School, degree, write, publish. That
was the path as I saw it when I graduated high school. I was going
to spend another four years in a box, and when I emerged I would be
given a magical scroll known only as "Diploma." Then with
a wave of said diploma I could dazzle employers and publishers into
providing every desire Velcroed to the inside of my heart. I would
spend my days in a haze of book tours and bright lights. The world
would bow before my prowess, and all would be well.
That didn't happen. School was
expensive and often boring. It was full of people I couldn't stand.
So I let my brain wander. It had lost interest in my life, so I sent
it in search of something better. When it returned with an exciting
new idea, I knew instantly that I was in possession of a top-notch
noggin. Australia. What could be better for a jaded, self-important
young lady than a trip to the Dreamland?
Nothing frees the soul quite like
seeing the world. By leaving everything I knew, I gave myself
permission to be different. Education is WHAT I learn, not how or
where or when I learn it. Life is everything, everywhere, all the
time, and the only true crime is not living it.
I emerged from my reawakening with two
goals:
1) Return. Wherever my wanderlust may
take me, Oz is my one true love, and I await the day we are reunited.
2) Business. Or, if you will, school,
degree, business, freedom. Freedom in this instance taking the form
of a bed and breakfast inn. The entrepreneur I didn't know lived
inside is itching to get her hands on some accounts books; I am a
confident cook and accomplished baker-ette; I have a head for numbers
that drives my stepmother batty; and my smile could charm the pants
off a mannequin. I really can't think of a better way to combine my
scattered strengths. And who knows, maybe I'll still write that
book.
