Precious Life
As most of you know, I have taken a job in New York City as an School Designer, working for NYC Outward Bound Schools. Which basically means that I will be supporting schools in NYC that are implementing the Expeditionary Learning Schools model. Does it sound like the dream job for me? Yep, pretty much.
But, 4 months ago — if you had asked me if I was gong to move to NYC – I would have told you a resounding ‘hell no‘ and told you about opportunities in India. Or even 3 months ago, I would have told you about how I needed to be in Peru.
In fact, those who have known me longest have laughed – OUT LOUD (usually followed by a ‘no fucking way!?’) – when I tell them I am moving to NYC.
So – what happened and how did I end up here?
During my last month of travel, in Peru, I kept coming back to the Mary Oliver quote:
Tell me, what is it you plan to do/ with your one wild and precious life?
So much had happened during my travels — so much in my thoughts and outlook on life. I knew I wasn’t going to go back to Renaissance, but what was the next step? Where to go next?
During my travels, I sat and thought a lot. I mean, to the point of it being a little ridiculous. What did you do while traveling? Um, I thought. I wrote. I thought some more. And of course, I went out and lived. I climbed, I trekked, I sat in plazas, I tried new food. I practiced my spanish, I got stared at a lot. I met some amazing people. I rode trains and buses and rickshaws. I was scared and lonely. I smiled at strangers. I gradually let down my walls and opened up to the world.
And as time went on, I could feel myself change. I could sense the openness and courage – when I wasn’t so scared to try new things. When I became comfortable in my own skin and started to love traveling by myself. When I loved sharing a laugh with a stranger. When I was so authentically and truly myself with other people. And it was beautiful and wonderful and made me laugh and smile at the world.
As I sensed this change, I cherished it. And became terrified to loose it. So, I started to name the kind of life I wanted to live. Like a sculptor working with clay, I took the amorphous blob of stuff and started to give it form and shape, dimensions and depth. And slowly, out of the jumble of ideas, I started to give shape to the exact life I wanted to live. And on of the biggest ideas that I kept coming back to was this: I do not want to live a mediocre life. I do not want to sacrifice my happiness.
In this one ‘wild and precious life’, I want greatness and beauty and adventure and love.
Adventure. It kept coming back to that – how alive I felt staring out to the train as I traveled down the Indian coast. How alive I felt trekking through Patagonia. How alive I felt sitting in the plaza at sunset in Cusco. And so I knew, there was no other way for me to live my life from now on – adventure had to be part of it.
So, when the opportunity for New York City came up – though it not the wilderness I crave – it is certainly the wildnessI crave. As I started to think about it, I realized that this, too, would be an adventure.
And so, having a new-found courage in my ability to take on adventures and figure out how to navigate the world — I am ready to try this new adventure. So, here I am – figuring it out, learning how to get around.
My travels will be limited from now on — getting from Brooklyn to Staten Island. Manhattan to Queens. But, I think that the adventures will be just as rich and just as important in my journey.
I hope that your cravings for adventure will be satisfied!
Aurora,
Life is full of wonderful surprises and I wish you a wonderful journey in NY! My daughter Casey lives in Brooklyn and loves it. . . hope to see you this fall.
yay lisa! cannot wait to see you when you come down to visit Casey! 🙂
You sound happy. You’ve created your own luck. Congratulations and best wishes…We never did get that lunch…but someday…
When are you coming to NYC?!?
Sent from my iPhone
You are such an inspiration. I am cheering for you in this next adventure.
It is great that you found your dream job 🙂 I always feel the same way, I’m going to do this, or I’m going to do that, and then somehow I fall into something else that really is a better fit anyway. I will have to read more of your site and see how your adventure in NYC played out of the year…
Yes – it’s totally a great job! though of course the winds of change blow strong and I want to go out and play…. 🙂