New Intentions, New Paths

I am at a very exciting crossroads of my life right now. In exactly two months, I will be leaving my job of the last two years with the College of Charleston Upward Bound program. I will also be leaving the city I’ve called home for the past seven years – the place where I’ve established so many great friendships and created so many memories. Over the next year, I will be delightfully rootless – travelling with my sweetheart Jaime first to Yellowstone National Park, where we will spend the summer months, then taking off in October for Thailand, where we will teach English for a semester. Then… well, we’ll just have to wait and see. We’ve talked about living on the West Coast, in the San Francisco Bay Area, or in some progressive place like Boulder, Colorado or Asheville, North Carolina. Above all, we want to be in a place more supportive of our views and lifestyles than what South Carolina has had to offer us.

I’ve grown so much over the past two years and I just honestly feel that South Carolina is no longer a place I can live. I’ve always felt that way to a certain extent. I’ve always been a person who marched to the beat of his own drum, and whether it be my views on politics, religion, love, equality, or just about anything you can think of – I’ve never really fit in here. But after all the inner change I’ve been through in the past year or two, I particularly feel now like new wine in an old wineskin.

I’ve worn out my welcome here and I need some new intentions, some new paths. I’m looking for some soil that is ready for the seeds I want to plant. South Carolina, despite all the things I do in fact love about the place, is simply not the soil I’m looking for. There are just too many dreams I’ve had to hold back in this place for fear that they would never be accepted in such a politically and spiritually conservative place. I’m ready to set some new intentions in life, particularly in the realm of my professional life.

I’ve been thinking long and hard about where I want to go next and what I really want to do with my life over the next few years. I wanted to share some of the key areas I want to focus on.

1. I want to keep developing as a teacher of yoga & meditation. The ability to take part in Blue Turtle’s Yoga Teacher Training program last fall was on of the most incredible blessings I’ve experienced over the past year or so, and I will be eternally grateful to Kelly and my fellow students for such an awesome experience. Every chance I get to lead an asana class is such a rich opportunity to express myself, to connect with other people, to share my true heart. It is something that simply makes my soul sing – and there is nothing in life sweeter than that. Wherever I end up over the next year, I plan on teaching yoga class and connecting with local yoga communities.

2. I want to deepen my connection with nature and find employment that involves being outside more often. One of the most stifling things about my current job is the fact that I sit behind a desk 8 hours a day, staring at a computer, in a room with no windows. I know this is becoming more and more standard for American workers, but I think it is slow soul suicide. No joke. I’m trying to learn as much as I can about work in the fields of outdoor education and nature therapy. I am fascinated by the idea of using natural surroundings to help people find healing and reconnect to their true selves. If I could also connect this work with my yoga teaching, I think I would be in heaven.

3. I also want to sharpen my skills as a teacher and mentor for young people. I’m really looking forward to teaching English in Thailand and for the opportunity to get back in the classroom. I really hesitated about teaching in the public schools here in South Carolina for fear that I wouldn’t have the freedom to teach the way I wanted to. If I were living in a more open-minded place, I could definitely see myself getting involved with classroom teaching again.

So, I’m really setting some intentions to cultivate opportunities in these three fields over the next year so I can find something that really makes me happy. If I can find a way to somehow combine all three interests, that would be even better.

So, I guess what I’m trying to say is… does anybody know of a job teaching yoga to young people in a outdoor setting, preferably in a part of the country supportive of vegetarians, progressives, and the spiritually open-minded? If so, please give me a call ASAP!