What is the most swagger version of me?
One night, many years ago, I was out drinking with some friends.
Most of our group decided to call it a night. I was particularly feeling it this night, so I convinced one friend to continue the adventure with me. I'm sure glad he was there to witness it. This is a bit of a strange story, but I assure you, it's 100% real and has a point to it :)
I don't see this friend too often these days, but every time I do, he still reminds me of this night.
To set expectations, this isn't some crazy drinking story. I have an almost unlimited supply of drunken antics and WTF stories from back in the day, but this isn't one of them.
After our friends called it a night, we decided to move to a new bar. We ended up at an overly crowded bar were we had to fight to get the bartenders attention. That's when it happened.
As my friend recalls, he had never seen anything like it. Women just kept coming up to me and offering to buy me drinks. I didn't pay for a drink the entire time we were there. My friend, who is normally much more social and is a very good looking guy, spent the night in awe of what was happening and enjoyed the free drinks.
As my friend shared the story in amazement with the rest of the group who had bailed early, I struggled to figure out how it all happened or what was different that night. To be clear, this was certainly not a normal occurrence.
Looking back now, I have a greater understanding of the magic of that night.
When we are fully aligned and authentic, we radiate a different light and vibration. Most people, most of the time, don't have a frame of reference for this higher frequency and as a result become very attracted to this light. That night in Hoboken, NJ, I ever so briefly tapped into that higher level.
There's a fascinating story about when Marilyn Monroe brought this to life. Marilyn was walking around NYC with the wife of her personal photographer, and she was enjoying herself because the people in New York didn't recognize her like they did in Hollywood. That's when she turned to the wife and said, "Do you want to see me become her?" And like magic, Marilyn flipped on this switch and instantly everyone started recognizing her.
Such an incredible awareness of the power of that light. I've seen this light in others at times and have had rare moments where I've embodied it myself.
As I recalled both of these stories, I started to ask myself, what is the version of me that has access to that frequency? Who is THAT person and how do they show up? While I'm not sure any of us will ever be able to flip on a switch like Marilyn, I would love to integrate more of that magnetic energy in everything I do.
I don't fully have these answers yet, but there's one thing that jumped out to me. I feel like the most swagger-licious version of myself when I am on a snowboard.
If we've been on a mountain together, you may have seen glimpses of this. I feel like an artist up there: effortlessly carving my masterpiece down the mountain, blazing my own trail of fresh snow with grace and ease, following the thread of whatever adventure the mountain wants to present to me, certain of the destination and completely open to the path to get there.
Part of this new identity that I'm stepping into is that of the mountain artist. Whatever that beautiful version is for all of us, the world needs that now more than ever.