Mid-Year Review: Life + Work Upgrade

Last time I wrote a post like this, I was in Portland with a desk in the corner of our living room. Now, I’m in Connecticut, still in a corner, but this time I’m in our office.

My life and my work have upgraded. That’s the heart of this post and what I want to tell you about.

We can start with the fact that I believe in being a co-conspirator of the Universe. I am an avid consumer of all woo-woo and witchy things (my fyp on TikTok can attest). I believe that my life right now is a direct response to my desire for change and my working to get out of my own way in order to make it happen. One of my favorite lines in The Alchemist is “and, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it” and I think it describes my life perfectly.

At the beginning of the year, I decided that I wanted to do more of what made me happy. I wanted to spend less time trying to make everyone else happy. As a born-and-raised people-pleaser it was a hard ask, but one that pays off the longer I stick to it.

So, this is how we ended up back on the east coast. My boyfriend got an amazing opportunity to pursue a new creative project (the universe knocking open a door we didn’t even know was there) and I saw a big opportunity for my own happiness. Portland gave me a gift I’d never been given, but always wanted — it rid me of having to be an adult for a while. If I didn’t want to do something with or for my family, I had the excuse of being 3,000 miles away. But, as my therapist pointed out to me this week, where Portland gave me a reprieve, Connecticut is holding me accountable for being the adult I want to be.

I’m practicing saying “no” when I want to say “no.” I’m claiming even more space, energy, and time for my dreams. If you’re reading this and you come from a culture, household, or upbringing that never celebrated your big dreams (and instead were afraid or discouraging of them), I know you know how hard it is to claim space in noticeable-by-others ways.

For my business this has meant investing in courses, membership communities, and actual equipment, all with the desire that it help me uplevel. I’m investing in my business like I believe in myself (and my vision) even if others only believe in my current reality. It’s been encouraging and scary. It’s opened my eyes to how badly I wanted to shift away from just writing about grief and mental health and work my way towards a new chapter of my career — a focus on creativity and mental wellness.

I learned through a course I took that I really want to build my own community platform and teach courses. I have an appetite for building something from the ground up again and seeing how it can connect people along the way.

Being a content creator wasn’t in my career plan, but it turns out writing, content creation, and coaching are all I want to do. It finds me at my happiest. Especially when I’m able to help others take their dreams to the next level or give a platform to their dreams or work. This brings me to one of those other upgrades that I have worked on this year — I’m mapping out product launches and have new packages to work with clients. I’m taking my client work public (it’s something I’ve been doing for almost a decade but never really talked about). I want to help more people feel empowered to share their gifts with the world, even if they do struggle with their mental health or other life realities. Hard lived moments should not (and do not) disqualify you from a happy life.

On a personal level, I’m feeling more settled this week than I have since we moved. I miss Portland and the freedom it gave me and have been holding onto it for the last few weeks. It wasn’t serving me to do this and I’m trying to slowly ween myself off of my need for the place by working more freedom into where I am now. My therapist loves to say, “wherever you go there you are,” and I’m holding her to the truth of that statement.

I want to be free and happy and able to see nature and follow my passions wherever I am. A big chunk of my life upgrade has revolved around taking ownership of my life right now and seeing potential in it.

As we all work our way back into a world outside of our apartments, this is a golden opportunity for so many upgrades wherever you see fit. I knew I wanted to do something different in my career so that’s where I’ve been putting most of my energy, but I encourage you to take an audit of your life. Notice if there’s anything that no longer fits who you are right now. Practice letting it go with love and appreciation for how it served you and then make space for all the other things that can fit into your life.