I would be better at… this. She suggested that I think of one way that I can chip away at my negative self-talk. What is one thing that you will do to help eliminate your negative self-talk or whatever is standing in your way?
🚐+🐱+🐶+👩🏾🤝👨🏻=🕺🏻💃🏾 We did it! We have successfully driven our van to Colorado. . We gave the animals a tour the other day and Rita 🐱 was skeptical but I told her to trust me, I have a vision and she’s gonna love it. . It’s kind of surreal to be at this point, to have your dream collide with reality. It’s probably why I’ve had a fit of uncontainable giggled the past week or so. . I know our work is just beginning but I also now know that my dream is obtainable, and that’s a pretty awesome feeling. . This dream isn’t just for me though. I want all the dreamers thinking that they can’t do something because they don’t see others like them doing it, to dream big anyway. I’m not saying it’s easy, and there may be barriers to entry, but I believe in you. . Thank you to the many amazing people that I have been able to look up to, who are doing the thang and who gave me the courage and support to dream big. A few include irietoaurora howsheviewsit go_barefoot zoe_rayor diversityvanlife worldschooln_wanderers gnomadhome wheretheroadforks__ and SO MANY MORE AMAZING HUMANS!!!! . Time to put my hard hat on and get to work! #blackvanlife #behinningthebuild #dreamscometrue #vanlife
We’re pretty stressed right now. . In a month, our lives completely change. In a month, we will have quit our jobs. In a month, we say goodbye to our place in Boulder. In a month, we exchange a house that we share with roommates to less than 12 feet of space. . Last night Reed turned to me as I was drifting off to sleep and asked: “Are we crazy?” My eyes popped open, and I was restless the rest of the night. #thankyouverymuchboo. . Are we crazy? Short answer, I don’t think so? . Yet, here we are, asking all the anxiety and panic riddled questions in the middle of the night👀 . In college, I dreamed of traveling full time, but I waved it away, thinking it wasn’t truly a possibility. Yet here I am, making it happen. . That's beautiful af, but it’s not always easy. . I also want to remind myself of my privilege to be in this position. The privilege to make this choice. The fact that we have this opportunity at all is my younger self's dream come true. . I also want to be as transparent as I can be, and sometimes working to build a life that brings you joy is hard, and those two things can exist at the same time. Finding this community was a dream come true! And as excited as we are... we're also stressin’ our to-do list. . Nonetheless, I do my best to be immensely grateful for this choice and be in the moment as much as I can. . But on hard days, I think about moments like these right here, with you reedrambo_ my happy place.
I’m proud of the person you’ve become because you fought to become him. . You are stronger than you know and braver than you think. . So proud of your many accomplishments reedrambo_ ⠀⠀ #365daysofsobriety #soberlife #selfgrowthjourney #selfgrowth
“Where are we going?” “I don’t know but it’s going to be an adventure.” ⠀⠀ The countdown begins. . At the end of February, we will be heading to Atlanta. . From Atlanta, we will be driving to Southern Colorado to begin our build. It doesn’t seem real, and yet it is. . We have been stressed, excited, nervous, anxious, and everything in between. We have a million things to do and so little time to do them. . Yet, I feel like we are at the start of something, something huge. I don’t just mean the upending of our lives as we know it... I mean the stepping into ourselves. . The acceptance of my mission and purpose and actualization of myself. . For so long I have been the person who is afraid to ruffle feathers, to be my authentic self, for fear of conflict or causing others discomfort. . Here I am, alongside Reed as we pull ourselves out of our comfort zones and into a remarkable adventure. I can’t help but stare in awe at this person that I’m becoming. . I love her. . The adventure is only just beginning. . . #adventurethatislife #exploreeverywhere #lifeofadventure #adventurespirit #travelnow
What If? What if religion was each other? If our practice was our life? If prayer was our words? What if the temple was the Earth? If forests were our church? If holy water - the rivers, lakes, and oceans? What if meditation was our relationships? If the Teacher was life? If wisdom was knowledge? If love was the center of our being. - Ganga White ⠀⠀ #asana #healthyliving #meditation #yoga #yogainspiration #yogisofinstagram #healthyhappylife
