Labris Willendorf's Blog: How I Became The Love of My Life

I’ve been contemplating joy lately. What is living and loving your best life?
How do we become in love with our life? With who we are as a human?
What could you do today to step in the direction of a dream you’re determined ( whether you know it or it’s formulating)to turn into your reality?
I'm so excited to share my book with the world and it might sound like too big of a goal but then why have dreams if they’re not going to be huge?!?
What amazement can we can create for ourselves and be a witness to others who create?
My one thing I did today was visit two bookstores to see if they’d carry my book. One only carried used books and the other said they’d take a copy and take a look! I have my book psychically in 3 book stores and now maybe 4!! This is all because I have asked. Always ask, you might get a no, but if you don’t, it’s already a no, and if you do, you could get a glorious yes!!
Happy weekend everyone!!
Yes!!

It’s been a little over a week since I celebrated my 46th birthday and I’m reminded of the first birthday I spent traveling. I was on the Camino with Mark and Alyson and we splurged for a nice hotel and a delicious dinner. I had never felt so scrumptious in a bed as I did after walking 12-20 miles daily for almost a week. Those soft clean sheets, yummy!!
It’s the little things that we take for granted. When these homey, standard things we don't even usually notice are gone, we realize how vital they are to our joy. I love Hot Showers and a clean toilet!!
I remember sitting on my bed with throbbing ankles, blurry vision and exhaustion I had never experienced.
But, underneath all of that, the sense of accomplishment, the Knowing that I had gotten myself from town to town with my own feet for days, is something I will carry with me through the rest of this life.
Looking over my shoulder at the end of a day to see the vibrant green, sheep patched hills or cityscapes I had walked through, I could physically see how far I had come. It was a lightbulb in my soul that boldly turned on. I could do so much in just one day.
I remind myself of that now when I’m home whittling away time on my phone. How much could I really be creating, sharing, experiencing? This adventurer is ready. I'm listening and the wildness is calling...

It was the morning of April 16th, exactly 7 years ago! The day I was leaving to fly to France to begin walking the Camino de Santiago. Sitting up in bed, I was suddenly so overcome with nerves and doubts. What was I thinking?!? I had never been to Europe and on my own not knowing really any French and a little Spanish. Ahhh!! I went to the kitchen to make some tea and as I looked above the sink to my left was a gorgeous, full seashell on the kitchen windowsill. I’m sure it had been there for years but I had never really seen it. The shell is the symbol of the Camino. In the moments it took my brown eyes to blink, I knew I was on the right track. I was going to walk, The Way, and it was the only way for me.
There have been many synchronistic times in my life since that morning. When things fall into place over and over, when it’s easy and there is no struggle, I pay attention. Those are the time’s I’m doing what my soul is here for.
My flights went smoothly and the place I stayed with Alyson and Mark was quaint with a funny French man and his adorable, long haired black and white dog. My trip was off to an amazing start and something in me knew this was the beginning of getting back to me.
In future posts I'll jump around a bit but I thought it'd be a fun look back at where my trip began as it was one of the main focuses of, How I Became The Love of My Life.

A spoonful of raspberry and dark chocolate sorbet prances on my tongue. It's a bright day at the beach. I'm reminded of Barcelona and how much I absolutely adored my time there.
After my marriage imploded, I found the strength that had been buried under years of Yeses to her and Nos to me, the only thing that made sense was to walk the Camino de Santiago.
Now, that probably sounds bizarre. Um, the only thing that made sense was to walk 500 miles in Northern Spain on a catholic pilgrimage when I'm not even religious? In a word, Yep!
I had flung myself heart first into an entirely different life and honestly had no idea what I was doing or what I was capable of. I got up everyday, went to work, came home, saw friends occasionally, repeat.
The notion of relying on myself was what my soul guided me to do. It was the only way.
So, I began my training. I knew I couldn't simply walk 500 miles. Like, hey, let's go for a 500 walk over the next few weeks, great! Uh... no girl,no.
My friends Alyson and Mark were also going to be walking the Camino in the fall and I the following spring. For months we walked increasing miles one weekend day a week. I also began to go to the gym and enter 5k and even a 10k.
I had never thought of myself as athletic. Growing up, I was a chubby girl. I had placed - along with others'- a stigma of unhealthy, fat and nonathletic on myself. Those were lies. With each step counted on my fitbit and trip to the gym, I began to change my perception of myself. I realized I was athletic! Having curves didn't have anything to do with being in shape and healthy. I was run/walking 5-8 miles at the gym several times a week and toward the end of my training, I was up to a 15 mile hike.
Alyson and Mark postponed their trip due to an injury and I believe it was meant to be that we all started the Camino together. We left in April of 2014 on the adventure that would change my entire life.

Hello! This is Labris Willendorf, author of, " How I Became The Love of My Life." I am beaming to share my adventures with you! You'll read the vivid, pitiful, curvy, silly, sensexual and all the in-between growth and shenanigans!
Let's do this!
I'd love to start out with everything being apple pie with a giant scoop of vanilla ice cream but it wasn't that way. I started writing when I finally dug deep enough to encounter the little bit of courage buried underneath "Everything is fine" smiles.
It was a few years after I left my wife of almost 14 years. I was meditating and the the the recording of Deepak Chopra asked what it was that I really wanted to do, that I hadn't shared with anyone. the answer came to me instantaneously: write a book.
A few weeks later my friend Tiffany was over and we were talking about dreams and drinking wine, eating tortilla chips or something less healthy, and it took all my strength to tell her. I was so full of shame, anxiety, that she would laugh, or worse, think I was so full of myself. She was the exact Opposite! She was so encouraging and even gave me the name and number of a writing teacher! I called him and ended up enrolling in his book completion class! Andy Couturier was the most amazing mentor, friend and teacher. I even went on a writing retreat with him and 6 other to Guatemala, but that's for another day!
For all of you writers that are scared of sharing your thoughts, beauty and unique magic with others, I encourage you from my sparkly soul, Do It! Write!!
Now I'm off to Do It, too!
Until next time!
Joyfully,
Labris



Labris Willendorf
How I Became the Love of My Life