A New Start

Just shy of a month ago, I walked away from an 8-year legal career.  I had come to the realization that, although being a lawyer could bring me much success and wealth in my life, it would never bring me happiness.  I was unhappy at some point during every single day of my life - sometimes only for 5 minutes, oftentimes for 17 hours - so I decided that I owed it to myself to at least try to find a way to be happy.  I also knew that being happy would never involve accounting for all of my daily activities in six-minute increments, much less having my value determined by how many of those six-minute increments I had managed to amass.

So, I've decided to pursue my two biggest passions, photography and travel.  I would like to make one thing clear:  I am not Eat Pray Love.  I have heard that comparison more times than I can count in the last month, and I would be quite happy if I never heard it again.  No one has given me a book advance to fund a year of traveling.  I have thankfully not experienced any recent tragedies in my personal life.  I am just a girl who saved up her money and decided to make an unconventional decision.  People have told me I'm brave.  People have told me I'm crazy.  The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.  But I'm excited to see where my new life takes me.

My first adventure begins tomorrow - a three-week trip through Switzerland, Germany and Austria.  I am very excited, but feeling not entirely prepared (which is odd given that I've had more time to prepare for this vacation than perhaps any other I've ever taken).  Mostly, though, I am ready for a fresh start.

I started this blog at the urging of several friends.  Blogging has never been my thing and I'm normally a private person, but in the spirit of starting over and trying new things, I'm giving it a go.  I will do my best to add posts and pictures on a regular basis.  I'm thankful for the support and encouragement I've received as I've made this (very long and belabored) decision to change my life.

And I'm very happy that I have no idea how many tenths of an hour it took me to write this post.  The next time I post will be from Europe.  Until then, Auf Wiedersehen.

Steph