Photos by me.

Recently, I've been learning to let go of expectations. Sometimes I throw fears and plans out the window. I'm learning to be adventurous and outgoing around new people.

Photos via LifeKamerAction.

Have you learned to let go?

Maybe you're searching for ways to change for the better right now. Maybe you could use a little adventure. Well, today I'm sharing a few stories about some recent escapades I enjoyed at North Coast Music Fest 2012... feel free to imagine your way into the scenes :)

Cigarette smoke hangs in the air – the swirl of some other smells enter in – fried food, beer, grass, sweat, the sourness of it. My feet move at their own pace: step, step, these steps are easy. Navigating a path through the crowd. The path makes itself.

Or maybe it’s the hula hoop at my shoulder that clears the way: people smiling looking over, wondering what that plastic toy is doing sitting under my arm. “Hoop it! Hula hoop!” He shouts it with a big grin, and I beam back. “Alright, I’ll hoop for ya,” I say, kicking off the sneakers, setting down my bag.

And when the little circle clears and there’s enough room to find the center, I let the hoop dance its way around me. Concentric circles, spiraling upward. Joy energy radiates. I have to share this, I think, feeling the flow of the song.

Suddenly, there is nothing else: only the music throbbing in the distance, my own body moving to the beat, and this little circle of new friends made out of strangers.