Once again, it’s been a substantial amount of time since I last updated this blog, and once again I feel that familiar urge to share my words with you all. I just brainstormed over 100 different topics I could write about, but because it’s been so long, I know I first need to update you on what is actually going on in my life. Things have changed A LOT since I last gave you an update.
At the end of 2019, we were homeless, and I was finally on the other side of what I can only describe as a PTSD-induced catatonic state. Right as we lost the house, we started a new business. It wasn’t in time to save what we were losing, but it helped us secure income to float us through and keep us alive. We hotel hopped and couch surfed for a couple of months, spending far more on insecure lodging than we had on our dream home.
Life Update
We rang in 2020 with several substantial clients and decided to spend the year traveling the country in search of home, spending each month in a different Airbnb while we worked remotely with our clients on their cannabis business applications.
January took us to a quaint town on the shores of Lake Michigan. We drove in past midnight through a snowstorm; I actually drove through water that was over the road on our way into town. This was obviously an accident due to poor visibility, but looking back, it seemed like a baptism of sorts.
Immediately, we felt at home. Something about Michigan just spoke to us, and the emptiness of the abandoned tourist summer town was exactly the respite we needed. But it also beckoned at the liveliness to come in the spring.
We spent the first several months of 2020 building our new business, dealing with some substantial health challenges, and establishing ourselves in Michigan. Our business was doing very well. My writing skills paired well with clients’ needs to create competitive documentation explaining why they would run the best cannabis businesses in Illinois. Most of our clients were social equity applicants so it appealed to my heart as well as my mind, and it was incredibly fulfilling. COVID and Illinois’ ineptitude and corruption certainly put a damper on our business, but we held on and made it through.
We stayed in Michigan though we moved around a lot, still vacation rental hopping. Last summer, my husband got a gig playing music on an excursion vessel. We spent most evenings out on Lake Michigan and spent days down at the secret beach we’d been shown by a local. In the winter, we went up to the Upper Peninsula for 5 weeks just to experience the true depth of snow. And then we came back to a condo we fell in love with – close to where we started but even closer to our favorite bakery and meat market.
We are still doing some of the cannabis consulting, but I also found something remote that is more steady and provides the flexibility necessary to live how we choose. I’m back to working from the computer, and that means we can go anywhere we imagine. And I’m still working for myself so I only work the hours I want. This freedom has made 2021 amazing. We are living life, exploring Michigan, and traveling all over.
We actually spent the month of July performing music TOGETHER in Gatlinburg, TN. It was my first gig, and the experience (as well as me learning how to play guitar and feeling confident singing) will be covered in future blog posts. It was definitely one of, if not the, most fulfilling things I have ever done – and to share it with my husband was AMAZING.
We moved back to the same condo we left and have a lease to stay here through the end of July 2022 at which point we hope to purchase a home with a bit of land here in Michigan – or even build something!
On The Other Side
It’s true. I’m finally on the other side of that all-consuming PTSD-C episode. It took a lot of independent research to get me through. Yes, I will be sharing the techniques and experiences that helped me confront my trauma and integrate routines and safeguards into my life. I’ve seriously considered going back to school for clinical psychology because of the profound healing I experienced from seemingly small things – when no amount of medicine, self-love, or intellectualizing would help.
I suppose that’s one of the things that has drawn me back to writing – a sense that all my suffering has been for the purpose of sharing my experiences and helping others through their own pain.
I’ve been feeling the pull to write all year, but I finally got the kick in the pants necessary to make me do it when I visited my Grandpa in a memory care facility a couple weeks ago.
Spending time with him reminded me of the influence that he and Grandma had on me, my writing, and this blog. I still remember when Grandma was the only person who read it. I know there is no greater way to honor them than to share my words here.
Thank you for sticking around to read my words; may something I share touch you and help you in your journey!
