Articles
There’s no better time than now
I feel compelled to tell you – even though I am a random stranger, I believe the divine sends us encouragement and inspiration from the least likely of places – that the thing you’re afraid to do is waiting for you to let go of your fear and give birth to it. And if you can’t let go of the fear, put it in a chokehold and drag it along with you on the journey. Eventually, once we push long enough, our fears have no choice but to surrender in the face of our courage. I don’t know you in the...
Healing is Difficult
I've been sitting on half of the manuscript for Healing is Difficult + The Human Condition for several years. The other half was written in a short period - about a month, give or take a few days - following the ending of an encounter (it was complicated, and calling it a relationship doesn't sound quite right) that left me feeling broken. I'm good now, as good as I've ever been. Since then I feel like I've become this whole new person that my 24-year-old self would hardly recognize, my...
Taking Chances
While I've been writing a lot more this year, very little of it has been on this blog as I've been busy with other projects. Afiwi Marketing is coming along nicely, and there's now a podcast to go along with the blog. Like I said, I've been busy. I've been taking more chances with my creativity and putting myself out there more. Which feels terrifying, exhilarating, exciting, and nerve-wracking all at once. A life of normal would be so much easier. Problem is, I wouldn't know how to do that...
Turning Strangers into Friends
Turning Strangers into Friends Do you know how when you buy a particular car you start seeing more of them on the road? In some ways traveling is kind of like that. It awakens your awareness to things that would otherwise go unnoticed. Like the flooding a typhoon leaves in its wake in the country you visited last April or the earthquake that has flattened that Indonesia village you visited for your birthday last year. If nothing else, traveling with empathy makes us (more) aware of the world...
Dear Anna [Jan 2, 2018]
When I originally mentioned on Instagram that I write myself letters all the time and open them later at a set date (kind of like a time capsule with wishes of sorts) I got some questions about what to include in such a letter. As nervous as this oversharing makes me feel, I think someone will find value in it, and perhaps inspiration to pen their very own letter. So here goes... Transcript: Hi Anna, I hope this letter finds you well. It's the...
Control
I have been thinking a lot lately about purpose, more specifically, the manifestation of it. As 2018 draws to a close with less than 3 weeks remaining many of us may find ourselves getting anxious. The unknown is a daunting thing. It doesn't matter how many new years we experience, each one is a novelty we've never before seen, so some of the craziness is understandable.Yet, we have in some ways been here before, standing on the cusp of something we alone have the power to control. Even if you...
The Secret
No one is coming to save you. You're the key to getting unstuck - not a guru or teacher, or some other person who's done what you so desperately want to do. Yes, there are lessons to be learned from others and there is something to be said for harnessing external knowledge and experience. But here's the thing. You can subscribe to every mailing list, watch every video, sign up for every course, join every Facebook group, read every how-to pdf, and painstakingly monitor the social media feeds...
Solitude
Solitude is its own kind of reward. Ask any introvert. We live for it, need it, take breaths only for the promise of being reunited with ourselves away from the watchful gaze and strange cacophony of other humans and their activities. It’s been a week since I left South East Asia and I have only just begun processing. So much happened over the last seven months, so many new places, foods, people, cultures, experiences. And so I am basking in any amount of solitude I can find, even if it's in...
Sharing is Difficult
About a month ago I shared a post from my travel blog on Facebook. As these things go there were mostly favorable comments. But one in particular stood out to me - a young man who thought it necessary to take 20 seconds out of his day to let me know the post was rubbish, because who wants to go to Asia anyway? That's not where Jamaicans want to go. Because apparently there was a vote and he was made spokesman for the nation.It was the first time I had ever gotten a negative response to content...
Shaking Off the Rut
Today I stumbled across Steven Pressfield’s blog via Seth Godin’s blog (gotta love the way the internet rabbit hole works) and in addition to feeling inspired, I felt motivated to act.Seth makes it a point of duty to post to his blog daily, while Pressfield seems to focus on consistency even if not daily postings. They both write consistently, I imagine, whether or not there’s something to say, although I suppose there is always something to say. That’s the thing about writing. It’s a muscle...