Living anywhere teaches you things; if you truly pay attention . . .
When I lived in Boston, I was taught to have stronger tolerance for discourteous drivers.
When I lived in Fort Lauderdale, I learned to live in the moment.
When I lived in New York City, I learned how to be an adult, real fast.
When I lived in Seattle, I learned that rain is breathtakingly beautiful and that it's not meant to bring us sad days.
When I lived in Vancouver, I learned that my heart can actually break if I don't properly take care of it.
When I lived in Dallas I learned that there is something to be said for living "in the middle." (When I was 23, I recall a moment where I said I could never live "in the middle" and that I would always be the kind of guy that would live on the coastline of the USA. Never "in the middle.")
Never say never.
It's been here in Eureka Springs (smack dab in the middle) where I've learned to love all those beautiful people that are . . . well . . . a little extra.
This town is something. People find it and flourish here. People find it and flee.
What amazes me is that people find it at all.
Founded and named on July 4, 1879, The City of Eureka Springs, Arkansas has welcomed visitors for decades. Although our little mountain town is known today for our incredible architecture, arts/events, history, antiques & shopping, as well as the great outdoors, the original draw was simply - natural spring water.
As the story is often told . . . early Native American tribes believed that the cold mountain spring water that flows through these hills could cure ailments of all kinds, and for this reason all that surrounded was deemed sacred. It was not long after the discovery of the healing water when health-seekers deemed these hills to be full of miracle cures and flocked to the area by the thousands during Victorian times, thus creating this stylish mountain retreat that you may still come to experience, even today
Here, we remain perfectly perched in these beautiful Ozarks surrounded by the grand, green curves of Mother Nature and we truly believe that this place is sacred. One visit is all it will take for you to feel that hard-to-explain, magical tug on your soul - connecting you to this corner of the world. Nowadays, it remains to be said that the rejuvenating spring waters that continue to flow below the downtown Historic District and the surrounding Historic Loop continue to emit these mystical, magical energies that tug at your soul, ground you and connect you.
Eureka Springs tugged at us. Hard. It brought us here and taught us new things. Every day we continue to learn new things about ourselves, about life and about other people.
If you really stop and look around you, Eureka Springs, truly exudes love.
Loving someone is easy. Try it for a moment.
Just accept them for who they are. Love them for the energy they have. Talk with them but more importantly - listen. Give them the gift of your time.
Someone told me that this is the land where misfits fit! It struck a chord. I don't think of myself as a misfit but then again, others think of me that way and yet, I truly fit here.
My husband, Jeff, is a quirky fella. Rockabilly. Lovely. Fun! He fits in really well here.
When you find yourself in a place where the folks are "a little extra" embrace the moment, embrace the people, embrace the feeling, embrace your life. Being a little extra is something unique. It makes people, people. We are like snowflakes and that is a good thing.
No two people are alike.
When you embark on your next journey, where ever that may be, give yourself the gift of living in the moment and embrace the person that is right in front of you.
Whoever they are, whatever they represent, how they think, feel and how they exist is being shown to you and that is a gift. Sometimes we fail to remember that people are exceptionally complicated and that taking a simple moment to embrace them for who they are can go a long way.
Eureka is love.
I love Eureka.