Make Sure You're Holding a Compass, Not a Watch

Direction mattered more than how long it took to get there.

When I think about my life, I can see very clearly how my decisions have shaped it.

The biggest ones started with knowing where I wanted to go,
long before I knew how to get there.

The Direction

Years ago, we decided we wanted to live somewhere else. A different country. A different language. A different kind of life.

We knew the direction.
We had no idea how we'd actually make the move.

So we chipped away at it.
The bureaucracy.
The paperwork.
Trying to find a way to do it.
After a few years' wait,
my husband got citizenship.
We could finally make the move.

A lot of people didn't believe we would.

But we did.

We all have our own compass that shows us the direction.

When I have a decision to make, big or small, my compass is what I come back to. Not what someone else is doing. Not envy, not fear. What I actually want my life, and my kids' lives, to look like.

Because if you don't choose where you want to go, you're just wandering out there.

For me, it's family. Creativity. Nature. Curiosity. Presence. Whimsy. Compassion.

That's my needle. Everything else gets measured against it.

The Weather

Having a direction doesn't protect you from the weather.

A storm comes out of nowhere. The wind pushes you off course. You look around and you're somewhere you never planned to be.
Sometimes it's a dark place. Nothing looks like the route you had in your head.
But sometimes you make it to islands you could never have imagined.

I've been blown off course more times than I can count this year.

And still, every time I look down, the needle is pointing the same way.
I'm not letting the storms and the wind keep me from my dreams.

My whole life is made up of these little moments of believing without any proof.
Trusting my gut.
Trusting my values.
Trusting myself.
And going with it.

That gut feeling pulling you somewhere usually has fear right beside it, showing you how much it matters. Follow that.

The Islands

Here's the part I love.

Messy Magic House is one of those islands for me.

I couldn't have imagined this idea before I'd lived through everything that led to it. The move. Becoming a mom. Finding my way back to making things. Every zig and every zag.

None of it was on the route I would have planned.

I don't know yet how the next part works out, or when.
I just know which way it's pointing.

The Needle

I'm putting my trust in the needle.

Once I make a decision, it can't be the wrong one. I made it based on everything I believe in and everything I want.

That makes me stronger when the storms come. When things don't happen exactly the way I hoped, or thought, or wished for.

I think that's the power.

Knowing the storms are coming. Knowing your decisions are still right. That there's still a way through, still a way to keep going in your direction.

So I try not to look at the clock. I look down at the needle.
It's still pointing the same way.

And that's enough to keep going. ✨