Free Spirit - Embrace Your Wanderlust

“At age 22, I left Italy to embark on what should have been a one-year adventure,” recalls Cristina Zenato, my sea sister in the Women Divers Hall of Fame.  

I arrived on Grand Bahama island to learn how to scuba dive. I fell in love with the island life. Thanks to the five languages I speak and a random choice I made, I decided to stay and work in the local hotel while scuba diving for fun.

I intended to return to Italy and resume a more standardized life with what many came to define as a "real job." It was twenty-eight years ago, and I am still here on the same island.

Many times people ask me when I am going to settle down.

They do not refer to the location; they refer to the fact that I have not followed a more traditional way of living.

There is nothing wrong with settling, having children, and following a lucrative career, but it was never for me.

I owe it to my family and their love and acceptance of wanderlust. The dictionary defines wanderlust as the desire to travel. Still, I believe that wanderlust is "A feeling where the border between escape and exploration becomes a blur, and where unendurable frustration finally pushes you from motion into action."

Wanderlust is not only about the movement of the body, physical travel, and constant change; wanderlust is primarily the experience of the mind.

I live a life of exploration right on the same island. I am fortunate enough to have a physical part of exploring the unknown I find in the meanders of underground, underwater caves I visit daily.

It is also the exploration of the known. The feeling of wanderlust leads to the most life-changing experiences of our future.

We need to clear our minds of expectations and embrace the energy that allows us to transform frustration into action. To fulfill our free spirit, we do not need to accomplish the impossible; we need to nurture our curiosity and creativity, listen to our questions, and seek answers.

Awakening our childlike curiosity will lead to the expression of our free spirit, away from the shackles of judgment, shame, or even worse, remorse.  

So, for the July Manifestation Box I prepared you tools to help feel those itchy feet and follow your free spirit, embrace wanderlust.

Stay strong, stay positive! Love, Szilvia