Best Self Magazine

Moonshot Magic: Declaring & Committing to Something Extraordinary

Moonshot Magic: Declaring & Committing to Something Extraordinary by Amy Elizabeth Gordon. Photograph of a starry sky over a tree by Daniel Olah
Photograph by Daniel Olah

One woman’s journey to an extraordinary life — from addiction and disconnection to seizing life in all of its sacredness, opportunity and exquisite beauty 

There is tremendous sacredness in the seemingly mundane. Ordinary life avails us ample opportunities to connect with a deeper appreciation and grounded sense of gratitude. From this place, ordinary life, I fully recognize that Source sources me. 

Living in Hawaiʻi has granted me the opportunity to find the peaceful paradise within myself. Sure, the outside conditions are exquisite here in this tropical and abundant beauty. 

Yet there is truth in the notion of no escape; wherever we go, there we are. 

When we moved here we brought some things that remind me that we can manufacture our own suffering, wherever we happen to be (epic sunsets and all). Though I left my under-wire bras, nail polish and hair dye on the mainland, some pesky bad habits came along with me. The heavy baggage of impatience, lack of financial freedom and speediness have been unwelcome and fodder for further personal transformation. 

We also brought my husband’s parents and the baggage of that reality. 

Photograph of a cloud in the sky at sunset in Hawai'i

We choose love and Aloha over drama and trouble and I committed to not having a typical mother-in-law relationship fraught with uneasiness. So we did this incredible jump across the ocean to an island in the middle of the mighty Pacifc, and along with our young boys, we all set the mighty Moonshot declaration of the “Grand ʻOhana” experiment. 

We share our resources, we multiply our joys and divide our sorrows and we generate as much laughter in this challenging cohabitation as possible. 

The benefits outweigh the costs. A few examples follow to illustrate this. We, as, teacher. We each care for ourselves and we also tend to the space between us. 

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