Clara Alive

Sunrise, The Lost City, Columbia

1,320 steps. 5am.

Ancient, uneven, relentless. The kind that demand your full attention, your breath, your legs, your determination.

By the time I reached the top, slightly out of breath, already soaked through from the heat and humidity, I was feeling it in every part of my body. I’d been recording as I arrived, not quite believing I was actually there.

And then it opened.

The jungle gave way and the space in front of me widened. The sound hit first, birds singing in perfect tandem, like they were welcoming the morning together. It was alive, completely alive.

I stepped forward.

The mountains revealed themselves slowly, layers of deep green with mist hanging between them, suspended, soft, almost protective. Two birds settled into a tree right in front of me, as if they had always been part of that exact moment.

And I felt it, instantly:

I’m exactly where I’m meant to be.
I don’t need to be anywhere else.

After the anticipation of travelling to South America, checking and rechecking everything, preparing for two completely different treks, making sure I was ready, strong enough, capable enough, it all fell quiet in that one moment.

There was nothing to prove.
Nothing to chase.
Nowhere else pulling me.

Just joy.
Just belonging.
Just being there.

There was a connection I can’t fully explain, to Pachamama, to the mountains, to that sacred place, to the people who had walked it long before me, and to the wildlife that continues to live and breathe there now.

It was tranquil.
It was fulfilling.
It was enough.

Later, standing in that same space, I wrote my truth values. Not somewhere separate, but there, surrounded by that energy. There was a calm, a deeply feminine, grounded presence that I felt completely held by.

And I’ve carried that with me.

I still wear the bracelet given to me by the indigenous spiritual leader, a quiet form of protection, a reminder of that place, that connection, that moment of certainty.

Since being back, life hasn’t dramatically changed on the outside. But inside, there’s a peace that wasn’t there before.

A knowing I can return to.

That I don’t always need more, or next, or different.
That sometimes, being fully present in a moment is everything.
That this, right here, can be enough.

This is Clara Alive ~ no script, just life ✨🌸💫

Turning something you once imagined into something you’ve actually lived.
Not just dreaming it.
Standing in it.
Feeling it.
Carrying it forward.