Make Space for Magic
Pressing Pause to Invite in Something New
Hello, and welcome to Variety is the Spice of Life!
I’m Carrie, a self-proclaimed recovering perfectionist. My former type-A personality nearly drove me to an early grave when I survived a heart attack at 31 years old. My hard-driving nature helped me climb the corporate ladder in Human Resources, but it drained my spirit.
I’ve redefined myself many times throughout my life. I've made tough decisions and taken calculated risks to change things when staying where I was became unbearable.
Let's face it: any change, even happy ones, can be hard. Transition and transformation are challenging and often messy. Like the following quote by Cynthia Ocelli about the seed:
"For a seed to achieve its greatest expression, it must come completely undone. The shell cracks, its insides come out and everything changes. To someone who doesn't understand growth, it would look like complete destruction."
Walking away from the you you have always known takes courage but is also necessary.
When I was 27 years old, I left my mostly comfortable life and job in New Hampshire to move west to Colorado. I felt stuck and like I no longer belonged where I was. I ensured everything was lined up to make my move as smooth as possible, but it was still scary packing up and moving 2,000 miles away to a place where I knew no one.
Moving was the right decision for me. I discovered a whole new side of myself in the mountains of Colorado. I have always enjoyed being in nature and living in a place with 300 days of sunshine allowed me to be outdoors even more. I began competing in triathlons, which involved running many miles on trails and biking around my neighborhood.
It was during a 60-mile bike ride that I experienced symptoms I didn’t realize were related to my heart. Fortunately, my friend wouldn’t take no for an answer when he insisted we go to the hospital after the pressure in my chest didn’t subside long after we returned from our ride. It turns out I had a blood clot in my coronary artery, and I would not have survived the night if I hadn’t gone to the hospital.
After surviving a heart attack at 31, I found myself at another crossroads. I realized that working in Human Resources in the corporate world didn't fulfill my soul despite my success in the field. However, I wasn't sure what else to do.
In the years that followed, I pursued education in life coaching, nutrition, and yoga. I began health coaching and teaching yoga on the side. This felt like a more significant leap, so I took extra time to prepare myself. The universe gave me the final nudge when the company I worked for was acquired. This created the opportunity for me to take a severance package and focus full-time on the company I had built, Firefly Community LLC.
I dove headfirst into operating Firefly. The business grew slowly, and I continued leading retreats, which allowed me to build a fantastic community of people who returned repeatedly to travel around the globe with me. As a multi-passionate entrepreneur, I’ve followed my heart and continued to add more services and events over the years.
In the past two years, my knee and shoulder issues have begun nudging me in a new direction, leaning more toward writing. Could it be time for another transition? Am I ready to explore a different side of myself? What will that mean for the business I've spent the last 10 years building?
Last year, I attempted to do both. I published a book and wrote its companion journal, and I still led four retreats while also undergoing a partial knee replacement in March. I ended up with two tears in my rotator cuffs and a knee that struggled to heal. I made the difficult decision to reduce the number of retreats I was leading to just two this year, scheduled a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) procedure for my shoulder and knee, and dedicated more of my time to writing.
Has it been enough?
I'm not sure, and as I heard at a writing conference recently, you need to leave space for the magic, for those unknown parts of you to emerge. I got the message and am following the advice.
Over the next 12 weeks, I will create space for whatever is ready to reveal itself. I'm going on a vacation I've wanted to take for years to Croatia, followed by time with friends and family in New Hampshire, camping and hiking in the mountains of Colorado, reading books, watching birds, and writing. Being outdoors relieves my stress and inspires me, so I will continue teaching stand-up paddleboard (SUP) yoga and go mountain biking and trail running as much as my knees allow.
As I age, I try to remember that getting older is better than the alternative. However, it’s hard not to feel frustrated by the aches and pains, the need for progressive lens glasses, the arthritis affecting my joints, and the extra weight forming around my middle.
In September, I’ll lead my only international retreat for Firefly in 2025 in the Azores, after which I’ll launch a streamlined direction for Firefly. I have three retreats planned for 2026 in Sedona, Iceland, and Greece, which you can learn more about here.
I have two Substack accounts to host my writing. One has been available for some time — Wild Western Wanderers, told from the perspective of my dogs (and sometimes the cats). The other is new, this one — Variety is the Spice of Life, where you can find my writing on all the things I love: travel, animals, our planet, health and wellness, mindfulness, plant-based foods, the great outdoors, and following your passion.
I hope you'll follow me at one or both of those places or sign up on Firefly’s homepage to become a member of Firefly Community to receive a monthly guided meditation, yoga class video, and article.
Join me on this journey of getting to know the redefined version of myself. If what I write resonates with you, I hope you’ll stay and go on this ride. If not, I wish you well and hope you find what you’re looking for elsewhere. I’ll leave you with these words:
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson