Before I ever set foot on Norman Manley Boulevard I was looking for something even though I had absolutely no idea what it was. Every moment leading up to my arrival had a label. I was a mother, daughter, wife, friend, employee and associate but I still felt like a part of me was missing and unclaimed. I walked around and lived my life feeling more like an observer than a participant. And, although I was surrounded by people who loved me and whom I loved back, I didn’t or couldn’t find that same emotion WITHIN myself, FOR myself. However, after I entered the resort and the hesitancy faded, (and it will) I began to do more than just look around. I began to look WITHIN. And in doing so, I found my inner compass. And because of that, I went from feeling lost, to being found. I didn’t just see GENUINE smiles. I had one on my face as well. I wasn’t just listening to ACTUAL laughter. I was laughing out loud as well. And I wasn’t just witnessing sincere acts of kindness, I was experiencing it first hand. Not only with my eyes but with my whole soul.
I wasn’t just on a vacation, I was altering everything I knew about myself in the most amazing of ways. It’s not just about taking your clothes off and stepping outside your door. It’s about stripping away the layers that weigh you down and stepping outside of yourself. There will be moments where you hear the sound of genuine happiness so pure and profound that you have to stop what you’re doing just so you can find where it’s coming from, only to realize that the joy is coming from YOU. The happy is radiating out of you.
I want to say that there is a “letting go” process when you check in, but it’s so effortless and so magical, you don’t even know it’s happening until you look at yourself in the mirror and barely recognize the person looking back at you.Gone is the stress and worry and every day exhaustion that comes from just living life and in it’s place is this sun kissed, wind blown, bright eyed reminder that there’s still good in you. Underneath the insecurity and doubt there’s still this beautiful creature who loves and is loved. And, you just can’t put a price on that re-introduction. For some, Hedonism is a place to go and let the inner sinner out after living life the rest of the year like a saint. And no matter what you achieve when you’re there, as long as you get there…everything is everything. However, for those like me, who go as a stranger to themselves and leave with an entirely new identity that they can’t wait to get to know and spend more time with…you just can’t put a description or hashtag on that.
It is more than a resort and it’s more than “just a place”. It’s a rejuvenation. A rebirth of the YOU that you were always meant to be. It just took spending some time wrapped in the embrace of the caribbean, wearing nothing but what you came into this world with, surrounded by some of the most amazing people on the planet, to really see it for yourself. But don’t just take my word for it. Or even the word of the thousands upon thousands who have visited and become reborn as well.
Just Go. Don’t look back, forget what you know and thank me later. I look forward to meeting the brand new you when you get back.