Final takeaways

A lot has happened to me and for me over the past month. I had the opportunity to work on personal growth and healing. I got to submerse myself in a beautiful city and it's surroundings, filled with rich culture, and amazing sights/sites, people, food, and energy. I gained so much from my experiences in Peru. The value cannot be measured. I was filling so many cups that satisfied my thirst for new experiences and interacting outside of the US.

When I started this series of posts, my intention was to document my experience working with ayahuasca. After the retreat, as I documented the remainder of my trip to Peru, I was pleasantly surprised by how my week in Cusco seemed to be more profound and life learning for me, compared to the week of my retreat, where I participated in three ayahuasca ceremonies. It's also not possible to determine how much of my life-invigorating week in Cusco was also due to the ayahuasca still working in me. My guess is that the ayahuasca was still playing a big role, which is what made the week in Cusco so much more profound to me.

I also believe that mostly being by myself for the week in Cusco was helpful in processing my entire trip, and contemplating what life looks like for me moving forward. I also liked being able to journal my experiences as a way to process my thoughts and feelings. It allowed me to take a step back from everything and take it all in, but with sips, instead of gulps. No overwhelm. No overthinking. No doom. No gloom. It was refreshing to feel a sense of freedom to let go of the past and embrace the now. I felt like I was able to untether myself from an outdated version of me.

Having had all that time to sit with my thoughts and feelings, I was also able to understand how the upcoming chapters in my life will be shaped by the decisions I am currently making. I have an opportunity to implement and create an updated version of myself, by taking actions and steps toward what I aspire to do. Or, I can choose the security of my comfortable existence, that, for me, only seems to check boxes of complacency, which no longer serves me.

If I am truly looking to make the most out of the second half of my life, it will require me to take steps that may feel uncomfortable at first, but only because it's unfamiliar. It should also be exciting, as it was for me in Cusco. I rarely felt uncomfortable. I felt comforted by my experiences, more than anything. I was able to see the common connection shared by people from all over the world, and all different upbringings. I imagine some people get it more than others. That inner-knowing that we are all sharing this same experience, originating from the same place we all come from, no matter who you are. That is something I was strongly reminded of during the week of the retreat, especially during the final ceremony.

The more I realize we are all doing life together, through separate vantage points, the more I want to help as many people as possible, improve their overall quality of life and wellbeing. That was the validating sense of purpose I was feeling while in Peru, and ever since I returned. I feel blessed to have a purpose to fulfill, and I feel like there are new avenues to explore, and more opportunities to seize. I also see it is a duty or responsibility. I simply must be willing to take those steps in the the right direction, as uncomfortable as they may seem at first. I understand it's necessary for growth and creating positive change in my life.

This is my final post for the "Working with Ayahuasca," series of posts. Thank you for following along over the past couple months. I will be starting up Much Better Me posts on May 29th. I will be making brief (3-5 minute) posts every Wednesday. If you have not subscribed to the blog, you can do so at the bottom of this page. My mission is to help as many people as possible level up their quality of life and wellbeing. Whatever that may look like for you, I want to help you get there. We are all doing life together. Let's level it up together, so we can make the most of life, or at the very least, make it much better.

Keep creating a much better you. You deserve the best.

I will leave you with additional pictures I took on my trip from the ATV tour to the Sacred Valley and random shots from my week in Cusco.