Here’s What I Learned From 6 Months Of Couch Hopping

While this is 100% true, I am gifted a bed the majority of the time. (I honestly felt the need to say that for my mother’s sake.) If you’re new to my journey, I left my job as a Lead Pharmacy Technician for Walmart in October of last year. I ended a long term relationship. I gave away the majority of the things I owned. I rented my house out. I set off for a new adventure. I won’t bore you with the details, but as you could probably guess, I was incredibly unhappy with everything I had created for my life up until that point. Funny thing is, it was everything I was told I should want.

I drank margaritas on the beach in Mexico on a trip I was invited to by divine intervention! I waded in the natural waters moving through massive red rocks in Arizona. I experienced the power of plant medicine and danced through the snow in Colorado. I drank Bud Select with amazing people in a tricked out barn in Missouri. I had a feeling there was more to life than working a 9–5, buying a home, getting married, and saving for retirement. When those things became the furthest things from my priorities, that is when I truly started living.

Okay, okay, I am not saying this is the life for everyone. That journey is so perfectly fitting for SO many people. They find so much bliss and pure joy in being themselves in the roles they play. There came a point when I loved interacting with them daily at work. I did this also with the understanding that it wasn’t for me.

The man who loved me dearly was an amazing man, but I described him often like a square. I, on the other hand, am more like the frantically scribbled lines drawn when trying to get a pen to work, except I am always moving upward. Now you’re seeing how I could’ve felt a bit…trapped?

I stayed in so many safe places with so many different hosts. They were all kind hearted. They were all different. They all played such valuable roles in nurturing me while I birthed a brand new version of myself, whether they were aware of it or not. With my newfound freedom of time, I sought out experiences. I lived my life freely and truly by my heart’s calling every day. Who do you want to see today? Where do you want to explore? How about I just… exist?

I formed a deeper relationship with myself while also viewing the lives of others from the inside… from their spare bedroom or couch. They allowed me into their daily lives and taught me that happiness can look any way you want it to. Unconsciously to me, I was finding the same familiar feeling of home, safety, and love everywhere I went in some shape or form. Through this repeated practice, I acquired the ability to get to that safe space no matter where I am physically. I have a new sense of freedom knowing I will never be lost again. I can always go within to go “home”.

I am writing this because I know there are others out there who are craving that freedom lifestyle. They are proud of how far they have come while also thirsting to create something more expansive. I am encouraging you to choose more adventure. Choose yourself and your happiness. I believe when you make decisions based on your heart’s truest desires, you’ll never be led in the wrong direction.