Leap of Faith

Epic stories aren’t created from certainties and roadmaps, but rather from courageously following your heart and leaping in faith

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They say that if you jump your life will appear. Well, sometimes (as in most of the times) that feels like an enormous leap of faith.

Change is uncomfortable, the unknown even more so. It’s a lot easier if we have a roadmap, or at least a money-back guarantee...or so we think.

Nonetheless, I highly recommend leaping.

Bottom line: whether we feel ready or not, when life calls to you...take the call. We don’t regret the things we did more than the things we didn’t have the courage to act on in life.

And boy did I do a thing and take a leap in 2015!

Anyone who has visited the café has seen the beautiful antique numbers 5/15/15 hanging on the back wall. I smile every time I walk by it. This was a heartfelt gift from my dear and talented friend Myoshin, who not only creates our holiday window extravaganzas each year — she also helped me design the café aesthetic 10 years ago this month!

Yes, 10 years ago!

To say that time flies would be an understatement. I can still feel the knots in my stomach and remember the day I signed on the dotted line like it was yesterday.

Celebrating this personal landmark feels enormous, almost so much so that I don’t quite know where to start and how to put this into words.

The café is more than a restaurant — she has been a living, breathing, healing, pulsating haven not only for me and True, but for everyone who walks through her doors. It has been a place where we are safe to be who we are, to share thoughts, ideas and dreams.

In some way, somehow, she has wrapped her magical healing arms around us all (maybe for only a day or possibly a decade)...gently nudging us forward...to be more, do more, become more.

She has created community, connected, nurtured and supported so many. She has created a sense of home and belonging.

When I close my eyes and sit quietly wrapped in a blanket of stillness, memories cascade across my mind like flipping through a photo album...my chosen family dance in the background — my employees, my customers, my friends (furried, feathered and beyond included).

Weddings, memorials, baby showers, meetings — we have celebrated beginnings and endings, cycles of life. We have laughed, cried, created, dreamed and walked hand in hand. We have become a part of each other’s lives.

Many of my young staff have grown up here, transitioned to new jobs, new cities, new life chapters with their own babies. I sit back like a proud empty-nesting mama and bask in their accomplishments, even though I miss them.

And I would be remiss to not share the enormity that this café has played on my own life journey — probably the most pivotal chapter of all. In many ways, I grew up in this café too. Yes, I am a grown woman, but my life has transformed in monumental ways this past decade.

I have become me. I have unleashed her and allowed her to claim her voice — to feel, to fall, to flourish.

And I’ve come to realize that the more I learn, the less I know. I am insatiable and curious about this incredible human experience we are navigating.

For anyone who doesn’t know my background story, though I grew up in the restaurant business, I never knew this was where it would lead me. But those seeds must’ve been planted all of those years ago, despite running off to NYC with bright eyes and big dreams of a dance career.

Purchasing the café from our beloved Pam Brown (despite her trying to talk me out of it...yes, but that’s a whole other story), was a massive leap for me. It took all my money, faith and even a 45-minute commute each way, but I knew it was the right choice. I felt it deep in my core. Change was upon me.

At the time, True was just a little girl and I was drowning in an unhealthy marriage. The café was my life raft. I hopped on her, held on and never looked back as we sailed into our new future, even when we chartered rough waters.

I have written endlessly of the café magic and how on countless occasions throughout the years, throughout the seasons I have been overwhelmed with gratitude for her.

‘Healing’ doesn’t seem like a big enough word, but it is what happened within her walls. I grew up. True grew up. Powerful connection to God, self, community grew up.

And so many beautiful synchronicities emerged...like the day a little girl named Mayra first appeared in our lives and became True’s best friend (and sister). We could never have imagined that years down the road, she would become an even bigger part of our lives or that I would take guardianship of her.

This month I celebrate this journey with you as well because I can now announce that Mayra just earned her ‘wings’ and is officially a flight attendant. Woot! Woot!

She has literally flown the nest into her new life chapter in Chicago. We are all awash with pride, excitement and sadness (we miss her). There is a hole that still feels quite tender.

Sometimes things change so quickly beneath our feet. I wanted to grab her, hold her tight and keep her close and yet, this is her leap of faith (I’m sure one of many to come in her young life).

Love is complicated that way but holds enormous healing capacity. We can see it in motion every day if we look — if we are open to give and receive.

I can’t possibly express here the enormity that this decade, this café, this community has played upon my life. My heart overflows, my eyes well up. I am grateful. And I thank you for being a part of it.

We certainly have navigated a lot together, particularly these last five years. At a time where the world shut down and 50% of the restaurants in NYC permanently closed their doors, we managed something incredible together. And here we stand.

Yes, there is a lot of chaos and noise in the world right now, but I also cling to the undercurrent of hope. It is spring here in the Catskills. The world is awakening again. The birds are chirping, the temperatures are rising, the leaves are popping on trees. A vibrant summer awaits us.

We are all expanding. Where are you being called? Seize your leap of faith dear one, however that may present itself. And then come sit with me at the café and share it all.

So much love and gratitude. Happy 10-year anniversary to us! This is ours.

—Lea Haas, Owner, The Garden Cafe Woodstock

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

~ Lao Tzu