I almost missed years of this view because I was convinced it had to look a very specific way.
Here’s what happened — and what it taught me about trusting my intuition, even when it made absolutely no sense.
When Life Pulls You Somewhere Unexpected
I was in the midst of my divorce and decided I was moving to New York City.
I’d always loved the city, but living there had never crossed my mind. My ex-husband never would have considered it. It wasn’t his thing.
I felt a strong pull to radically change my environment. I didn’t want to run into people from that life. And honestly, I never really wanted to live in that town to begin with.
NYC—specifically the Upper West Side—was calling me. There was no logical reason why. I hadn’t spent any time there. I didn’t have any friends in the city. My job was in the suburbs, so I would need a car, a garage, and a reverse commute. It would also be more expensive than staying in the suburbs.
It made no sense.
Still, it wasn’t an option for me to be anywhere else. Not in my soul.
I found a realtor and drove her completely crazy (we’re still friends today).
I Knew Exactly What I wanted. Or So I Thought.
I’d been journaling exactly what I wanted to manifest: a brownstone on—or near—Central Park. Natural light. Charming. Convenient to restaurants, shops, and subways.
One thing I was crystal clear about…
I did not want a soulless high-rise.
We looked at so many brownstone apartments. Some I left in tears, convinced I would never find my place. Barely-there kitchens. Six-floor walk-ups. Windows looking out at a brick wall. Closets smaller than my linen closet.
Then my realtor showed me an apartment in a high-rise. I reluctantly agreed to see it.
It was an immediate no.
A few weeks later, I asked her to look at a similar unit in the same complex. She looked at me like I had three heads. “You hated the first one.”
I know.
But I still wanted to see this one.
It didn’t make sense. It was everything I thought I didn’t want. I didn’t like the apartment we’d just looked at there. Yet something was pulling me to see it. My intuition was guiding me, and I followed.
Different building.
Same layout.
Still a high-rise.
Completely different energy.
After months of searching, I knew immediately.
This was the one.
Sometimes What You Need Looks Nothing Like What You Imagined
It was nothing I imagined.
And everything I needed.
A wall of windows flooded the space with light and opened to a view of the Hudson River. Tons of closet space, including a walk-in (a true unicorn). A doorman, which somehow never made my wish list but became invaluable as a single woman living in NYC. How had I overlooked that? An elevator, which mattered more than I realized with suitcases constantly in tow for work travel. A driveway where I could unload my car after road trips and grocery hauls. A parking garage connected to the building—I didn’t even need to walk outside. An organic market across the street. Two blocks from the West Side Highway for my commute. Two blocks from Riverside Park, where I walked along the Hudson almost daily, year-round.
The staff became friends.
And did I mention the view? The sunsets over the Hudson never got old.
I loved that apartment. I loved my time in NYC—the friends I made, the experiences I had, and the places it led me.
Trust The Feeling, Not Necessarily The Form
It happened because I didn’t force my vision.
I left room for life to co-create with me.
I followed my intuition.
I didn’t settle.
I usually don’t see it in the moment, but looking back, I recognize more and more that my imagination—as wild as it can be—is limited by my perspective, my experiences, my beliefs…my little box.
Life isn’t.
The magic lives in knowing the feeling you’re after while staying open to how, when, and what unfolds.
The feeling I wanted was exactly right.I had just attached it to the wrong form.
If I had forced my brownstone vision—if I hadn’t followed the nudge to walk into the place that checked none of the boxes—I would’ve missed a thousand Hudson River sunsets.
How sad would that be?
Leave Room For Life To Surprise You
Some of the most magical moments in my life have happened differently than I planned or could ever have imagined.
They began when I said yes to an inner nudge and moved toward it without knowing how it would turn out.
What those moments had in common wasn’t the perfect plan. It was belief and trust. Curiosity and courage. Following my heart instead of trying to logic my way there. Not letting fear talk me out of it. Not settling.
I keep noticing the same thing.
The more tightly I grip how I think something should unfold…
The smaller my world becomes.
The more I loosen my grip…
The more life surprises me.
Let go of how you think it should go.
Leave room for life to surprise you.
You might just get a better view than you could ever imagine
Keep Following the Spark
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