Over the past 6-8 months have changed me after Alt Summit I felt such clarity and relief as a blogger and creative, then launching Wild Measure brought this challenge that we daily are still figuring out and defining, and then traveling through Europe. To say my understanding of myself and what makes me happy, content, and healthy was the same this time last year would be a major lie. This past year has altered many of my thoughts and made me realize how so many of my expectations were silly and some not high enough. This weekend I thought deeply about the things life has to offer, how we choose to take them or in most cases don’t, how we can feel stuck, and then more than anything how we have more power than we believe to define our happiness and fulfillment in this life.
Many of the reasons Mike and I have set out on this path of being bloggers, brand builders, and whatever label you could put on what we do, has been because of the life we want to live and the life we want our kids to experience some day. This little life of adventuring, creating, traveling, working with such inspiring risk-takers, and hopefully someday being able to become fairly self-sustained is what we really wanted.
Over this time of beginning to grow our business and develop the lifestyle we want a lot of things have become clear.
1. To do what you love it takes sacrifice (we have one car, don’t own a home, and keep buying to a minimum)
2. Whatever you choose to chase will not be a 9 to 5 thing it will be your life.
3. You must surround yourself with people who challenge and support you.
4. You never know the curve balls that can land in your inbox. Always be prepared to jump on new opportunities. (this means passports are ready, laundry is clean, and you are ready to pack your bags and go)
5. You will be told you are crazy…and maybe you are…but at some point people will see that your risk has allowed you to have what they always thought they could buy.
Knowing the sacrifices it takes to have your dream job, create the work you want, and everything in between has meant that we have thought less and less about the things we can buy and more about the ways we can simplify, experience, and live more. By lessening our wants and needs it has made us more free to take risks, travel, and spend days doing what we want to do most with our lives.
Growing up I was always a wanter. I always wanted more clothes, more things, and more this and that. I still do. I dream a lot and Pinterest is of no help and neither is the world of being a blogger. I don’t think there is anything wrong with appreciating wonderful and beautiful things, but when I remember the things in life that really mean the most to me it is Mike, creating, gardening, eating well, exploring, seeing, traveling, and just plain living. When I can identify those things it makes me want all other things much much less.
My goal? To live life easier and simpler, give up the human desire to want more than is needed, learn contentment, create more freely without the need for making money to pay for the wants and instead creating more because I simply feel fullfilled by doing the work I love, to spend more days growing and making what I need and less paying for it, to see more of the world and spend more days lost adventuring in the woods. Maybe that all sounds impossible to most of you, maybe I sound crazy, or maybe it is a breathe of a fresh air…I don’t know? All I do know is that by creating work I am proud of is more important than buying a new shirt or car. I know that spending a Monday hiking through the dunes of the Lake Michigan lakeshore with friends and family means more than paying for a movie or new lawn furniture. It’s a hard concept but it’s become our new goal around here. We are learning to become more self-sustained and getting rid of a lot of what no longer is of use to us. It feels good and I feel more freedom knowing how little I need to live life the way I always dreamed.
I would be happy to know that instead of inspiring you all to purchase more that instead I inspired you to find the way to live the creative life you want and making you feel it is achievable to live the way you really want. A life well lived and full of passion is a beautiful thing, one that I think we all believe means we must work to achieve certain things to obtain, when really it all about choice and what we are willing to give up.
It’s a slow thing that takes time but after a few years of doing this it is only in this last 6 months that I have finally seen the fulfillment that can come from choosing your path and giving up the things that stand in the way.
Happy Monday my friends! Chase what you love. Do what you think is impossible.
