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My Inner Musings is a space for the thoughts we often keep to ourselves.
I talk out loud about life, relationships, change, and the patterns we notice as we grow.
These are real reflections from a lived life, shared with honesty, humour, and curiosity.
Nothing is polished. Nothing is solved.
Just honest musings, spoken in real time.
So if I go back a few months, actually a year or more, and tell you a story about a girl always on the hunt for possibilities, a glass of wine and an ad she saw online. Well, that’s how I ended up giving up my cushy life as a flight attendant to live in a shared space, working 6 days a week in another country. It’s funny how a simple whim can lead you to where you are. Random moments, chance encounters and then here you are. It took me just over a year to finalize everything from the moment my curiosity led me to this opportunity.
I was sipping wine, browsing job postings as one does when they are fed up with their current employment, simply looking for that change. Let’s just say aviation post-covid wasn’t the dream job we all desired.
I came across this ad and thought, I can do that. Latvia, why not. Well fast forward a year and four months. I am on week 3. I packed up my life, rented out my house, said goodbye to my belongings, friends and family, and traded it for mess hall food, communal living and no personal space. What was I getting myself into and who the heck am I.
What I can tell you is that there is a certain freedom in doing what I did. Giving everything up, shedding the roles, responsibilities and circumstances that were weighing me down. I was liberated in a way, starting anew with two duffel bags, some laundry sheets, fashion sense left behind in boxes at home, and traded my persona for my person. One that could explore things she’d wanted to try, one that humbly said, I’m not really good at fitness, but I’m here and I can have a routine, so she joined the gym, she rides around on a bike and loves it. One that sleeps better as she’s walked an average of 12,000 steps a day. She moves through life lighter. Happier.
The road to get here was intense, the screening process had me so far out of my comfort zone that my friends wouldn’t have believed I was reciting Dr. Seuss poetry and winning dance battles. Many months and a million errands later. House packed up and saying yes to life. Here I am. I gave myself permission to follow my curiosity and whimsy.
I sleep in a bunk bed, have had more cold showers than I care to count and I’ll just call the food sustenance. I’ve also discovered an intriguing world where people are forced to share so much space it’s obnoxious. The amount of small talk I have on a daily basis is nauseating. I also love it. There’s a peace in the fact that I share a small community and still get to hold space at the same time. When you work, wash and eat with these people it can be a lot. Did I mention it was a lot.
There’s plenty to learn, lots to be grateful for, and this character building experience I believe will be life changing. It has given me purpose, direction, an ability to serve a greater cause. As I acclimatize to my new environment I’m sure it won’t be without bumps. Nothing in life is. The next 6 months are going to be a journey. So far I’ve had a few great laughs, discovered that I am enjoying routine, feeling breathless and sweaty, childlike on my bike, being a stranger but also part of a great community.
Here’s to following curiosity, not letting anyone get in the way of things you felt were meant to be, taking the leap that many admire and few dare to. There’s bravery in curiosity — that’s one thing I didn’t even realize until someone mentioned it. You are so brave to give up your life like that. To me it was normal, it was how I was raised. I can understand how it would feel brave to certain people. To me I call it being alive again.