How Art and Travel Invite Us To Explore Aspects of Ourselves and Expand our Comfort Zone

The journey of discovery is a beautiful gift and there are ways that we can intentionally lean into this expansive process. When you are able to unplug from daily life, to get yourself into new environments, and to get into a mindset of self-exploration, so much is able to unfold, to become visible. 

While a trip to unknown lands might be needed to unplug from the “daily grind,” all of your “To-Dos” and the weekly expectations, getting yourself into a new environment or setting that will invite curiosity, relaxation and exploration. Not only is it a great first step, but it is also essential to be incorporated into your busy life. It’s important to make space for the memorable trips in the year and also the moments into your days. That walk in the park, that intentional capture of the sunset, picking wildflowers for a table bouquet… important first steps on the journey of discovery.

Discovering ourselves in new environments. Courtesy of Tessa Rampersad.

There is a sense of adventure in going somewhere you’ve never been before, especially if you choose a mindset of openness, learning, and intentionality to see what you might discover about and within yourself. There is so much in you to discover... depth, compassion, creativity, joy, curiosity, self love, enjoyment of the amazing masterpiece that you are. Sometimes simply getting out of our environment and into a place that is for us uncharted, can make all the difference in expanding that mindset and opening our eyes to see something new.

"There is a sense of adventure in going somewhere you’ve never been before."

Creating experiential and transformational experiences in beautiful places is part of what I do for a living, and so I know firsthand the power of it. I am a life and personal development coach and I work with leaders to create lives of profound impact, centered in joy. I do this through one-on-one coaching and through leading retreats, and I have seen over and over again when we unplug from the monotony that often becomes our lives and go somewhere new, the change of environment allows us to open up to new things- emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually. 

This new openness allows us to take in new experiences, new perspectives, new mindsets about ourselves and about the world. It creates new neuro-pathways in our minds and brings an invitation to expand the limiting borders of our comfort zones. Travel opens up a creativity as we learn from other cultures and environments. When I lead retreats, I get to witness an awakening, an openness and an awareness to discover aspects of ourselves that are undeveloped or unexplored, longing to come alive.

Courtesy of Michael Zittel.

I love what Vacation With An Artist is creating for individuals to get away and engage in forms of art that stir exploration, self discovery, creativity and an ability to enjoy other cultures. What a gift to get to be immersed in an environment alongside master-craftsmen in their studios or spaces.

Courtesy of Jade Stephens.

“We must learn to be self-nourishing, to replenish our creative resources as we use them- I call this process 'filling the well.' Art is born in attention. Its midwife is detail. In filling the well, think magic. Think delight. Think fun. Do not think duty….Creativity flourishes when we have a sense of safety and self acceptance….The quality of life is in proportion, always, to the capacity for delight. The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention.” - Julia Cameron, The Artist Way

I think it is truly a gift to oneself and to the world to live in this delighted exploration of both the world and the soul and awaken to this journey of discovery.

Written by Talie Davis-Weir, Life and Personal Development Coach
Leaders Alive

Talie is a certified life coach and transformational healing trainer, with a focus in leadership development. For more than 20 years she has empowered leaders to design lives which create maximum impact in the world while being centered in JOY.

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