I Can't Help Falling In Love

Asha
Jan 11, 2018
4 min read

This city continues to amaze me.

Yesterday, I woke up in a weird mental space. This happens to me from time-to-time and leaves me feeling uncomfortable. I think it happens to a lot of people but I choose to talk about things nowadays because I don't want to decay from despair. I want to practice healing and fully experience life! If I'm going to be completely honest with you, I have to be transparent. Yesterday, I just felt like there was no joy in my spirit. I was low -- like, sunken.

Although I woke up to a million negative thoughts in my mind that morning, I tried my darnedest to beat each of them back into the recesses of my mind. One thing that is true about me: I am a fighter. It may take me a moment to gather myself but I won't go down with the ship! I tried to tell myself good things are coming to me in this life. But it was a struggle.

Usually when I start feeling down or defeated, I run to nature. I feel like I've mentioned this before in one of my previous blog posts but, if not, I'll say it again. People see me posting about church quite often -- I'm very involved there. I serve, I lead, I go to fellowship and connect with others. Being in the presence of like-minded individuals who aren't perfect, but are trying to do the best they can, is energizing to me. But, my God doesn't just live in those walls. He was never confined by walls in life, so neither will He be in death nor eternal life. My God lives in creation. So, when I'm beat-down or broken, I go into nature. I seek to reconnect with all He formed in the natural world. That's where I go to really have my heart-to-hearts with God. That's where I resent, find my peace, and do my best healing.

By the time I made it to work, I noticed one of my colleagues didn't seem like her cheery, chipper self. So, I stopped to inquire about her troubles. It's crazy: she described feeling just like I was that morning.

"Would you like to go for a walk?" I asked her.

"Ok," she responded, " I can show you the secret path Lil and I take."

A secret path? What?! Oh! The curious kitten inside me immediately woke up from her slumber.

"There's a secret path?" I inquired.

"Well, it's not really a secret path but it's through the residences," she replied, coming alive at my interest. "It's scenic," she added.

We gathered a few small belongings: cell phones, lip balms, a knapsack of the burdens that were weighing us down, and headed out on an adventure.

"This should only take 15 minutes," my colleague said looking at the Apple watch on her wrist. "We timed it before."

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We began to walk.

The Dilworth neighborhood of Charlotte is really lovely. It's one of my favorite places in this entire city.

The old brick homes and sleepy oak trees have an old-world feeling that I always connect to. I feel deeply rooted in the south and it being among the foliage begins to breathe air back into my lungs. The more we walk, the more we talk, the more I see, the more wind I feel -- the more I come alive.

And then I discovered the best thing a girl could find at that moment: a free library erected in the yard of a home for sale. A home I could only ever dream of owning.

My heart began to overflow with joy. Immediately, happiness returned to me. It's always the little things that sets my soul on fire.

It's a discovery as simple as a free library exchange, where people come and take a book to read and leave one for someone else, that makes my spirit dance. It's the wind on my face. It's the fact that other people in this little big city are sharing with and giving each other positive experiences without even knowing it (or each other) that flipped my world right-side up.

It was just what I needed. It's funny how nature always leads me to the remedy for my weariness. It's all about perspective.

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After standing there for a few minutes, looking through titles and snapping a few pictures to share with you all, my colleague and I walked on.

We walked away from that min library with satisfaction. We walked into the remainder of our day with our spirits shifted and lifted. We walked on into a beautiful day.

It's crazy how Charlotte continues to heal me. This city knows me oh-so-well. It's bizarre how a place I've known for so short a time feels like a treasure trove of comfort.

Wise men say, only fools rush in. But I can't help falling in love with her.

Enjoy the pictures of the free library in the gallery below!

Blessings!

-A