This summer I’m moving to Montana because I feel called to. My mind and body are telling me I need a refresh and mountains have always given me an overwhelming sense of peace. So I decided to go to them - for five months.
It sounds like a dream. Like something people only do in books or movies. But here I am doing it and you can too.
What I mean by that is, you can live the life of your dreams too, if you clear out the clutter and listen to yourself.
It took me a long time to get to this point.
Five years ago, I found myself in a therapist's office, with major depression, anxiety disorder, and PTSD. I was incredibly unhappy, distraught, and didn’t know how to get out of it. I wasn’t able to talk about my feelings or express myself, but I knew if I didn’t do something, I wouldn’t last much longer. It was time to surrender and get some help.
Therapy was initially intended to address my PTSD but the weekly conversations kept coming back to unhappiness in my relationship. After over a year of individual therapy and some relationship counseling, I decided to end my 13-year marriage, which was not an easy or quick decision.
I had been married from the ages of 19-32; nearly my entire adult life. I had never lived alone. So everyday when I came home to my new apartment, I would ask myself, “What does Michell do?” I didn’t know, but I wanted to find out.
I was on a mission of self exploration. On the one hand, everything felt new and exciting and on the other hand, I was tremendously sad to have lost my life partner. Every day was a new adventure from figuring out how to make myself dinner (every. damn. day.), to online dating (what a shitshow!), to figuring out my daily routine, and what I wanted my hobbies to be. It was all new. Some days I would be flying high and other days I’d be sobbing on my couch for hours, getting drunk on Prosecco, dancing around my house to Sia, and eating Oreos for dinner.
At the same time my career also felt stale. I had a new job that was amazing on paper, but the day to day realities were unfulfilling, stifling, and I felt undervalued. I had been working in my field for over a decade, my salary was stagnant, and I was losing passion for the work.
From every angle of my life, I knew I wanted something different. I didn’t know what I wanted or how to get there. I was excited and terrified. And I knew I was going to have to take a chance and do something different to find it.
About six months after my divorce, I decided that I finally wanted to pursue a career that I was passionate about: becoming a professional organizer. I had this dream for YEARS and I had several opportunities to pursue it, but didn’t because I was scared. There aren’t many companies where you can get hired to do this job...you have to create it.
So I decided I was going to do whatever it took to create a business, and that started with getting over my fear. A friend who was offering career coaching to women, suggested I take an emotional intelligence training. The first course was $500, an expense that would typically require months of mulling over, but I decided in that conversation to just go for it! I didn’t know what I was getting into, but I ended up doing the full series of trainings - about 5 months of deep emotional work. Through the trainings, I experienced a new way of seeing and understanding myself. This work was a launching point into the next great adventure of my life - the life I’m living now.
I went on to become a Certified KonMari Consultant and after three years of learning, growing, building, crying, doubting, and celebrating, I finally quit my job. Now I have been a self-employed small business owner for a full year! I’m immensely happy. It’s incredibly hard. I ask myself if I’m crazy on a daily basis. And I don’t regret it for a second.
All of the choices I’ve made were difficult, scary, and thrilling, but ultimately aligned with a life I wanted to live. They aligned with feeling joy.
And now in my career, I have the privilege of supporting people through their own journeys of self-discovery. Their own versions of clearing out the clutter - literally clearing out stuff and emotionally uncovering what’s really going on behind it. Their own versions of moving to Montana.
Your version of moving to Montana may look different then mine. It doesn’t have to include dramatic life choices (but it can). It may look like simple shifts that bring your life into alignment with what brings you joy. Whatever it is, you can do it, and you deserve to be happy.
How to get to your Montana
Create a vision for your ideal life
What does your ideal day look like? Dream big…
How would you spend your time? What do you love to do? Who do you want to spend time with?
How do you want to feel in your clothes?
What do you want your home environment to feel like?
Tidy Up! What obstacles can you clear out that are not inline with your vision?
Connect with your feelings, be honest with yourself about what they are, and trust yourself.
What parts of your life desire attention?
What feelings have you been ignoring?
What brings you joy?
Take action. What steps can you take today to get you closer to your vision?
Follow my journey…
In the coming months, I’ll continue to write about my journey to Montana on my blog and on Instagram and Facebook. I’ll tell you how I serendipitously figured out where I’m going. I’ll share with you my own struggles with emotional attachment to stuff as I downsize and move out of my apartment. And I’ll share with you what I learn about myself during my refresh. Follow along if you like.
And if you’re ready to start a journey of your own and would like my support, I’m booking Columbus based clients now through April 30, 2020.
Cover photo by Chad Peltola on Unsplash | Second photo by Hunter James on Unsplash