I left my life behind 3 years ago today...

I packed my car and my mum's car with all my worldly belongings (and my dog) and set off in convoy to the other side of the country, and into the unknown of a whole new life.

We didn't get off to the best start.

A drive that should have only been 5 1/2 hours ended up taking over 9 hours (during a heatwave!!!). We eventually arrived hot, sweaty, and tired.

(and I was very much trying not to take my voyage into my new life being so arduous as a sign from the Universe).

Ready for my 3 weeks of being 'homeless' before I settled into living in my first ever house share.

It was only 3 years ago but, it already feels blurry trying to recollect how I was feeling back then. I can vividly remember snippets of the experience.

Like my mum and I being stuck in standstill traffic on the motorway and calling each other to try and figure out where we were in relation to each other on the M6.

Or when we pulled into Tebay services to let Rafiki out and regroup (little did I know that I would end up working there for a few months, almost exactly 2 years later).

And when we finally arrived, the exhaustion of having to park in the village and walk down a lane to get to the house we were staying at.

It's funny isn't it? What stays with you and what doesn't.

I will forever remember this day as being the start of a whole new chapter, a whole new book, to be entirely honest.

My first time living with anyone other than my parents or my ex-partner, my first time living in a house-share, my first time living away from my hometown, my first time living somewhere where I did not know anyone, my first time ......... fill the blank because I have had A LOT of firsts in the past 3-years.

At some point, I will list them all out just to see them all in one place because it regularly astounds me the experiences I have had and the things I have done. Things that past versions of me did not even know existed, and if she had, she would have said 'absolutely fucking not'.

(namely, firewalking, arrow breaking, rebar bending, glass walking, skydiving, just to name a few, promise I will write that list at some point as that's not even the half of it!!)

I regularly say to myself, "how is this my life now?", "how is this who I am?", because I genuinely can't quite even comprehend it.

And then I get caught up in modern/capitalist life stuff like working full-time, office politics, food shopping, laundry, cleaning, etc and I almost manage to forget that I am literally living my dream life right now.

I remind myself that once upon a time, all I wanted was to be able to live up here, even if it meant working a job I didn't love (and actually, there is a lot of freedom in working a job you don't love, but that is a topic we will cover another day).

Another reason why I love social media is the opportunity for moments of reflection and clarity on how far you have come.

Seeing a comment I wrote, envisioning that version of myself writing it, and how she had no idea that it would all become her reality, is just an incredible feeling.

(and now I am friends with Kat and she is catering my Welcoming Winter Weekend retreat in October, never could have predicted that happening!!)

So, this is a personal celebration of my 3-year anniversary, BUT it is also your reminder that you genuinely have no idea how your life is going to go.

Hold on to your dreams, acknowledge your desires, and trust, have faith, you have so much magic to still experience in your life 💚

(3 years ago, celebrating our arrival with a glass on Nozeco)