Reflection: A Single Cell

This time of year always has special meaning for me. As a Capricorn, I have a January birthday as well as the New Year to prompt me to reflect and think about new direction. January offers a clean slate—another year full of promise and potential. It gives us optimism that we can finally get it right—lose twenty pounds, start exercising, write that book we’re always talking about.

While most of our New Year’s resolutions don’t survive the month much less the year, taking the time to reflect on the past and look toward the future is still a valuable exercise. Was it Plato who said, “The unexamined life is not worth living?” Looking back at how much has changed in my life in the past year is staggering.

I don’t think I fully realized it myself until I sat down to write my annual holiday letter; then there it was staring me in the face in black and white. In-between the photos and accounts of so many trips (did I really go somewhere every single weekend in March?), was the serious change that had taken place inside. Not the destruction of the cancer cells that invaded my body, though that was pretty significant, but the courage I found to live my life differently.

Stories of people who have taken a different path have always inspired me. Those who set an audacious goal and achieve it, or find work that inspires them, or leave security behind for an adventure, tend to speak to all of us; though most of us continue on the same path, not because it is the best one for us, but because it is easy. Lately, it seems that more and more people I know are choosing a different course, taking the risk and finding their true passion. We are very fortunate that we live in a time that supports this direction more than ever before.

Someone told me once that I traveled so much because I was trying to escape. I also just really like to travel, but there was some truth to what she said, and I began to listen. I don’t want to have the kind of life that I have to escape. I want to live a life full of passion for what I do and what I see and those I meet. This past year, I can honestly say I’ve done that. I quit the job that offered me security and success and health insurance (yikes), and started a non-profit that allows me to make a larger impact on the world.

Though I have never made a great deal of money, now I make very little, and while the adjustment has been difficult in some ways, I have also been surprised at how much less I need to live. Material possessions have never been important, but I am finding that many other things are not as well—including lots of travel. I will always love to get on a plane to visit friends or family or exotic places, but I don’t NEED to escape.

For the first time since high school, I am dating regularly and actually enjoying it.