I WASN'T GONNA GO EITHER...

I had such an incredible time at the National Puerto Rican Day Parade yesterday. ????

It wasn't just an expression of cultural pride with lots of fun, but to also support some really brilliant young men from the Latino-based Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity.

My man Edwin Tirado, who's also a graduate of my Awaken The Dragon immersion and virtual programs, invited me to come support his fraternities contingent at the parade to provide some sound.

I easily agreed to bring my speakers, but initially declined to physically participate.

I remember expressing it to a relative as me being in more of a relaxed and Zen type of energy these days. I can't remember what was the moment of insight when I'd realized that that was all such bullshit and that it was really about me just getting way too comfortable and cozy.

We all default to familiar, but it becomes a matter of what we allow to become familiar.

I was getting a little too familiar and comfortable with working from home and just staying largely in my neighborhood.

It then hit me that I needed to jolt myself out of that. And what could be a better jolt than participating in the Puerto Rican Day parade???

WEPA!!!!

I'm so glad I did and I will definitely be supporting the fraternity again at the Dominican Day parade Sunday, August 13th.

It continued well beyond the parade as we went up into Washington Heights and continued partying and eating.

I had such an amazing time!

But to think, if I would have just listened to the comfortable and cozy BS that I was buying for myself initially, I would have missed that on all of it.

That brings me to the one disappointment of the whole day.

I hadn't gone to the parade in years, partly because it would be so jammed packed that it felt like an outdoor packed nightclub.

But I noticed that this parade had the least amount of people I'd ever seen. The Central Park side of 5th avenue was always super packed.

Both sides of 5th avenue would be very packed!

I couldn't believe my eyes with how few people there were compared to previous years.

After the parade, we debriefed a little and I brought up how disappointed I was with how much smaller it had become.

What Edwin Tirado brought up was the post-pandemic issue of less people coming out to things in general.

And so while I almost didn't come out because I got too familiar and comfortable with staying in, it seems other people made the decision to listen to that comfortable voice.

How many people did not come out because they decided It was more familiar and comfortable to just stay home or keep it local?

Again, we default to familiar.

I know that the pandemic was a massive shift in people's lives and we adapted by having to create new patterns.

I firmly believe that we have to break the more comfortable post-pandemic patterns and reengage physically in the world again.

Nothing beats the more meaningful connections formed in person and the experiences of culture and just plain old fun.

If you find yourself defaulting to a more comfortable familiar of not coming out to things as much, I strongly invite you to jolt yourself out of that and re-engage in the world again.

Virtual can be a great supplement, but it is by no stretch any kind of a replacement.

COME BACK INTO THE WORLD AGAIN!!

It's fun out here. ??