Nine months ago I decided to make a life change, to live out my daydream of living in Paris. Decided is a strong word, but the seed was planted to see it through when my friend dared me to say aloud a dream I had inside of me that very few people know….”What’s something you’ve always wanted to do that no one knows about it?” Like a secret bucket list…you know the one’s we don’t dare say out loud for fear of looking foolish because they are “crazy” and “unrealistic”…aka never gonna happen but I’ll keep saying “one day” to make myself feel ok about it…
Saying it out loud that night sparked something in me. What if I DID do it…I started to think about how, when, and what I’d have to do to make it happen. I was both terrified and excited by the idea, and that meant I had to do it. When something excites you to the point that you want to do backflips over the thought, and makes you want to hide in a corner from fear of failure (or whatever else we make up in our minds)…you have to do it. That is your calling, that is your life that is waiting for you!
It’s not easy to make leaps. So I sat with it for a while, going back and forth talking myself in and out of the idea. It’s terrifying to leave the security of what we’ve built for ourselves for a daydream…I had a high level job, good salary, friends I love..and in Paris I knew no one. I knew very little aside from the fact that when I was there my soul felt alive.
It took six months to really decide to jump, but I did it. I saved the money, I quit my job, started consulting and working for myself, and then I booked that one way ticket I’d daydreamed about doing for so many years.
Boarding a one way flight was surreal. I cried tears of joy, of pride in myself for seeing a dream come to life. My friend at Soul Society shared a quote he received from a friend that spoke to my heart. So rather than try to explain the why, what, how…I think this sums it up for now:
“I said that one’s calling may have an expiration date, and it’s important to be open to a modification towards a new, more relevant calling if and when it appears on the horizon. If we stay locked on the current calling past it’s relevancy, we’ll feel a little ‘off’, antsy, or uncertain…we’ll get that gnawing feeling that keeps us up at night. We may even feel guilty that we’re not appreciative of all the things we have amassed — but when it comes to callings, it really doesn’t matter what came before. The nature of a calling requires us to not rest on our laurels, and to be nimble and trusting enough to leap out of the status quo and back into the unknown.”
I couldn’t have said it better. Find the people who challenge you to be your best self, make the big leaps, live out your wildest dreams, root for you with great enthusiasm every step of the way, and who are so excited to see you do it – that THEY just might actually burst with joy.
It’s terrifying to leap into the unknown, to be so completely outside of our comfort zone – but I also know that is where the magic happens.
Ask the questions of yourself that require you to step outside your comfort zone, to move closer to the person you really are, and the reason you’re really here. Life is for living, loving, and leaping the biggest of leaps – and that’s exactly what I intend to do every chance I get.
To hear more about my story and leap into the unknown check out my podcast episode with Soul Society on Sound Cloud and Apple here and here.
Beautiful! I’m so happy for you
Thank you!!
I love ❤️ your braveness and realizing your dream and fulfilling it. Love you
Aww thank you so much!!!!! love you too xo
Dearest Bravo I am so very proud of you!
I also made a decision, but it was to move towards my comfort zone. A place that comes from a different Life-time space than your energetic leap onto the unknown!
In this phase where I know myself and what I am strongest doing naturally, I will create my own future to grow and glow warmly into a final joining with the beyond.
Life is the most fascinating process that produces change from each phase.
Keep living, learning and sharing that wealth!
Thank you! That’s amazing, congrats on entering your new chapter! Thanks for the support!
Ms. Bravo, it is in some our DNA, there is no antidote, there is no rhyme or reason,, it is a calling. Bitten by a bug, where as there is no cure. I have it, your mom has it, Many of our culture before us indeed had it also. I’m so proud of you. The bravery to go seek out what your corazon beats to. Life is way too short for us to be complacent. That’s my saying, another saying is, a person who doesn’t travel is like a person who picks up a book and reads one chapter. But a person who actually makes the transition to pick up their bags and stay for more than a two week vacation, oh well that’s just plain phenomenal! Love you boo and thanks for sharing this amazing chapter in your life. Always, Terry Sharp
Thank you!! Yes, love both sayings! thanks for the support xoxo
Woooowwwwww…. Awesome
Thank you!!!
Hi!
I’m wanting to move to London but I plan on doing a Master’s Program.
Do you have a job in Paris that enabled you to move or did you move with just the money you have saved?
Thank you for this post and your courage! ❤️
Hi! I moved with money I saved for a year. Sometimes you just have to trust that the rest will figure itself out :-), good luck on your move to London!!
That’s so amazing. I would like to know, how did you go about searching for your place, etc… was it difficult as you we’re innthe states before you made the move?
Congratulations!
Sorry for the delayed reply, i missed this comment! I moved into an airbnb when I first got here so I’d have time to find a place once I was in the city, but there’s tons of websites etc to find a place! Thanks for the support!!