What Were You Born To Do?

Today, while organizing my belongings into piles marked Donate, Store, Keep, Take [with me], I found this postcard in a bag full of stuff in my bedroom closet. I put it in the pile labeled Take.

Have you ever felt like you were born to do something? I'm a storyteller. I've always known I was meant to be a writer and that my stories would help people see things differently. But I never imagined giving up my home and becoming a digital nomad.

I'm a homebody. I can stay home for a week without seeing another human except the ones I pass on a walk. So, this journey is a little out of my comfort zone. And when I first thought about launching it, I was SCARED.

Months ago, during a conversation with Garz Chan, the amazing energy healer who has helped me through my healing journey; she told me that if I was scared, I should do it. That I needed to trust that universe has a better plan.

I decided to trust the better plan, but I was still scared. I even asked two of my friends to travel with me and told them I was too scared to go alone. Now, just a few months later, I'm going alone and I'm not scared at all. I'm actually quite sure that I was born to do this. When I look back, I see that the universe has been nudging me for a long time. In 2008, like millions of other Americans, I lost my job. After a few months, I was unable to pay my mortgage, so I lost my house. Thankfully, a friend offered me his spare bedroom.

That was the first time I had to get rid of all my stuff. I went from a 1,800 square foot house to a 10x10 bedroom. I sold and gave away living room furniture, office furniture, dining room furniture, everything in the kitchen, and a zillion books. It was heartbreaking.

It felt like failure. The next time I got rid of all my stuff was 2016 when I discovered mold in a beach shack I was living in. Since mold can travel with you when you move, I went to my new apartment with nothing but cookware, plates, glassware, and non-porous things. That time was easier. Partially because I didn't have as much stuff as I'd had in my house, but also because I was scared of the mold. I didn't want anything that could have been contaminated coming with me to my new home.

In early 2020, I had to move out of that apartment because it too, had mold. So, I got rid of everything once again. When I moved into the apartment I'm sitting in now, I bought all new furniture, bedding, clothing, towels, and everything else. Now, in just days, a friend will buy it and haul it all away. It's amazing how the universe has shown me over and over, "You don't need stuff." It took a long time for me to receive the message, but I finally got it. And the idea of purging one more time doesn't bother me at all.

Yes, I'll keep sentimental items like my Granny's silverware and vase and my grandfather's game. They will be stored at a friend's house until I'm ready to reunite with them, but the rest of the stuff goes. After all, it's just stuff. I'm leaving with a suitcase and a laptop, finally sure I was born to do this.