Better blogging, is fast approaching #1 on my list of goals for my business. So I’m going to rewrite my last post to make it BETTER!
I published my last post too early before I had really gotten the framework right. Do you know why? Because I was so excited to be featuring Jessica Swift’s artwork. Seriously! Jessica’s website is one of my all time favorites and she is someone who simply shines as a successful indiepreneur! This collaboration felt so symbiotic that I rushed to hit that publish button. So, I’m posting the same article with some revisions. This is a study! I really want to know what you think. How does this new framework change your response to the article and if this still doesn’t hit that sweet spot, PLEASE give me some constructive criticism!
How To Jump Off a Mountain
A couple of years ago, my dear friend Leigh gifted me a beautiful silver key chain stamped with the word ‘fearless’. While I have always been one to leap without looking, I wasn’t sure if my friend had recognized me with the right adjective!
When I finished my undergraduate degree I took on an internship as communications assistant at a major health care system in Seattle (okay, Tacoma). At the end of the summer, the company offered me a comfortable job. The work was interesting, actually, but I found the environment dull, dull, dull. Instead of accepting the job, I used the money that I earned that summer and bought a plane ticked to Prague. Why Prague? Because I read that it was the artistic capital of the world. What did I do in Prague? I volunteered as an editor for an English language literary review that ran out of the back of a pub, took photos and drank tea. Not dull, but not particularly purposeful either.
Above is a figurative example of leaping off a mountain, now here’s a literal tale:
When I returned from Europe, I was broke. I moved to Denver and picked up a job as a cashier at a health food store. I grew up in Denver, but I had been away for several years by then and didn’t have many friends in the area, so I took to backpacking by myself when I wasn’t working. One weekend I picked my destination by name, lonesome and isolation lakes {true tale}. I camped at one lake and climbed around the rim of a mountain to visit the other. As I was heading back to camp, I stood at the top of the mountain thinking that it was a long haul around the rim. In a matter of seconds, I jumped onto the glacial slope in front of me and slid to the foot of the mountain. Obviously I survived, and actually this was an incredible experience, but I never told anyone about it until now because it was just plain stupid!
I’ve always subscribed to the philosophy of follow your bliss, but the bliss didn’t really set in until shortly after I received the key chain!
Leigh’s gift was inspired by the ease with which I quit my job at an art center here in Denver – a pretty awesome job, but I was not happy. Honestly, by that time, I was beginning to wonder if any job would actually feel right and if my jumping again and again into the unknown wasn’t rather naive. Do you know what happened when I quit my job at the art center? Leigh decided to open a yoga studio and she hired me as her manager! This job, plus Leigh’s encouragement ultimately led to the creation of Indiepreneur Power (many thanks!). Honestly, I’m not sure if I would have connected with my calling if I were a more practical person. So this fearlessness/recklessness/impracticality has served me well after all. (Phew!)
When have you jumped from a mountain? Or what highly impractical leap would you like to take right now? I am really curious to learn about your experiences! Please leave your response below…
