All the great pioneers have set aside their fears, at least temporarily, and gone ahead despite the dangers. Courage is not the ability to walk into danger without fear. Courage is the ability to walk into a dangerous or frightening situation and think to yourself, "Yes, I'm scared--I'm scared to death--but that's not going to stop me."One might be forgiven for thinking that I am either a natural risk taker, a total hippy or flush, to be able to afford my international lifestyle (or a combination of all the above). The truth is, I'm likely a bit of a hippy, though I like creature comforts far too much to rough it, and while I'm not yet swimming in limitless funds and resources, that certainly is the goal. So that leaves risk taker.
I've never considered myself to be a risk taker. My mother proudly recounts stories of when I was a child; I was the perfect child so she tells me. I would never have thrown myself down stairs, put my hand on a hot oven door, run across the street, or eaten anything I wasn't given by a trusted adult. In fact one story she often tells, is about my befriending an old man on the metro when I was about 5. As we approached his stop, he reached deep into his pocket to offer me some dirt covered candy, which he stopped just shy of spitting on to clean, before handing it to me. Being a well mannered French child, I promptly told him "no thank you, it would hurt my teeth". Needless to say my mother was relieved. I digress.
My point is, I do not consider I'm a risk taker. I like everything kept where I always keep it. I like to have my favorite things around me. I like to be comfortable with people and critters I love near to me. I like to know that money is flowing regularly into my account. One might say I'm a bit conventional.
On the other hand, I've always set myself goals. And the older I get, the more I realize that when I have goals, and the clearer I make them, the more they come to be. Some of my goals in life were ordinary. From swearing I would return to my homeland, to getting a driving licence, to getting to talk to that boy that was so cute! I started out pretty reserved and ironically most people would now tell you I'm uber confident. Go figure! I suppose I'm a classic "if I can dream it, I can do it". The more I'm told I'm nuts to even think it, the more I'm gonna prove you wrong! Respect to Walt Disney! Go check out some of his quotes about dreams and not listening to what the masses tell you. So I set myself goals and then I like to also throw myself curve balls if I get too comfortable.
The Academic Years:
I left school not knowing what I wanted to study. So I set a goal... to go back to University within 3 years. I did. When I was at University, I decided Fine Art students should be allowed to do exchange programs. You may have guessed, I'd set another goal: to live in California. Simple. I spoke to my faculty who told me I could take up a language in addition to the art and go live in France or something. OK so that was a goal... yet it wasn't the one I was aiming for at that time. What did I do? Set up an exchange program with a school in northern California, Yep you guessed it so I could live there! While I was in California, I was asked what I would do when I would graduate. The answer was never waving: "I'm going to work for MTV". And Californians being true sweethearts, they usually said "right on" or "you go girlfriend". So I believed it. More importantly I met my rather awesome husband who not only believed me, he actually agreed to follow me to Europe to support my endeavors. Little did he know what he was letting himself into!
The Professional Years:
By now I'm guessing you might be seeing a pattern. I did go work for MTV. I loved MTV, still do. Yes the programming isn't what it used to be. The ethos, attitude and brand values still live strong, just in smaller doses! I'll condense more years than I care to mention, in the media industry, to say that I then notched a couple/three more large global broadcasters before getting to the "now": location independent living, working remotely.
By all accounts, I was doing well. Climbing up the ladder nicely with each new job. Then it all changed. To be honest it pretty much all changed after MTV. Nothing ever compared is the truth. No other job felt like home. They just felt like jobs and while the people were brilliant, the companies world class and the projects more and more creative, something was missing. I wasn't particularly happy and we were living in London which was home to neither my husband nor myself. Every time we went "home" to France or California, the journey back to London felt heavier and heavier. London and England have been good to us, and for that we are truly thankful and grateful, yet I suppose as we all age and people settle to start families, our priorities about work life balance shift.
Crunch time. I said goodbye to my corporate self and entered the world of the unknown. It's both magical and frightening. Mostly magical though if you know what truly matters.
This blog is about sharing the magic and also the bumps and bends along the way which make the journey almost as fun as the destination.
Our goal is to inspire others. Yes we are scared, but that's not going to stop us!!!
Mrs R
Who would have thought that this quiet, dreamy and cautious child would become such a vibrant, enterprising and daring adult? Quite an inspiration!
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