Its just hair, it will grow back. I repeated in my head over and over again. . I turned the words into a mantra as I sat in the salon chair and watched my hair tumble to the ground around me. . Its just hair, it will grow back. I thought, squeezing my eyes shut, but let’s examine that a little more, shall we? . On January 3rd 2020, I cut my hair. It was a big deal for me. . Yes, its just hair, but I had been trying to grow it out for YEARS while simultaneously having a deep urge to cut it short. . So what had been holding me back for so long? Why did I have such conflict over something as “simple” as hair? . The conflict had more to do with my inner desires vs. society’s standards. I think about when I told a friend I was cutting hair while Reed was growing his out; they had said: “oh so Reed is going to be more feminine and you will be more masculine.” . Underlying my decision to cut my hair was an idea of gender norms. We were breaking society’s standards of male and female presentation. . Well, I have always been one to push back and question the norms that, as a society, we police and uphold without conscious acknowledgment. So that settled it, I would cut off my hair. . With the hair that tumbled onto my shoulders, my goal was to also let go of the ideas I grew up with around beauty. A hefty goal, but hey, you gotta start somewhere. . I was cutting ties with the obsessive ways that I have tried to force myself into conformity. . Since cutting my hair, I have felt freer than I have in a long time. I explore it more in a recent blog post on my website. . The takeaway is to say f*c# you to the ways that we are told who to be, and how to look. Do what feels right to YOU. . FINAL THOUGHTS a reminder that *REPRESENTATION MATTERS* A month before I cut my hair, zozitunzi of South Africa was crowned Miss Universe. Is it a coincidence that after YEARS of debating whether I would cut my hair, that I did it after I saw her win? . Probably not. . FINAL FINAL THOUGHTS I want to acknowledge the privilege in us being able to break gender norms and yet still sit comfortably in our cis privileges.
Today I’m holding the ones I love a little tighter and reminding myself to be grateful for this present moment. 💜💜💜
☀️ Missing warm summer yoga days right about now.
“Are we lost?” “Nah, we’re just figuring it out as we go” 🤷🏽♀️🤷🏻♂️
The month is nearly over, and fittingly, I have decided that now is the time to share my 2019 year in review. . I’ve always had impeccable timing...😅 . 2019 was a year of change. Of flux, and growth, and strain, and resilience. . I decided the best way to conceptualize this messy year was to write it out. Here are the biggest takeaways: 1. There’s only one key to success, follow through. (Follow through takes consistent action, resilience, and so much more. It’s not easy, but it’s necessary). 2. Self-care is essential. 3. STOP COMPARING YOUR JOURNEY TO ANYONE ELSES. . I wrote a blog post expanding on my 2019 takeaways. (Link in bio). . I hope by sharing them and putting them into the world, they hold me accountable and remind some of you to keep going, trust yourself and remember that you aren’t alone. Let’s walk together 💜 . #growthmindset #mindshift #healthyminds #selfgrowth #selfmotivation #selfawareness #personalgrowth
It’s Sunday, so it’s yoga day . 🧘🏾♀️ 🧘🏻♂️ . Every week for the past few months, Reed has been teaching our friends yoga on Sunday evenings. . It’s become a tradition that we both (and those who join us) cherish greatly. . Its been amazing to witness his confidence butterfly before my eyes. I’ve also seen the change in energy in our friends before and after a session. If it reminds me of how important it is for all to take time to focus inward. . Reed says it beautifully in the piece he wrote on our blog (link in bio), “walking out of the studio I still had all of the problems I had when I walked in, yet they all seemed manageable now.” . I’ve seen Reed take the pillars of yoga and seek to honor the lifestyle of the practice, instead of merely the practice itself. Aiming to stay true to its founding principles that go much deeper than a way to keep in shape. It’s also a mental shift, a lifelong process. . As Reed puts it, “Life will never be easy, nor will it always be hard. If we can learn to live in balance with ourselves, humankind, and nature, we can reach true happiness.” . Follow Reed reedrambo_ to watch his yogi journey unfold. . -Denise . #holisticliving #liveinspired #mindfulliving #nourishyourself #wellbeingworrior #innerself #innerwork #yoga #healthyliving #asana #yogapractice