A Big Personal Life Change

You know those times when something happens and you think it’s just the most terrible thing ever, but then after it settles in a bit….you realize it’s a blessing?

That has happened to me so many times in my life, including this recent circumstance.
.
Earlier this summer I got notice that I have to move out of my place at the end of September.

I was crushed when I got notice to move - I love where I live and I was under the impression that I’d have another couple of years to live here before the property is re-developed.

While I’m sad to leave my home, I’ve been so blessed to be here, and I was pretty quickly able to shift into a place of gratitude for having lived here.

I moved into this home the week we all went into covid lockdown in March of 2020.

I’ve been so grateful to be on such a beautiful property with a view of Mt. Rainier to ground me through the last crazy 2.5 years, big open sky, big trees, lots of birds, hawks, eagles, owls, and so many coyotes.
A place to gather close friends around a fire outside and watch the moonrise.
A garden.
An enormous kitchen that I cooked SO much good food in and learned to bake bread.
A great floor for dancing.
Big windows and more houseplants than I will probably ever own again in my life.
My front porch with the view of Rainier -AKA- my outdoor office and dining room 3 months out of the year.
I’ve loved it here so much.
I’ve developed the most solid home routines here that I’ve ever had in my life.
I’ve been very much nesting.

Like a lot of people, I shifted to working from home during covid. Before March of 2020, I had an office in Olympia where I saw many of my clients in person. While I still miss hugging my clients in person, It was a change that I didn’t realize I even wanted.

I’ve loved it, and I’ve also spent a LOT of time at home alone….definitely more than was good for me. I know I'm not the only one who felt that.

After 2.5 years of living alone and working from home through covid, I’m feeling like I need to re-engage with life in a different way for a while.
.
After the news settled in, this notice to move actually felt like divine timing for me.

Anyone who has known me for any length of time knows that I can get restless after I’ve been nested for a while, and I’ve very much been feeling that.

I’ve been daydreaming of doing some time as a digital nomad for about a year now. I just thought I would be doing it a couple of years from now.

I've decided I’m hitting the road.

Over the last month, I have gone through everything I own, and have purged about 70% of my belongings, putting the rest in a storage unit for the time being.  This week I'm wrapping everything up and I'll start driving east! ( I LOVE solo road trips)

It's been a LOT of preparation for this shift, and letting go of so much as the season turns to fall has felt really good.

I haven’t returned to my home state of Minnesota since my dad passed on just before covid began and I have some quality time with my mom that I need to make up. I’ll be in Minnesota until Late November, and then heading to Mexico for at least a couple of months of the winter. We’ll see after that….

I’m excited to connect with a lot of people I’ve missed.
I’m excited to “un-nest” myself for a while and shake things up.
I’m excited to shed lots of “stuff” and lean back into being a little more minimalist.
I’m excited to connect with unfamiliar places and reconnect with familiar ones.
I’m excited for the growth that I know happens when I move around.

I did something similar to this about 11 years ago. I moved around for about 4-5 years and it was such a growth-giving time. I’ve been nested back into Olympia, WA again for 6-7 years, and I feel like an entirely different person as I prepare to leave Olympia this time. So much growth & change from then to now.

You’ll likely hear some of my experiences of spending time in different places coming up.

I wanted to remind you, too that sometimes you get what feels like a hard curveball in life, and then you realize that there was a huge blessing there.

We often don’t feel like we’re ready for things - The side of me that was feeling super cozy here in my comfort zone really felt like I needed some more time here. I wasn't ready to move!

While that inner knowing voice in me was craving change - the universe listened and threw me into some change. Divine timing always wins over arbitrary timelines we try to set for ourselves.

As I venture off soon, I’ll be sure to share some stories and learnings along the way.

Cheers to change!