As a self-proclaimed free spirit, I have often wrestled with the chains of conformity. Writing allows my innate dreamer to navigate this life with imperfection and honesty.
In my former life I was a full-time teacher, following the path of what I thought was expected of me, until illness threw me onto my arse (for the second time – the first time I didn’t listen), and I was forced to reevaluate how I was living.
Getting honest about what wasn’t working in my life and taking responsibility for my choices has freed me to pursue a few dormant dreams – buying a cabin being one. Prone to worry and rumination, roundhouse kicking doubt and fear to the curb (scissor kicks on a good day) is a daily, necessary practice that I gladly undertake, albeit often with shaky legs.
I now earn my living through multiple streams of income (MSI), one of which is part-time teaching. I had to leave my profession in order to return, and gained hard-earned perspective about how it had changed me. MSI can be challenging but I have yet to regret choosing this path.
Choice is a powerful tool often discarded; once re-claimed its potency increases exponentially.
I’d rather be swimming upstream than drowning in the mainstream.
(tattered poster in a local park – unknown source)
It is never too late to be what you might have been.
George Eliot