Okay… I hate to sound like a fan-girl here, especially to kick things off, but have y’all read Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis? This book is life-changing. Or at least for me it was. Now, I can’t say for sure if it was because of the simple, yet profound concepts of how to take control of your own damn life that she placed in front of you – or because I was so desperate for a life change in the first place – but either way, I am thankful for my dear friend showing up on my door step and handing over this book.
So, here begins this new space and this new journey she inspired. Something I never thought I would do, nor would have even contemplated for myself – but that is the beauty of this new mentality the stunning Mrs. Hollis instilled in my brain. I could not put my finger on what my life needed or what I wanted from it because without even realizing it; I set barriers on my creations and dreams. Simply because of all the small lies that build up our heads over our ever so crucial and developmental years. “You aren’t good enough, you are just a little girl, your opinions don’t matter, your dreams are too big, you are reaching too far, grasping at nothing” – and all she did was ask one simple question… “So?” So. So, what if I am? What if I don’t listen to you, keep trying, and just happen to get everything I never realized I wanted along the way? How cool would that be? And what a journey to experience. You never know – you just might find a version of yourself all those little lies were telling you that you could never be all these years.
With one little question – a whole new mental spiral unfolded. I was so desperately in need of a change, a different approach, a new journey and didn’t comprehend the faint yellow brick road in front of me and how many changes I could make; right here, right now. I just had to stop lying to myself and believing that I can’t reach for the things that spark joy and desire from my heart simply for the sake of what I have been through.
I truly believe with all my heart one of the biggest lies that I will have to overcome (for now – I got a lot of mental unpacking to do) is that I have to reign in or tone down the things I pour my focus into. While yes, I do need to do some legitimate prioritizing – I do not need to set things that spark happiness in my heart on the back burner for fear of retribution, or being “that girl”, or whatever other judgements people love to come up with these days. I juggle a lot of different jobs. I am inspired by several different industries. I love challenges. I love creating. And right now; I feel like I get to chance start over. I’d be lying if I said this ‘fresh start’ was a wanted change, but I am challenging myself out of my comfort zone to not waste this opportunity. No matter how it came to me.
I could spend hours and hours sharing anecdotes or fabled stories of all the blessings and the bullshit that have happened in my life to lead to this point – but I think ultimately that is my purpose behind this new space. Writing has always been a very therapeutic and empowering platform for me – it has just been a quieted attribute. For whatever reason, or whatever lies I was telling myself to keep from getting to a place of using it as regular outlet, I am ready to start fighting against those mentalities. Or at least try. There are very few better feelings than those times I do battle through the nerves and someone tells me what I shared helped them in some way. Maybe it’s putting the words to their journey that they could not find or maybe one of my crazy rants sparks a profound moment of thought for them. Whatever the reasoning, it again sparks that joy in my heart to encourage and nurture reflective processing and mutual healing in myself and the world around me.
So, welcome to my new journey. When you visit this page – I hope I will be able to create a beautiful space to help somewhat portray the depth of my passion projects and a place we can share the authenticity we want to see in our lives. You may see writings – some I cry through typing and some I laugh – I will share videos, pictures, ideas – everything I can think of to give you an inside look to life of a real-life Mad Hatter from the Northwest.
In the end, she became more than what she expected. She became the journey, and like all journeys, she did not end, she simply just changed directions and kept going. — R.M. Drake
The Northwest Mad Hatter 
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