When Life Gives You Lemons - Journal January 2, 2025

There is no stopping, no giving up, no giving in. The journey is all there is. It is funny how every time something hits us hard, we seem not to change course, pace, or style; we just keep going. Being fully nomadic, on an eternal adventure, always exploring and listining to all the signs of the big universe to find our way, has a lot of momentum and is clearly the right thing for us.

There is this saying about lemons: if life throws them at you, just make lemonade. But really?! To me, it sounds like bullshit. When life gives you lemons, deal with lemons.

Take a bite and let the aroma of the oils in the skin be a bit too much, the bitterness hard to process, and the acidic juice sting in the thin skin on the side of your mouth. Why would I make lemonade?

I understand, of course, the base idea of the saying: Create something good out of whatever situation you are in, try to flip the coin, and move from bad to good. But equally, there is a running away from reality in the lemonade metaphor, adding empty calories to rot your teeth, spike your blood sugar, and ruin your health. And there is the demand on the Instagrammable housewife making her lemonade and serving with a big smile - when in reality, we are human on the big journey of life, and sometimes some changes just suck, feel, and taste and ARE like a truckload of lemons. Making lemonade as a first response is not to sit with your discomfort, knowing what you don't want, and learning from that. There is an element of running away, hiding the dirt under a carpet, and being in denial.

If I am to stand true to my truth, well, then I believe Life gives me what I need.

When life gives me lemons, I am quite sure lemons are what I have to handle. So I do.

The new year has just begun, and all pages are blank, except for half of the ones on the calendar: we are looking at one more year of adventures, projects, yoga, art studies, courses, literature, and loads of people and places lined up to light our days one by one on a long 365 string bringing us to next beginning. I am excited about all of it, just as I am excited about this moment: The Shuttle embarking on the ride, taking us from England back to my favorite place on the planet: Mainland Europe (quite the large favorite place, but no one said your favorite place had to be manageable, did they?).

Yes, we just took another significant blow. As it goes, the year equally began with an unforeseen and out-of-our-hands big change, throwing a truckload of lemons at us. There is some balance to the two incidents, some obscure harmony.

I remember when we embarked on the Nomadic Adventure, changing the backbone of our lifestyle to be baseless explorers; one of our goals was to become adaptable, powerful in handling whatever, strong in any situation, any context - and, more importantly, to teach our offspring that we can handle whatever.

We have succeeded.

We have traveled nonstop for six and a half years and learned to trust the process.

Even when it is a very bitter bite of the lemon, it is part of the process; we move on. Life just threw something at us, and we adapted over Christmas. While chewing on the white bitter matter under the skin of the lemon, stars were shining over Lake District, and close and amazing friends celebrated the change of calendar year with us: the days leading up, the party itself, and the mandatory epic walk on day one. Meanwhile, options, solutions, and paths of light presented themselves, and all we had to do was add a sip of water, spit out the pits and white matter, and lean into the big Mystery of life.

Not all days shine. But most do.

And as I said: There is no stopping. No giving up. There is just to keep going, moving on, taking in, leaning into love, trusting the process, and being grateful for every day we get to live and love. There are more mountaintops to climb, more new people to meet, more old friends to reunite with, more art to explore, more to learn and share, and here we are. Ready.

Now my ears are popping, and we all start to yawn; the English Channel is flowing over our heads as I hit the keys on my laptop. Our dear Travelpod is full of bread baked by a friend for the road, amazing literature to read and interesting books on all the subjects we explore, craft projects for everyone in abundance, musical instruments, and all you otherwise could think of to create the good life. As it is. And we are at home in the subtle movements under the sea, in this octopus’s garden in the shade.

On the other side of the Tunnel awaits the infamous Calais fries, the perfect balance between soggy and crisp, and we will have this ritual meal before we drive to a favorite place: Bruges in Brussels. That will give us a 3-countries day, and we will be ready for four tomorrow. A good beginning to another Nomadic year. At home in the movement.

Though truckloads of lemons in plural within one year is a little much to handle, we know for sure we have our strategies ready and trust that there is something essential to learn. These adaptions happen fast. The bitter taste lasts longer; that is true. But then, we don't forget to wrap up all the thought processes.

We are only human.

The funny thing is, we could have reacted with a fight or flight strategy both times. Rather, it has been this: no stopping, no giving up, no giving in. Just handle this situation and move on. Learn what needs to be learned, adjust, make a new plan, and keep going. This is the level of adaptability we have gained, and we know exactly why we do what we do.

It is all about freedom, truth, beauty and love. And a bit of rebellion on a good day. If that all comes with a bite of lemon here and there, we will choose to enjoy that element, too.

FOTO: Cecilie Conrad Vestlev, Banksys Ryan and his Reindeer, Birmingham 27.12.2024
TEXT: Cecilie Conrad Vestlev, English Channel 02.02.2025