Well, here we are. Taking a deep ‘ol dive into the abyss.
After 5 years of teaching Kindergarten and First Grade in Boulder, CO, I took a long-awaited, terrifying, and wonderful leap of faith. I left my job and my beautiful community to scratch a lifelong itch to travel, practice new languages, and get real nice and cozy with feeling uncomfortable.
Originally, the plan was (and has been for quite some time) to move to Costa Rica. If you have talked to me anytime in the last three years, you know that my heart belongs to the Osa Peninsula. There was this one time I got lost in the jungle, fell into a mud puddle up to my chest, and somehow stumbled out onto the beach to be found and taken in by the most amazing Tico family...
but, life did what it does best and what I thought was guaranteed and ahead for me changed in the blink of an eye. Suddenly, I had no job, no plan, no place to live, and a whole lot of space to say “yes.”
Due to an immense amount of privilege, support, and a glorious invite from a dear friend, I instead bought a one-way ticket in the opposite direction and hopped* on a plane to Europe.
* ‘hopped’ is a bit of a stretch… there was a lot of stress, care, consideration and analysis that went into the decision to board this plane amidst a pandemic.
Many friends and family members have asked for updates on my whereabouts and happenings and I am still figuring out the most authentic way for me to do this.
Some barriers to this include:
Instagram ≠ my jam.
It’s scary to put words out there into the world for anyone to read (and let’s be real, probably judge a little, too. What can I say? I’m human... it’s easier to feel liked!).
I am not really sure what I am doing right now. There has been a whole lot of “Wait, who am I anymore?” “What (THE HECK) am I doing?” “Who would want to read this?” “What am I trying to do here, be some sort of travel writer? Yoga teacher? Daily pastry consumer and wannabe croissant connoisseur?”Etc, etc.
I am struggling with self worth and judgment around how egregious it feels to be able to take this professional break to indulge/invest in myself and wellbeing.
There is no theme (YET!! #growthmindset #iykyk) to this chapter in my life… what would I even write about? How?
Yet, I keep coming back to something I have long-time believed in: remaining honest, authentic and vulnerable with myself and others. AND, lots of you have told me you would read things if I wrote them... so, here is where I have landed: a blog! .
I intend for these sporadic updates to be an honest reflection of this time and the places/spaces I inhabit. They, like me, will be a smattering of gratitude, musings, slightly impulsive decisions, goofiness and unfiltered emotions. More to come… Thank you for reading!