Dearest Unravelers and Unravelers-to-Be –
Helloooooo and saludos desde Panamá in the most deliciously peaceful setting. You have to see this scene as I sit here (below). Four year old “Zucchini,” my friend’s dachshund, is cozy on my lap, so desperate to cuddle she somehow doesn’t seem to mind my constant tapping of her tiny head above her as I type. Straight ahead of me — the volcanic black sand beach, the Pacific ocean, and its majestic emerald jewel tones. It’s low tide here at the moment, but I can still hear the waves crashing in the distance. I came here to Playa Guánico to surf. You can see evidence of rash guards and wetsuits nearby along with the book The Women. My friend Kristin Hannah’s gift is writing women’s untold stories of courage throughout history. It’s fitting that this is the book I chose to bring with me on this brave adventure.
This trip deep into Panamá has been years in the making. My friend Leanne, who I first met when I interviewed her for my book HUDDLE (as the founder of LWT or Lesbians Who Tech and Allies), discovered this magical stretch of beach about nine years ago now in her desire to surf. For some of us, taking a vacation and just kicking it in a surf hotel is juuuuust fine. But my friend is a visionary — and also Leanne does not fuck around. She saw this plot of land many years ago and made a promise to herself that she would one day build a home for her, her kids and her Chosen Family. And holy hell, she’s done it, y’all. Lemme tell you, building a home in a remote stretch of beach off the grid — as a woman especially — is not an easy task. I just kept looking at her on this trip: “Leanne, you did it.”
There are girlfriends — and then there’s deep sisterhood. You know it when you’ve got it. The five of us came together this week on a girls trip + surfing adventure + spiritual appointment. Here we are celebrating Leanne’s belated birthday — and yes those are traditional Middle Eastern accessories I’m rocking because we managed to magically time travel to Lebanon while here in Panamá thanks to our new soul sister Jen. She lives in Beirut and in our time here, we’ve learned a little Arabic, French, we’ve belly laughed (and belly danced) and also sat rapt listening to Jen tell stories about bomb blasts and the war. We came to understand why, this trip, Jen made the pilgrimage to Panamá to heal. Talk about an Unraveling. And yet. AND YET. She is a fierce woman’s woman who — despite losing her actual home — is finding her home within. She walks the walk, helping Middle Eastern women free themselves through her own self-liberation.
As we’ve all sat and talked and talked — Jen said something that hit me smack in the gut. And when she said it, I knew instantly this has been biggest learning in my own Unraveling as of late. And I knew I had to share it with you today. Please keep reading or hit the subscribe button below to keep scrolling and learn my massive realization.
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