Stepping out of my comfort zone

There is so much comfort in driving along the same street listening to the same music! A deep feeling of familiarity is sweetly spreading in my chest with every sound of a piano variation on the Kanon by Johann Pachelbel performed by George Winston. As I am driving on Oakwood St. all the way from La Cienega until I turn left on Citrus and continue on Rosewood to cross Highland at the convenient street-light and find myself in a quiet corner of Hancock park area where I've lived for the past 2.5 years. It's longer than I lived anywhere else in this country since I came here in August 2006 from Moscow, Russia.

I just dropped off my visiting girl-friends at the Beverly Center and got back home to finish up some things and to prepare a little Marilyn Monroe tour for them. Later this afternoon we will be driving along the places where she used to live in Los Angeles. I like to share with my friends my love and appreciation for this beautiful woman...

As I was driving home I suddenly started praying "Please God, help me with everything. Make sure that everything goes smoothly before and during my trip to Kilimanjaro!" Now that my physical preparation is officially over and the only thing left to do is to pack my gear/clothes into a duffel bag and a day-pack, I decided that there is no need to sit at home the whole next week and wait for the day of my departure on Saturday, January the 22nd. I took on my friends' offer to join them for skiing in Whistler, Canada. I am flying to Vancouver on Monday morning and coming back on Friday evening, just in time to catch a breath, change clothes and fly to Tanzania.

I simply couldn't help stacking up my trips! No matter how safe and practical I like to be in my life, when the wind of adventure is calling me, I show up willingly. It didn't stop me that I never skied before and that it's not the safest kind of sport. Nor did I consider a possibility of a return flight's delay, if the weather changes its mood. And I think this is excatly what makes me feel very alive right now. Very alive, present and happy. I feel like I am living my dream. That I manifested everything I've ever wanted and now I simply need to embrace it without any doubts or concerns.