I remember so clearly when I left Brisbane just over 2 years ago and what a pivotal time it was…

I’d lived there for 5 years and when I’d moved up, my life was like that of so many other 20-somethings: friends, a busy schedule, figuring out where I wanted to be and what I wanted to do before 30 while trying to juggle the Fear Of Missing Out (TM) with bold ambition and the sacrifices it’d require in order to be more than just another 9 to 5 brick in the wall, living for the week-to-week…

But fast forward to mid- 2014 and life has changed. By now it’s just me, building my business with only a few people in my life on the regular, after the rest have either:

a) Married,

b) Moved on or,

c) Hobbled off into the sunset, some with barely a murmur…

I’m aware this happens a lot for people as their 20’s draw to an end, but in it’s aftermath there emerges a new, big question for me:

What’s happening in MY life? Where am I going?

If you’ve been in my position- single, founder of a start-up and going solo- you know the paradox: on the one hand, you have freedoms few other people enjoy. You work your own roster. Manage your own life. You’re in charge. Little in the way of commitments holding you down. You could theoretically be anywhere (well…except maybe North Korea). But that’s the other problem: the burden of choice…

If you can go anywhere, where should you go? What move makes actual sense, beyond just an unwise emotional impulse?

So in the meantime, nothing much keeps me in Brisbane anymore. There’s no clear, logical “next step”. I feel like I’m stuck in Groundhog Day- but I don’t even have Sonny and Cher waking me each morning with ‘I got you, babe’ (Actually…maybe that’s not such a bad thing now I think of it?)

To sum it up? I felt stranded.

But then- one weekend on the Gold Coast, in a single day- a new opportunity is presented to me. It offers a chance to move, continue growing my business and take on a new level of responsibility, all in one. Like that, the lights turn on and I see my next step- and my fresh start awaits me less than an hours’ drive from my current living situation. That night I go back to my hotel, change and jump into the pool to cool off in the summer evening and burn off some energy. Afterwards, I hop into the hot shower while drinking an ice cold beer.

The wait is over!

I still remember the last day at my old place in Brisbane. By now my room is nearly bare, with the rest of my belongings packed and ready to go. I’m about to move the remainder of my stuff into the rental truck parked out the front- but then my exit is delayed by a deluge so fierce the rain blasts up the street. Like up, as in horizontally…

But at last, the downpour ends. I load up what’s left of my gear, farewell my flatmate, hop into the cab, drive down the M1 and (an hour later) arrive out the front of my new place at Robina. That night I sleep in my new room, the smell of fresh paint still lingering in the air and the space crowded with boxes. But I’m perfectly happy. This is the first sentence in the first paragraph of a brand new chapter in the story of my life. This is where it all begins…

The following morning, I drop the rental truck back at the hire centre, a few suburbs away. I’m in no hurry, so I set off towards home on foot. Rain overnight has left everything fresh, a fitting backdrop for my walk home. As I stroll along the roads back to my place that Sunday morning, I take in my new surroundings- houses sitting back from the streets behind high walls, palm trees lining the roads, the Surfers Paradise skyline to the left of me, the Great Dividing Range off to my right. After being so familiar with the inner-Eastern suburbs of Brisbane for 3 years, this is now where I call home…

So, in similar fashion?

Today marks my debut post on this brand new platform. The old platform served me well and you can find all my posts from the past 3 years right here:

Notes From The Scribe

I’ll be looking to migrate them over here to wordpress at some point. In the meantime?

I’m looking forward to a brand new life here on wordpress. It’s the same blog with the same author- but in a new environment, a new address and new ideas, revelations and all kinds of tales to come (maybe even a sizzling gypsy or two?)

So on that note:

Welcome to my housewarming!