When Returning Isn’t About Repeating

I have been completely enjoying Kirk Sheppard’s writing on his Substack.

Recently, I found myself actually laughing out loud as he took me along on an unexpected journey through Disney World.

Kirk reflects on a childhood memory of eating at the Garden Grill at EPCOT. Returning decades later—this time by himself—wasn’t the same. And yet, through the experience, he discovered that the place still held a kind of magic, along with new ways of seeing life.

Kirk writes:

And maybe that’s what returning to the places that made us happy is really about—not trying to go backward, but staying in motion. Letting the restaurant rotate. Watching the scenes drift by. Finding comfort not in what was, but in what still can be.

I knew I wanted to share his experience of unlearning expectations and embracing what is—with you.