Blog

Where do I begin? It’s rhetorical. Nothing just “exists”…it “is” because of an event or situation which is because of another event which happened before that and something that happened before that…..and so on. So, I’ll pick a random point to start the story of where my journey began:

August, 2010 (Seattle, WA): I sold a staging design company that I started with a business partner seven years earlier. My newfound freedom from responsibilities led me to my new motto: “I’ll go where the day takes me.” One particular day took me down a pebbled trail, not too far from my house, yet I had never noticed it before. Dragon flies filled the air and the sun was warm on the back of my neck. I sat on a large fallen log overlooking the beautiful Puget Sound. The setting sun illuminated the Olympic Mountains and while taking it all in, I had a realization….I needed perspective away from the City. I literally ran home, called my real estate agent and told her I was moving to the Coast.

To make a long story short…

The house was under contract in 4 days. By September my daughters were starting school in Westport. I moved, wrote a few kids books, a book of poetry and some song lyrics…but they all existed in my computer and notebooks. I felt as if I had no way to share my writing. I was beginning to feel trapped at the edge of the mighty Pacific Ocean.

March 11, 2011: I awoke, living in my “cave.” My “cave” was an apartment I “MacGyvered” behind a secret bookcase in a commercial building I own in Westport. It was necessary to “MacGyver” it because the City building inspector wanted us to install a $14,000 sprinkler system if the property was used for commercial and residential purposes. Not wanting to spend unnecessary funds, we decided to keep our apartment a secret. At any rate, I awoke that morning and decided I needed to get outta town…and fast. Not entirely sure why, but I packed my car with everything “important” which included all my art and journals, a random assortment of clothes, my snowboard and anything that would fit in my car that was within easy reach. That night, the earthquake in Japan hit, sending an impending tsunami directly towards my “cave” on the Pacific Ocean.

March & April, 2011:I spent travelling. Visiting long lost friends, sleeping on couches, or the floor, in one instance. I visited Vancouver, BC (twice), Portland, Seattle, Chicago, Indiana, The Kentucky Derby and back to Seattle. My days were taking me to unusual and new places and meeting amazing people. One day, on the street in Chicago, I ran into Peter Hertzel. He is a producer and he told me about Shifting Circles….and….perhaps, the rest is history. I read him an excerpt from my journal from that day. The entry was cut short because my pen had ironically run out of ink. There I was, a writer with no pen. Peter laughed. I joined the Shifting Circles team. Shifting Circles linked me with Carol in Seattle, who was planning a trek in Siberia. I connected with Carol and got her my passport information for the border permit, literally the very last day she could turn it in. Timing is everything! That is the story of the journey that led to the journey that is taking me to Siberia.