spiritual growth

When the Universe Closes a Door, You Learn to Trust the Path

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There was a time I wanted the Universe to give something back to me, a love I wasn’t ready to lose. I kept hoping the door that closed would open again. But it never did. And for a while, that hurt more than I could explain.

It took me a long time to realize maybe the Universe wasn’t being cruel. Maybe it was protecting me. Maybe it knew I needed time to find myself again, to stop pouring so much energy into trying to understand someone else and start putting that same energy into healing my own heart.

When your heart breaks, it changes you. It makes you look at things differently. You start to notice where you gave too much, where you accepted less than you deserved, and where you confused chaos for connection. You start to see how often you held on when you should’ve let go.

I used to think healing meant forgetting. Now I know it’s more about remembering, remembering who I was before I lost myself in someone else. It’s learning to sit with my feelings instead of running from them, to find peace in quiet moments, and to trust that every ending has a purpose, even when I can’t see it yet.

There are still days when I miss what I thought my life would look like. That’s okay. Healing doesn’t mean the memories stop showing up. It just means they don’t control you anymore.

Now, when a door closes, I don’t chase it. I pause. I breathe. I remind myself that not everything that ends is meant to be lost. Sometimes, it’s just the Universe making room for something better, peace, clarity, and a deeper kind of love that starts within me.

Trusting the path isn’t always easy. Some days, it’s just one step at a time. But even in the hardest moments, I can feel something bigger guiding me forward. And for now, that’s enough.

If a door has closed for you recently, maybe it’s not the ending it feels like. Maybe it’s the Universe quietly shifting things to protect your peace, even if you don’t understand why just yet. Be gentle with yourself while you wait for what’s next. Sometimes, the hardest goodbyes lead to the most peaceful beginnings.

☕ Support the Journey

If this post resonated with you or made you feel a little less alone on your own path, you’re always welcome to support my writing with a cup of coffee. Your kindness helps me keep sharing real stories and new chapters, one step at a time: 👉 coff.ee/smalltownmichele

🌿 My Little Garden in Maryland

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After 27 years of living in the mountains of Lake Tahoe and the surrounding area of Gardnerville, Nevada, I didn’t expect to fall in love with something as simple as a yard.

In Tahoe, I barely had a yard, just a patch of dirt and a very short summer. I had to put a greenhouse in my garage just to give anything a chance to grow. And even in Gardnerville, where I had chickens, ducks, rabbits, and a garden and outdoor greenhouse, the growing season didn’t last long. The seasons changed fast, and the dry air always made it feel like I was forcing things to grow rather than just letting them.

But here in Maryland… it’s different.

The yard is green. The rain comes often. The humidity? Honestly, I don’t mind it — it feels like everything is alive here. I have a small garden this year, and it’s thriving in a way I’ve never experienced. I’ve got green tomatoes everywhere, chili peppers growing strong — and I barely had to fight for it.

After years of working so hard just to get a few things to grow, this feels like a gift.

I think what surprises me the most is how fast it all happened. In all the years I lived out West, I never had a garden take off like this. There’s something about the soil here, the longer growing season, the moisture in the air — it’s like it just knows what to do.

This yard is healing me in ways I didn’t know I needed. And I’m so grateful for it.

I can’t wait for next year when I can really plan it all out. When I can start from scratch, plant my seeds, and watch them grow from the very beginning. I’ve been saving heirloom seeds for years, just waiting for the right place to plant them. And I think I finally found it. 🌱

☕ Support the Journey:
If this post resonated with you or made you feel a little less alone on your own path, you’re always welcome to support my writing with a cup of coffee. Your kindness helps me keep sharing real stories and new chapters, one step at a time: 👉 coff.ee/smalltownmichele

When the Universe Hits Pause: A Car, a Delay, and a Bigger Lesson…

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Our car, which my daughter drives, has been sitting in Philadelphia since late Friday afternoon. That’s three days ago. Just 51 miles away. Close enough to reach, yet still out of reach. And every day that passes, it gets a little more frustrating.

We were expecting it to arrive by now. We planned, rearranged, and made space, emotionally and literally, for it to show up. But it hasn’t. It’s just been sitting there. No movement. No updates. Just… stillness.

And if I’m being honest, it’s taken everything in me to not let the frustration bubble over.

But here’s the thing I’ve come to realize in times like these: Sometimes the universe puts things on pause for a reason.

I don’t always understand why, and I won’t pretend I do now. But I’ve seen it enough in my life to recognize the pattern. When there’s a delay, when something doesn’t happen exactly when I want it to, it usually turns out that it was never supposed to.

Maybe this wait is protecting us. Maybe it’s redirecting us. Maybe it’s just slowing us down so something else can catch up.

Maybe that car, sitting in the city, is keeping us from a moment or a road or a situation we were never meant to cross paths with. AND maybe it’s not about the car at all.

Maybe it’s about trust.

And patience.

And letting go of control, even when everything inside of me wants to scream, “Just deliver my damn car already!”

So I’m sitting with it. All of it – the irritation, the surrender, the mystery. Because I know that even when things don’t make sense, there’s often something bigger at work. Something unseen.

And when the car does arrive? We’ll appreciate it a little more. Not just because we waited, but because we trusted the timing.

☕ Support the Journey:
If this post resonated with you or made you feel a little less alone on your own path, you’re always welcome to support my writing with a cup of coffee. Your kindness helps me keep sharing real stories and new chapters, one step at a time: 👉 coff.ee/smalltownmichele