Pt 2: Down But Not Out
A tale in 4 parts
I went off the grid in Jan 2020 because my life went upside down on purpose & then upside down again… not on purpose. Here’s a little of what was going on while I was going through.
One of the (few) things I know to be true – our most challenging times are our most growth filled times and this time around is no different.
If you are in an ouch season, remember… this too shall pass and when it does, you will be wiser, stronger, and more resilient than you have ever been before.
PT 2 OF 4: 🇫🇷👋🏻 I RESIGNED FROM MY JOB OF 5 YEARS & BOOKED A FLIGHT TO PARIS
Why?! + a chorus of gasps is usually what I’m met with when I tell friends I gave up 211. “Why would you leave your dream apartment?” France! And what I felt like was a sign to go.
Summer 2018 my parents and their friends went on a wine and food tour in the South of France. I crashed. One of the last stops was a cooking class with a chef who owned a darling part bed n’ breakfast part cooking school. Her chateau had dogs and a pool lined with chic trees that looked like it was out of a travel magazine and a kitchen filled with croissants and rosé and cheese. I was enchanted.
Part of my job in the South Bay is to negotiate partnerships. I’m not sure if it was the years of doing that day in and day out that it just rolled off of the tongue or the wine, but somewhere in between the poached bass and the chocolate tart, I said “Well I should just come live with you to learn to cook for real and in exchange I can help you with marketing or social media or something!” The chef and I stayed in touch and somehow that conversation tumbled into a FaceTime this past fall where she was for real real inviting me to come live with her after New Years and for us to trade our skills.
Once in a lifetime opportunity! Magical! The beyond my comfort zone adventure I had begun craving after living in my very comfortable beachy “Bubble” for a handful of years.
And yet... I didn’t know if I should take the leap. I’m so very bad with change. My job had been so good to me for 5 years. This. Was. Scary!!! So I prayed — “Show me what the plan is God. Swing doors wide open or tightly closed and lead me down the right path.” Be careful what you ask for. Because not but a few days later, my roommates told me they were both moving out ideally before Christmas to be closer to work.
Door. Opened. Okay! I’ll do it. I’ll not find new roomies. I’ll break up with my life. I’ll go to France for 3 months and learn how to cook something other than eggs. (Well to be honest, I cried my absolute eyes out and let myself mourn the end of such an epic era AND THEN I balled up and decided to run through the open door). Easily the most terrifying and exciting I’ve ever done. I’m so proud of myself.
Oh... but then it came tumbling down...