The Beginning Of My Journey – One I Never Took Alone

Welcome to Day 1 Chapter 1

Someone recently said to me, the only problem with moving is that you bring all of yourself with you. But I disagree, I think the best part about moving is all that you bring within yourself. You bring your mother’s charm, your father’s courage, your sibling’s humor, your best friend’s warmth, your life is made up of the people around you regardless of where you go, and I think that’s beautiful.

I remember the first time I drove away from someone I love.

I remember how much fear, pain, and courage it took for me to get into my car and drive away. I knew the moment I did it’d be the end of a chapter and I’d be headed on different route literally and figuratively.

I remember every time after that where I had to make that same decision. Forward for me was in a car pointed in a new direction.

On June 27^th I was faced with the same fear, pain, and courage once again. It was time to drive away but this time from an entire life I built for myself within the last 27 years. I was driving away from friends I adore, family I love, pets I spoil, streets I knew like the back of my hand, comfort zones, memories, and places I surrounded myself with. I tried to memorize the way friend’s hugs felt, I tried to capture the way my mom smiles and the sound of my brother’s laugh. I toured my family’s home one last time committing the way the sun sprinkled across the wood floors that my dad laid down hand by hand to memory.   

Then I did the scariest thing I’ve done yet. I got into my car once again and drove away from it all.

Next, I did something I promised myself I wouldn’t ever do anytime I drove away from someone I love I looked back in my review mirror to find my family holding onto each other as tears streamed down their faces and I swear I almost turned around right then and there.

I felt a bubble of anxiety grow inside me as my heart broke, but I didn’t stop driving because I knew for certain I was no longer meant to be here. I can’t explain why I felt this way, but I was confident it was time to change my course. I was headed into the unknown, into a state where I don’t even have a place of my own yet, into newness and loneliness and so many beginnings.

I didn’t stop once until I got to Kentucky. There I found a quant restaurant where I found kindness in a stranger, a letter from my sweet dad, an excellent meal, and a heavy heart.

There aren’t many moments that’ll break you and fill you up at the same time. However, a handwritten note from your dad on the day you leave is one of them. I found myself torn between wanting to go home where everything felt safe and making my dad proud of his little girl. I called him up and we cried together until our eyes stung and the comfort of his encouragement allowed me to get back on my trip.

Once again I was in my car headed south.

I eventually hit Tennessee where the ground curved up and mountains surrounded me. For the first time I felt an overwhelming sense of joy and self-empowerment as I soaked up the beauty of my journey. I belted out lyrics as Sheryl Crow streamed through my speakers, I laughed as I passed cars filled with bored children’s faces pressed up against windows. I called my mom to describe the way the Earth looked from the windy mountainous roads.

This was the moment I knew I made the right decision, I felt in my soul and that kind of fulfillment is impossible to explain until you experience it.

This journey has already given so much to me. I may have gotten into my car alone to make the 22hr drive from Illinois to Florida, but not once was I really alone.

I was so incredibly blessed with support and love from so many people. Friends, family, acquaintances and even strangers reached out to provide a level of encouragement I couldn’t have predicted. Kind messages flooded my social media inboxes. Venmo transactions were sent in a sense of celebration. Doors opened to homes, and people across the United States offered their time to me. I thought I was taking a step forward alone, but I was really taking a step forward towards so much love, opportunity, support, kindness, and encouragement. I learned how powerful social media can be, how easy it is to a take moment to make someone’s entire day better –

How a string of words impacts someone, and that’s when it hit me.

A string of words, a sentence, a single paragraph, a page, a blog, a journey.

I now know this is what I want to offer others.

Let this be a place you never feel alone. Let this blog be a reminder that you can do hard and scary and beautiful things. I support your journey, thank you for supporting mine.

Day one, chapter one. Let’s start here.

The Longest Lesson: Lesson’s of an Empowered Woman Written by Felicia Kopec