I glanced to my right and let out an astonished chuckle. Shifting in my seat, I looked right again.
The clouds had lowered themselves in such a way that they were somehow part of the sprawling, high desert ground, the northern Nevada mountains peeking out over top. They looked solid yet ethereal. Upside down. A fairytale landscape.
I wondered how many fanciful reasons I could come up with for this sight.
Even the clouds gained weight in 2020…
A giant sky troll got mad and smooshed them down…
A GROUND troll started weight lifting and pushed them UP…
The clouds were hungover, couldn’t get out of bed, and like seriously why are mountains such show-offs anyway…
The mountains were taking a shower and didn’t want road warriors like me to see their, ah, peaks and valleys…
The mountains were getting ready for a grand performance and the clouds were their theater curtain…
Maybe it was the monotonous driving; nine hours with little more than radio static to keep me company. Or the stress of the past year. Or maybe this was just how my brain worked. Either way, a surge of energy swirled around my heart.
There was magic in this moment. Not just because the sight itself was otherworldly. But because it catapulted me into my imagination, a place where time was meaningless and the more something made me giggle, the more valid it was.
Those moments were commonplace in 2019.
When I got back home, I stared at my laptop wallpaper, where I proudly displayed my vision board. A cliché exercise, to be sure, but I’ll be damned if it didn’t produce some of that mountain magic.
In fact, over the past few years, I’ve had to update my vision board regularly because the images on it KEEP COMING TRUE. Usually not in the exact way I pictured, but that’s how the universe works. Wishes are granted through chance encounters, strangers’ smiles, and saying “yes” when all you want to do is sleep.
2020 robbed us of many things, including some of those opportunities to bump into each other, smile, and say, “Yes!” But now the cloud curtains are parting and reminding us that the mountains and magic were there all along.
Happy 2021, Chipmunks.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Go Jules Go 
I love your vision board! May everything and more come true in the most magical and unexpected ways.
Oh thank you so much – and likewise!! This was just the lower right quadrant on my vision board…I didn’t want to scare anyone (and okay maybe I was embarrassed to show the photo of my Paris fantasy engagement…to Leonardo DiCaprio…) 😉
I made it to 11pm before leaving 2020 behind early 🙂
Ha! You are my hero! And even with more chaos swirling in the U.S. right now, I’m still confident love will prevail this year and always 😍
Let it be the rule for all of us this year: saying “yes” when all you want to do is sleep!!!
I’ve never done a vision board… I never really know where to start?
You’re inspiring me because I was thinking about making a video about vision boarding! And I promise you can still sleep even if you say YES to it 😉
Go on then! I’ll be watching it 😉
That “saying yes” motto makes me think of that Netflix film with Jim carrey “Yes Man”… Have you seen it?
Why YES, I have! Ha! And I checked out your collaboration project; so cool! I’m going to try to remember to capture a video during tomorrow’s socially distanced hike 🙂
Awesome!!!!
Guess what?! The vision boarding video is now a reality!!! https://youtu.be/4u6QSBZnhhk
Excellent! Rushing to see it now… well still rushing from my seat really 😉
And baaaam !
https://lesfrenchchronicles.wordpress.com/2021/01/19/the-good-place/
Speaking of video…. I’m working on a collaborative project. Pam from “I Choose This” (I believe you’re good friends if I remember well) is on board too. You(re more than welcomed if you feel like joining in ;-):
https://lesfrenchchronicles.wordpress.com/2021/01/06/collaborative-project/
That time on the train. Sitting in the “quiet” section. Now that’s a vision I’d love to repeat! Could we have laughed any harder? Let’s envision Universal joy in our future! (winky face)
I’ve always wanted to drink around the world in one afternoon… No quiet car on that trip!!!
I’ve never made a vision board. Partially because I’m a natural born slacker and partially because I’m fearful about the ways in which my visions might manifest. In my experience the universe can be a trickster. Happy New Year, btw!
Ha! Ain’t THAT the truth! Although if the universe sent me someone who simply looks like Justin Timberlake, I don’t think I’d send him back… 😉 Happy New Year to you!!
Why is Pitbull wearing sunglasses at night?
So many questions that we can only hope to answer in 2021. Side note: I was not encouraged by the fact that he was 2020’s closing performer, and yet, it felt exactly right.