It has been three weeks since my sister arrived in the states, and I have to say that it has been an extraordinary three weeks during which I have experienced so much pure joy and learned so much about her and myself.

Even though we grew up over 20 years apart in different parts of the world, we share a deep love and connection that feels completely natural. My sister is helping to change the way I see my life and my world and I could not be more grateful that we get this time together.

As those of you who follow this blog know, this has been such an incredibly hard year for me, one of immense growth, but one of equal struggle. I did a lot (read: too much) last year, and it came at a huge cost to my emotional, mental and physical well-being.

Being with my sister is both freeing and healing. While I am still getting things done, I am embracing the beauty of moments together. And in embracing moments with her, I am reckoning with so many moments lost with others in my life who I love so deeply, and I am changing my life. I am beginning to reprioritize, to shut down my laptop each day, to remember to breathe intentionally, to take trips to the library and read for an hour in the children’s room with my 6 year old, to laugh until my belly aches while playing Apples to Apples with the whole family, to reconnect with those closest to my heart, to spend time being present with them.

I am healing. Healing is a process. And while it has been filled with so many moments of joy, it is hard. But I have done many hard things that have been destructive rather than healing, so I am grateful to be moving forward at this time in my life.

The other day, my sister and I were in Home Goods (where, of course, I ended up buying more than she did) and we found this sign which is sitting on my desk.

The sign reminds me that, while I am in a field where there will always be more to do and perfection will always seem like the elusive goal I could be striving towards, I can instead choose progress. I can recognize that moving forward towards healing and towards honoring my own humanity is the only way that I can fully honor the humanity of those around me.

I am so grateful for the gift of having my sister in my life. I am so grateful to my community for holding me up when I was so afraid I might lose my sister before I had the chance to know her. I am so grateful for the community for telling me over and over again, before I could hear it, that I needed to slow down, to honor my body and my spirit, to be human. It took awhile, but I’m getting there.

Progress not perfection.

Breath by breath.

Moment by moment.

Step by step.