Awakening to my lifes purpose

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I recently took a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada. I completely went out of my comfort zone in so many ways. I only had $100 for the entire week. I stayed with someone I barely knew. Whom I became very close to. I flew for the first time, and alone at that. I knew going on this vacation would be an eye opening experience, but I honestly had no idea just how much. I have been wanting to go out to Sedona to visit the vortex's and feel the energy they hold. I tried not to have any expectations of something powerful happening to me as I surrounded myself by them. I'm very glad I went into this with no expectations and allowing myself to enjoy every minute of everyday. My first full day there, I experienced the Las Vegas strip which was incredible. The people, the amazing architecture, the lights, the food, and the entire ambiance of the city. On friday, I picked up my teenage girls and headed out to Sedona. It was a four hour drive but was very entertaining with them in the backseat. They are full of energy and quite the characters. We got into Sedona late so I had no idea how beautiful it was until I woke up in the morning. When I walked outside I was awe struck!. The view was absolutely incredible. Deep Red Mountains surrounded us in the valley. The weather was perfect. We decided to go out to Cathedral Rock and hike. When we started our hike it said 2.5 miles..not sure if we took a wrong turn but it ended up being a 4 hour hike. Halfway through the canyon we ran into a hiker that was very familiar with the area and said if we kept going it would be well worth it. So we trudged on. It was very hot and dry in the desert heat but I had been waiting over 10 years to venture here and was not stopping. When we finally reached the top of the mountain the view was so amazing I'm at a loss for words. The colors of the mountains, different shades and the trees was surrounding us. I could have stayed up there forever..If only I had more water!! Needless to say we only brought one bottle each which later realized that was a HUGE mistake. By the time we reached the bottom of the canyon I was damn near crawling back to the car. My mouth had never been so dry in my entire life. My skin felt like an alligator. On our way back to the hotel I started to get a headache, and my 13 year old already had one throughout our hike. We stopped for Alot of water :) Soon as we got into the hotel I crashed on the bed and began to feel sick. I unfortunately got heat stroke and was very dehydrated. I think I lost another 5 pounds, which I so can't afford. My friend, went and bought me some fruit cause I couldn't keep any liquids down and I ate a full bag of grapes. I woke up feeling much better, thank god! I wasn't able to see a sunset in Sedona but I experienced a sunrise :) We walked around the city and went into one of the many Art Galleries Sedona has to offer. I was blown away with the beautiful artwork made out of recycled material. I met an interesting woman named Ritza there. She had a very interesting life story to tell, and took to me in an odd but very comforting way. She felt compelled to give me her address and information and said if I was ever on a journey and needed a place to stay to give her a call. I felt a connection with her that is hard to describe. I feel like we meet people for a reason and plan to stay in contact with her. Who knows, maybe someday I will find myself on a journey back to Arizona and need a place to crash. So we left around noon to head back to Vegas. I felt kinda sad to leave. I definitely could have spent more time there. I had a great weekend with a new friend and my little girls, that aren't so little anymore. I thoroughly enjoyed their company. Last night in Vegas we went to the other side of the strip and then headed to the old strip on Fremont St. My eyes were buggin outta my head there was so much to look at it was a virtual overload. We gambled a little in each Casino and I won a bit which was fun. The slots were so old in one place I got paid in nickles :) During my two visits to the strip I saw a lot of homeless people and felt compelled to take pictures of them. But I didnt just want to take their pictures I wanted to know their stories, of why they were there and what happened to them to put them in that predicament. I then realized that I wanna be a Photo Journalist. I enjoy writing and telling stories and photography. After taking many different classes in college and changing my major a few times I finally realize this is something that really moves me. On my plane ride home I thought I would sleep since it was a 4hr flight. Instead, I ended up having a conversation with the man next to me the entire flight. We talked about everything under the sun and it was very interesting. He lived an amazing life and actually said that I had inspired him to start doing yoga. He also said I should pursue my dream because my pictures were incredible. That made me feel good coming from a complete stranger. I had a 3 hour layover in Chicago then hopped back onto my flight home. I ended up meeting another interesting man who told me he was an engineer and had no degree. He said its about the drive you have. He also said that he was thinking of a career change and talking to me inspired him to go for it. Life is too short not to go after the things you want out of it. So all in all I got exactly what I was in search of through this trip. It was an inner journey where I  stepped out of my everyday life and experienced new things and figured out who I really was and not who everyone else thought I was or thinks I am. I got to know me again. When I came home, I felt unsettled. I didn't feel the inner calm that I felt when I was out there. I can't place it just yet. I am thankful for this experience and will carry the memories for the rest of my life. Not only did I have a handful of special people touch me in a way that helped me, but I also touched them in some way. That is what life is about. Inspiring others to look within their-selves and not holding them back or putting doubts in their heads about who they are or what they inspire to be. Now, my journey begins.....Follow @heather_pratt74

Love and believing in it..

I'm a hopeless romantic, and always have been. I am that girl that felt all along that I had a soul-mate out in the universe somewhere and I would be drawn to them like a magnet. Love at first site. I believe...it exists! Some may argue that with me. Maybe it's because they have never had that moment where their eyes meet anothers and they feel something unexplainable. Cause let's face it, love is unexplainable in itself. We know we feel it, when we feel it but can't always determine why we feel it. Love can make you clinically insane, I watched a documentary on it. They showed two brains, one of someone who was head over heels in love, and one of someone who was clinically insane. They actually had the same brain activity going on.

Love can make us feel invincible which is an amazing feeling. It's almost like a constant high, and when you don't  feel that anymore you actually go through some type of with drawls. Love has a power within us that no other emotion can quite compare to, in a positive way that is. Love gives us the power to accept, heal, be patient, comforts us, calms us, and can also protect us. The song love can build a bridge is very powerful, because it can. When you have been hurt in the past by someone, new love can rebuild that faith in loving someone and accepting love back into your life. This may be hard and take some work, but with love on your side, nothing can come in the way. Unless you let it. Love is finding that one person that you can't breathe when your not with them or having the thought of losing them. Love is having a ton of patience in situations that you don't understand. Love is not perfect and has ups and downs. I believe if things get tough  its love that gets us through those tough times.

Love is not complicated. We are complicated beings. We make love complicated. We set high expectations for things, assume when we don't have an answer for the questions we have. When we finally get what we want out of love we want more. It's like a drug. We have insecurities that we question in our partners when we shouldn't.
We need to take a step back and look. be in the moment, instead of getting caught up in it. Take a step back and feel what your feeling. Realize how happy you may be, and be aware of why your happy. Take the time to appreciate this feeling and the person in your life that is making you feel this way. If we all stop and listen and feel once in awhile we just might be able to have long-term relationships that are healthy and flourish. After all that's what we all strive for...Right? No one wants to be hurt and we don't get into a relationship hoping for the worst. Be trusting towards your partner and patient. We're all different human beings and people are not going to act and react how we will to certain things. That is why we need to be accepting and give unconditional love. We don't fall in love with perfect people. We fall in love with people and start to see them perfectly. Love is an amazing thing! Enjoy it! Ride the wave of emotions that it brings into your life. Make it a healthy aspect of your life by taking notice and being in the moment instead of getting caught up in the moment.Follow @heather_pratt74
Follow @heather_pratt74