It’s been a few years now, just a few. Like since leaving school that I never knew what I wanted to be. I have always enjoyed art. I was encouraged by my primary school art teacher to expand my understanding of art because he thought I had potential. I also got my highest marks in VCE in Studio Arts, but for some reason, I didn’t take notice of these factors. I scanned career websites searching for something that stood out or “was me”. I went to uni and did a business, tourism and hospitality degree, striving to open up a Boost Juice franchise, that’s what was announced at my presentation to society at my debutante ball. How awkward. I had my degree, tick, I worked in many cafes, waiting for the time, the time of life where your career is presented to you. It never came so when given the opportunity to travel with uni, and I signed my life away.

Not knowing that innocent, first-time traveller woman, I would tackle the cities on my own, research different cafes and places to visit and explore. After a few years of this, I wanted to help others “live this so-called, dream” the same as I experienced. I applied for a big chain travel agency and got the job. They made me sell a pen in my interview and answer some travel quiz. I was set, I was out to inspire others just like me. I smashed sales with Contiki bookings. I sold the hell out of Gold Coast to families, but there was something still missing. I wanted more. I began to fall out of love with selling the travel experience. I began to sell winter getaways to geriatrics up north and river cruises on the same route in Europe. I began to see the normal side of a job, the mundane side of the sales world. Corporate nights killed me, drinking and socialising with the “sale gurus” of the company. I moved to another travel agent where I was challenged, and it was satisfying for the time spent there, I was still piecing the puzzle of life together and realised in this space of time, my values were not aligned with where I was at. I was crafting into something new. And I liked that.

Then something crazy happened. My husband and I quit our jobs searching for downtime and decided to head overseas. A place in time where a pause was going to be introduced. A break in my career life, routine, and just stress-inducing life. A pause that would turn to a time where you can wake when you wish, naturally. Although when the sun rose, I would still awake. Just like nature. I would fuel the soul with food that was nourishing and working on your mind, at the pace it deserves. Letting go of the distractions of life and just being.

So here I was, driving in the passenger seat of the car on a 7-hour road trip, taking in the Redwoods. The coastline. Sipping on a burnt almond milk latte, it then clicked. What if I was not normal, a routine driven human. What if I was created to create and be adaptable to the forever changing environment called life. The switch looked like a big explosion of ideas from an online store, working with art, inspiring others and creating an Airbnb. Did I just discover that the skills that I had developed over time had just set me up for my dream? Have I been living the dream all along? Just piecing the puzzle together, but this puzzle is continually changing, being a flexible puzzle that you can chop and change pieces and stretch them. To make them fit. And you can take out sections, and it still provides. Just like nature. Did my life just become like the ecosystem? Shit, yes!

Deanne Dwight