People often ask me, “Why Mississippi?”

In 2015, I said goodbye to my small, comfortable life in Washington. I left the small farm town where I had grown up and raised my daughter, and moved to Los Angeles. I enjoyed six fabulous years in L.A., priceless adventures with friends and family, and so much personal growth.  And then…welcome to 2020; my active social life, speaking engagements, conferences, you name it, everything came to a screeching halt, thanks to a worldwide pandemic. 

By early 2021, I was desperately missing my family and my people. So, I did what any sane person does when there’s a pandemic…I threw everything in storage and hit the road. I drove over 15,000 miles in exactly four months.

I left L.A. on July 23rd and signed papers at my house on November 23rd. During that trip, around mid-August to mid-September, I spent a month with a cousin and her family who had moved to MS in early 2020, right before the pandemic began.

During my visit, I felt an unfamiliar peace I hadn’t felt in a while. Sitting on their back porch at night, the humidity (that I thought would kill me, lol) felt wonderful, and the music of the cicadas relaxed me. I realized it was no coincidence that all my things were already boxed up in storage. Not even Hurricane Ida could change my mind. The Gulf Coast of MS offers me everything I LOVE about WA and L.A. in one place. The only thing missing is my people and my mountains, so I travel a lot to love my people and enjoy my mountains. Which also satisfies my nomad spirit. 

Here’s to another week of living your life by design, not by default!