Taking Life with Chances

I call it reentry because that’s honestly what coming home from a multi-day festival feels like.

You have to adjust back into the real world.

In festival world, people are free to be whoever they want to be. There’s very little judgment.

Most people are kind, looking out for one another, helping when needed, apologizing when they bump into you or need to move past you in a crowd.

You spend an entire weekend connecting with strangers at hotels, on shuttles, in food lines, or while standing next to each other watching a set.

Everyone is sharing the same experience in some way.

There’s a lot of love in festival world that unfortunately doesn’t always translate into everyday life.

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Then you combine all of that with the physical toll these weekends take on you.

Lack of sleep.

Dehydration.

Not eating enough or eating like complete trash.

Coming back to normal life can feel like a huge jolt to the system.

At least it always has for me.

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This return home has felt a little different though.

Instead of completely crashing afterward, I’ve been trying to take care of myself in the ways I know actually help me.

Getting outside and enjoying the beautiful spring weather.

Eating full meals again.

Getting my sleep schedule back on track.

Returning to the gym.

Trying to hold onto the good parts of the experience instead of immediately falling back into old thought patterns.

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I think this weekend also reminded me that I still have things I want to do.

Ideas I want to explore.

And honestly, probably the ones that scare me the most are the ones I should lean into harder.

Which is uncomfortable.

Because if I’m being honest, leaning into healthier choices or positive thinking doesn’t always come naturally to me.

The negative thoughts weirdly feel safer sometimes.

More familiar.

And it still amazes me how easy it can be to fall back into those patterns, even when I know they don’t actually make me feel better in the long run.