For most of my adult life I’ve felt trapped by circumstances: debt, parenthood, poor self esteem, etc. debt more than anything else. Student loans mostly. They were like a yoke around my neck. A wonderful person helped me to finally settle that debt last year. To her, I will always be grateful.

It’s been a good life. In all of that I’ve learned to sing and I’m a decent singer. I’ve even been paid to sing. I sing in a church choir. Not just any church choir, but a cathedral church choir. We are arguably the best church choir in my state. I sing in a concert choir, too. I’m so going to miss all of my choir mates while I’m gone. All of the singers I sing with are amazingly talented people. I pinch myself even during those tough rehearsals where we’re woodshedding really tough pieces because I’m getting to do what we all love. Music is a huge part of my life and I enjoy it so. I feel really good about being part of these groups, but always felt that I wasn’t as good as the rest of the singers around me. I kept on working hard at it and here I am. I refuse to feel inadequate any longer and sing with more confidence. It’s made me a better singer.

I’ve learned how to take fine art photos. I had a really nice motorcycle for a while and got to travel with it a bit. I was into, probably still would be, into motorcycle camping. I have always had a travel bug, but have felt trapped by circumstances. Even today, I still feel trapped by circumstances.

So I’m taking a leap. I’m making changes. I’m going to be out in the wind for a couple of months. Am I totally ready to do this? Probably not, but I’m doing it anyway. If I don’t it probably won’t happen. I have a friend from Syria who is in Seattle. I may never get a chance to meet her ever again, so that’s the only thing that is really planned. It will be a slow trip to get there. There is a lot of country between here and there. Planning to stop and see my niece in Chicago on the way. This is an adventure.