3:27 AM and a decade-long promise

This week I’m taking you to a launch pad at 3:27 AM, a dock under Florida stars, and a promise I made to myself a long time ago…

✦ LIFE — 3:27 AM

It was 3:27 AM, and I was standing three miles from a rocket.

I hadn’t planned this trip. I’d been casually browsing NASA’s website — something I do more often than I admit — when I saw a launch scheduled for the next morning. Before I could talk myself out of it, I’d bought a ticket, found an Airbnb, thrown clothes into a bag, and hit the road. Total chaos. The best kind.

I chose the front row at the viewing area and planted myself there. Around me, professional photographers were setting up serious equipment — long lenses, tripods, the works. I had my phone on a small stand. One of them caught my eye and smiled. “Don’t worry about the perfect photo,” he said. “Just look at it. Experience it.”

I had no idea I was about to cry.

Ten. Nine. Eight…

And then it went up — a fireball so bright I couldn’t see the rocket beneath it, just fire tearing through the dark. That’s when the tears started. Because sitting in that shuttle, three miles from where I stood, were four astronauts ascending into space. And somewhere inside me, the little girl who joined the astronomy club in 6th grade and dreamed of being one of them — she finally got to watch.

Full story on the blog → I Saw a Rocket Launch from 3 Miles Away — and It Changed Me

✦ GROWTH — Worth the Wait

Not everyone gets the same starting point.

Some dreams take longer — not because they’re less valid, but because the path to them is steeper. More detours. More waiting. More years of living five hours away and not quite getting there yet.

But here’s what I’ve come to believe: if something is truly yours — if it lives in you quietly and refuses to leave — it’s worth pursuing. No matter how long it takes. No matter how many times the timing wasn’t right or the access wasn’t there. You keep going. You do the work. And eventually, you show up.

And when you do, something unexpected happens. It doesn’t have to be a rocket launch. It can be something small — a class you always wanted to take, a place you always wanted to visit, a version of yourself you promised you’d become. When you fulfill those promises, even the quiet ones, even the ones you made as a child — you heal something. You’re not just checking off a dream. You’re saying to that younger version of yourself: I didn’t forget you. I came back for you.

That kind of fulfillment doesn’t come from achievements or milestones. It comes from keeping promises to yourself — and discovering that you were always worth keeping them for.

✦ ACTION — Name the Promise

Write down one promise you made to yourself that you haven’t kept yet. Then take one small action toward it today.

Maybe it’s a dance class you’ve been meaning to sign up for since forever, or a language that’s been living on your “someday” list for years. Maybe it’s a city you’ve had saved on your phone but never booked, or a kitchen skill you’ve always wanted to learn but kept postponing for a less busy season of life that never quite arrives.

Whatever it is — name it. Then do one thing, just one, that moves you an inch closer. Not the whole journey. Just the first step.

Because the longer we wait, the more that promise starts to feel like a closed door. And most of the time, it isn’t. It’s just been waiting for you to knock.

I’d love to hear about what you tried. Hit comment and tell me — what was the promise, and how did it feel to just choose?